Weather helm part 2

Nov 2013
Weather helm on your tiller

I have posted on weather helm on Arwen before but recently there has been a discussion on the JW forum and as always, I come away learning loads of new things. It is an amazing forum with some real wisdom and experience in it.


I didn't realise that adjusting the rake of the mast for'ard or aft will affect weather helm. I knew that not having the rudder fully down would, so I am up on something. With mizzen sheeted in hard, as Joel points out, his 'Ellie' has a slight weather helm and with mizzen half way out, helm appears to be neutral.

Robert sails with the tiller lashed in self steering most of the time and he notes that he has to keep the boat balanced at all times using mizzen, crew weight and the centreboard to achieve this balance.  On a beam reach he has the centreboard half way up and the stronger the wind, the more He needs to raise the board. On a broad reach He raises the board almost all the way. But even when close hauled, He doesn't have the board all the way down unless the wind is less than 10 knots. "then try lashing the tiller just a tad to windward of the centreline (i.e., to induce just a bit of lee helm) and then use only the mizzen, the centreboard and your body weight/crew weight to balance the helm of the boat, in that order". Sounds interesting and I've made a note to give this a go next time Arwen and I are out and about on the sound.

Robert makes another well thought out point "But now that I look back, I realize that self-steering taught me things about my boat that I may never have learned otherwise or at least not as quickly and thoroughly. So, maybe just look at it as a learning tool, if nothing else". Wise words indeed. Thanks Robert.

Others observed that the jib halyard is tight; that the mast stays are tight and that jib head stay is tight too. That will have a profound effect on reducing weather helm as well.

John, as always, had pearls of wisdom. "The mast can be raked forward a little, and if it is a yawl rigged boat the mizzen can be eased a little . Another thing to try is to move the crew weight back and forward and see what difference that will make. Sail trim can make a big difference as well, check that the slot between the mainsail and the leach ( after edge) of the jib is adequate to let the air gathered by the jib pass through and around the back of the mainsail, if it is backwinding the mainsail then move the jib sheet turning block aft until it is backwinding the mainsail only very very slightly and that at the bottom forward corner of the mainsail."