NYYC Race Week 2022 – 5 Minutes of Sailporn
So many great memories of sailing in Newport, Narrangansett Bay and paties at Harbor Court. Miss it bigly 🙁
Read MoreWhile it is true that an increased angle of heel generally increases weather helm, it is misleading to identify heel as the cause of weather helm. The fundamental cause of "helm", be it weather or lee, is the relationship of the center of pressure of the sail plan to the center of lateral resistance of the hull. If the center of pressure is astern of the center of lateral resistance, a weather helm, the tendency of the vessel to want to turn into the wind, or to weather-vane, will result. A slight amount of weather helm is thought by many skippers to be a desirable situation, both from the standpoint of the "feel" of the helm, and the tendency of the boat to head slightly to windward in stronger gusts, to some extent self-feathering the sails. It also provides a form of dead man's switch—the boat stops safely in irons if the helm is released for a length of time. If the situation is reversed, with the center of pressure forward of the center of resistance of the hull, a "lee" helm will result, which is generally considered undesirable, if not dangerous. Too much of either helm is not good, since it forces the helmsman to hold the rudder deflected to counter it, thus inducing extra drag beyond what a vessel with neutral or minimal helm would experience.You adjust for weather and lee helm by shifting the rig forward or aft by adjusting the back-stay and fore-stay, i.e. to counter weather helm you loosen the back-stay and tighten the fore-stay, shifting the force of the sails forward balancing the boat. You adjust for lee helm by moving the rig backward. I have to say that I am still wrapping my head around back-stay adjustments. When you are racing, you tighten the back-stay to add twist, flatten the sails and reduce heel. I can only assume that the reduction in heel and pressure induced by a tighter back-stay and flatter sails has a greater affect than the additional weather helm created by shifting the rig and center of pressure aft. (Suggestions anyone?) The second part of tuning is related to stability and position of the mast. First you want to make sure that the mast is straight. The easiest way to do this is when the boat is at rest and preferably flat, lie at the foot of the mast with an eye up the mast. You should be able to tell if it's out of whack this way. If you want to be absolutely sure, use your halyard to run a tape measure up the rig, checking very precisely the length of each stay. If stays on one side are longer than the other you know that you need to adjust the stays accordingly to straighten the column of the mast. To see if the stays are correctly tightened test them when you are under sail in a moderate breeze (10-12kts) by checking the slack in your leeward shrouds. If there is no slack, they are too tight. Loosen the leeward shrouds 1-2 turns or until they have a bit of give, then make the identical adjustment on the windward side (This is important, if you don't make the same adjustment on the windward side your mast column will be out of whack). Equally, if your leeward shrouds feel too slack (by this I mean a little flappy), tighten them 1-2 turns, again making the same adjustment to windward. You may need more turns to get the rig appropriately tight but David was suggesting doing it in 2 turn increments. Et voila! Suffice to say, I am wide open to correction of inaccuracies or better tips.
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So many great memories of sailing in Newport, Narrangansett Bay and paties at Harbor Court. Miss it bigly 🙁
Read MoreWas sad to miss this year’s Newport Folk Festival, especially after hearing the report on NPR today. It sounded like the tribute to Joni Mitchel was very moving, and hearing her sing “Both Sides Now” with a supporting cast organized by Brandi Carlisle, made me tear up. Newport Folk Festival By Sea We never got
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