CD 25 weatherhelm

[keith]

In a 10 knot wind, the tiller and I are starting a struggle for control which heats up as the wind strengthens. Doesn't seem like I should be reefing so soon and the angle of heel is not really noticeable.

The mast has been tuned to be perpendicular to the hull and the traveller is let out to the lee.....

The trim may be down in the stern with the motor and me outweighing the water in the fresh water holding tank.

Help would put a smile on my face and give my arm a rest in 2002.



shagbark@sover.net

[Bill Goldsmith]

Try depowering the main by snugging up the outhaul and the boom vang. This will tend to flatten the sail. If that does not work, assess the age and condition of your sails. If they old and blown out the weather helm will continue, because your sail is excessively curved and overpowering the boat for that wind speed. I had significant weather helm on my 27 and the only cure was a new main. Now I can get the tiller to balance nicely with a minimum of force.

Bill Goldsmith
CD27 #173
Second Chance

In a 10 knot wind, the tiller and I are starting a struggle for control which heats up as the wind strengthens. Doesn't seem like I should be reefing so soon and the angle of heel is not really noticeable.

The mast has been tuned to be perpendicular to the hull and the traveller is let out to the lee.....

The trim may be down in the stern with the motor and me outweighing the water in the fresh water holding tank.

Help would put a smile on my face and give my arm a rest in 2002.

goldy@bestweb.net

[Jim]

Most of the upwind drive on the 25 is coming from your jib. After flattenning your main reefing it is next. After that I have found that in stronger winds I sail with my 97% jib alone very effectively. I was out yesterday afternoon in (50 degrees cool/cold) 20-25 knots. I ended up dropping the main altogether and sailing at 5-6knots under jib alone. Of course under jib alone the helm goes to neutral if not a little lee helm. It all really depends on wether or not you enjoy sailing with the rail buried!



jmyers@styluscentral.com

[Bruce Bett]

I can't tell you definitively what the problem is, but I can assure you that there is one. The CD 25 is a well balanced boat and does not have excessive weather helm when properly trimmed. As Bill suggested old sails could be part of the problem. As you mention the boat does tend to be "down in the stern" Try sending a big friend to sit on the fore deck and see if that helps. If so move weight forward. Keep fiddling with it. You shouldn't have to fight this boat in 10 knots of wind.

Bruce Bett
Sostenuto
CD25 #496

The mast has been tuned to be perpendicular to the hull and the traveller is let out to the lee.....

The trim may be down in the stern with the motor and me outweighing the water in the fresh water holding tank.

Help would put a smile on my face and give my arm a rest in 2002.

bettb@macomb.cc.mi.us

[Mike Thompson]

The very low freeboard on the CD25 makes things wild in a blow!
I used to have water coming over the combings into the cockpit
from time to time (something I have never experienced since buying
a CD28).

With an old mainsail, the luff cord can shrink resulting in a rather
full shape. Try releasing the mainsail tack at the gooseneck so that
you can hoist the sail a bit higher. The sail is then stretched
between the boom slides and the mast slides and will be more flat.
(If this works add a loop of line between the tack and the gooseneck
to tension the tack.)

Mike
CD28 HAVEN

In a 10 knot wind, the tiller and I are starting a struggle for control which heats up as the wind strengthens. Doesn't seem like I should be reefing so soon and the angle of heel is not really noticeable.

The mast has been tuned to be perpendicular to the hull and the traveller is let out to the lee.....

The trim may be down in the stern with the motor and me outweighing the water in the fresh water holding tank.

Help would put a smile on my face and give my arm a rest in 2002.

tmike@ma.ultranet.com

[Mike]

I had a similar situation with a horrible weather helm on my cd25d. Since the boat was new to me, I just left the rigging where the previous owner had. Despite his warnings about a weather helm.
After "pulling all the usual strings", and questioning whether this was the same boat everyone had written so glowingly about, I finally raked the mast forward just a touch. Perfect. Sails right in it's grove. I can now set it up on a closehaul, lash the tiller, and leave it alone for 20-minutes. (Cheaper than a new main.) To correct weathr helm you need to get weight or power forward.
Above all, reef early! I see a lot of newer designed boats with full sails up when I'm reefing the main. Because of the cd design you won't loose that much speed with the reefed main, and pointing is still very good.
(However, there is nothing like carrying full sails, healed at 38-degrees, doing 6.5 knots with a rail in the water, sailing past Scituate Light right down the harbor channel. Exhausting, but exciting! One for the tourists!)
Hope this helps,

Mike



mwankum@tribune.com

[Don Sargeant]

Mike,
Could you estimate the angle of forward rake you introduced or how far out of plumb the top of the mast is? Coquina's former owner put a 1-1/2" toggle on the furler, and I have weather helm out the yingyang. I'm going to remove the toggle next year but wonder if I should just replace it with a shorter one and try that first.

