Weather helm on the reach
- Thread starter chrisfsi
- Start date
Cindy Taylor
Member
4. Lift up the center board some ....
You, as #2 said, lift up the center board abit which reduces presssure quite alot. Then of course you hike untill hiking dosn't work anymore, then work with the main, release some when you get overpowered, sheet in when you can.
At least I prefer to have vang/outhaul/cunningham set so the sail gets as much power as possible in almost any wind (on reaches) and just work with the main.
At least I prefer to have vang/outhaul/cunningham set so the sail gets as much power as possible in almost any wind (on reaches) and just work with the main.
sorosz
Member
You are changing the "Center of Lateral Resistance" (CLR) relative to the "Center of Effort" (CE). If you balance both then the boat will tend to go straight. If the CE is forward of the CLR then the boat will tend to have Lee Helm; if the CE is aft then you tend to have Weather Helm. I believe that raising the daggerboard moves the CLR aft (because the rudder becomes a larger component of CLR) which is basically the same as moving the CE forward and therefore should reduce weather helm.
There's lots of good books with better explanations and diagrams which will make more sense. Chapman's is one place to start.
yes - do what you have to to, keep the boat flat, even small amounts of Heel increase weatherhelm.
yes - and trim the sheet too. Obviously, as you accelerate, the apparent wind moves forward. This will become clear in a good blow.
yes - to suit wave and wind conditions.
yes - in lifting the board too much you will lose the power of the "lift" from the centre board. You need enough down that you are fully hiked and at full power, but not so much that you are dragging more than you should. The change over point is quite noticable. This takes a bit of trial and error.
much easier to try experimenting with all four of these things in a good bit of wind rather than on a light day. The adjustments will be more pronounced.
viktor188924
New Member
Yes, these four things are great, but you don't want to make a drastic change on just one of them. Hike out to keep the boat flat, and (im guessing this is heavy weather) move your weight back in the boat to keep the bow out of the water. You can let your sheet out, but remember to "go down in the puffs, up in the lulls" <-- its the most important rule when reaching. Watch the telltales on your leech. They'll tell you if your sail is trimmed wrong for the course you are sailing. I think you want the telltale to flicker between going behind the sail and straight back. Don't let your vang all the way out... not as far as you would for a downwind, you need some on to keep the wind in your sail. Look at your leech, you don't want it too open because then the wind is just spilling right out of your sail. Also, pick the board up a few inches so it doesn't bite as much, but you don't want to be sliding sideways. Remember: it's all about the sweet spot. Good Luck!
R
Ross B
Guest
hike harder, PERFECTLY FLAT!!! thats what Dave Perry told me
R
Ross B
Guest
tell it to DP....
hike hard, work the boat, sheet, sheet, ease, sheet, ease, hike harder, and not necessarily in that order
you have to do everything to keep the boat flat and planing
this is an Olympic sport remember guys
if your into that sort of thing
hike hard, work the boat, sheet, sheet, ease, sheet, ease, hike harder, and not necessarily in that order
you have to do everything to keep the boat flat and planing
this is an Olympic sport remember guys
if your into that sort of thing
It certainly is a (somethimes rapidly changing) balancing act. If you've ever had to go from fully hiked to almost sitting on the centreline of the cockpit within one second, and then half way back again, and then repeat it all, you'll know.
If you find yourself in an almost beam sea situation with a good blow on, you'll be adjusting your steering and hiking so you don't trip the boom as you roll into troughs; or miss out on surfing the occasional odd directioned wave; or fill the boat with water as a crest breaks on your windward gunwale. Some element of heel may not be avoidable in a practical sense in those conditions, but I adopt the mental approach that no heel is acceptable, as I know that as soon as I am heeling, I am misusing the available power. It keeps me form tolerating undesirable heel through tiredness or laziness.
I figure the conditions that you, and probably him, sail in are quite diffrent from those I sail in.
If the wind is reasonably stabil (in my eyes, in yours it might seem like incredibly gusty =P) of course you want to hold the boat flat but if it is really gusty it's just not possible to use maximal hiking power on reaches.
You have to understand, where I practice, alot of the time the windspeed can change from 8m/s to 3m/s in a second and at the same time the wind direction might change quit alot.
No matter how good you are, you can not sail with the boat totaly flat in these kinds of conditions, you need that little bit of heel to be able to react fast enough. If you sail totaly flat you'll drop into the water and stop the boat occationaly and you'll lose a hell of alot more from that than sailing slightly heeled.
I totaly agree with sailing totaly flat in stabil winds or seabeeze conditions, but thats not what I'm talking about so =P