matt211181 Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 Hi guys. I have an older 5.0, and I'm pretty new to sailing (but loving it!). Went out last weekend in a moderate 15kn breeze, and it felt like we were screaming along! But, when sailing on a starboard tack, the weather helm was so strong, it required real effort to hold onto the tiller. As far as I remember, it has always sailed like this - I guess it's only now that I'm becoming more confident and trying to sail faster, the weather helm has become really annoying. It's bearable in light wind, but I would say it's severe in say 15kn wind. The mast is raked back quite a bit, so I would expect some weather helm (?), but I thought roughly an equal amount on both port and starboard tack. The same sailing trip last weekend, the tiller was light as a feather on port tack, and it felt like it had neither weather or lee helm when on port tack. To my novice sailing brain, it seems like something mustn't be symmetrical? The only thing I've checked is that both shrouds are (roughly) the same length (which they are). I was planning on measuring the rudders, hulls, beams for squareness this weekend. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Cheers Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darcy1945 Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 With cat on beach wheels or trailer and rudders locked down, check that you can not move the bottom leading edge of the rudders backwards, check the imaginary line through the pintles down to the bottom leading edge of both rudders, sounds like your port rudder is trailing slightly, (25mm of trail will cause weather helm). Worn pivot bolt hole can also cause helm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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