Don Sargeant
~~COQUINA~~
CD25D #189
Greenwich Cove

I had a similar situation with a horrible weather helm on my cd25d. Since the boat was new to me, I just left the rigging where the previous owner had. Despite his warnings about a weather helm.
After "pulling all the usual strings", and questioning whether this was the same boat everyone had written so glowingly about, I finally raked the mast forward just a touch. Perfect. Sails right in it's grove. I can now set it up on a closehaul, lash the tiller, and leave it alone for 20-minutes. (Cheaper than a new main.) To correct weathr helm you need to get weight or power forward.
Above all, reef early! I see a lot of newer designed boats with full sails up when I'm reefing the main. Because of the cd design you won't loose that much speed with the reefed main, and pointing is still very good.
(However, there is nothing like carrying full sails, healed at 38-degrees, doing 6.5 knots with a rail in the water, sailing past Scituate Light right down the harbor channel. Exhausting, but exciting! One for the tourists!)
Hope this helps,

Mike

[keith]

Thanks folks! I now have a list for next Spring....just 6 months away.....be well

keith



shagbark@sover.net

[mike]

Don:
I wish I could give you the actual numbers, but the mast is down, and the boat is wrapped for winter. "Wakonda" had a 1991 CDI furler installed. Making it a pain to fine tune. Intially the toggles were set about midpoint, and I had terrible weather helm. I brought the headstay as far forward as the rigging and and toggle would allow. This meant that my backstay adjust was almost all the way let out on the toggle. This adjustment of about 1 to 1 1/2-inches seemed to be just about perfect. Comparing my stick, to the mast on the Swan 30 next to me, "Wakonda" almost appeared to be raked forward. However, I'm not sure if the Swan's mast was raked backed to begin with. I wish I'd put a level to it, so I could tell you for sure. If you do the adjustments, make sure you re-tune your shrouds as well.
Hope it helps,

Mike



mwankum@TRIBUNE.COM

[Bruce Bett]

Calm down Mike. It's going to be a long winter.

Bruce

I had a similar situation with a horrible weather helm on my cd25d. Since the boat was new to me, I just left the rigging where the previous owner had. Despite his warnings about a weather helm.
After "pulling all the usual strings", and questioning whether this was the same boat everyone had written so glowingly about, I finally raked the mast forward just a touch. Perfect. Sails right in it's grove. I can now set it up on a closehaul, lash the tiller, and leave it alone for 20-minutes. (Cheaper than a new main.) To correct weathr helm you need to get weight or power forward.
Above all, reef early! I see a lot of newer designed boats with full sails up when I'm reefing the main. Because of the cd design you won't loose that much speed with the reefed main, and pointing is still very good.
(However, there is nothing like carrying full sails, healed at 38-degrees, doing 6.5 knots with a rail in the water, sailing past Scituate Light right down the harbor channel. Exhausting, but exciting! One for the tourists!)
Hope this helps,

Mike

bettb@macomb.cc.mi.us

[Brad]

In a 10 knot wind, the tiller and I are starting a struggle for control which heats up as the wind strengthens. Doesn't seem like I should be reefing so soon and the angle of heel is not really noticeable.

The mast has been tuned to be perpendicular to the hull and the traveller is let out to the lee.....

The trim may be down in the stern with the motor and me outweighing the water in the fresh water holding tank.

Help would put a smile on my face and give my arm a rest in 2002.

If your main is a little baggy, try tightening the forward lower shrouds to put a 'hook' in the mast. This will flatten the main a bit and hopefully help with the weather helm. You need to be careful not to tighten too much to avoid other problems.



Thirdsmith@aol.com