Boat Pulls Upwind, Tension on Tiller

Had the 16 out today in about 18Knots and the thing was pulling like crazy upwind. Had to really pull that tiller towards myself with all my might just to keep her on course. This can't be very efficient. I have a feeling it has to do with the angle (rake) of the mast. if anything I think it's a bit too for forward. wouldn't that tend to make it pull downwind? Any thoughts? is there usually any tiller tension either way on a perfectly tuned 16? sorry if this is a duplicate to a similar post. I just couldn't find it. thanks for any help....

With more rake the rudders are going to be loaded up more, which will give you more weather helm. The way to fix that is to rake the rudders more under the boat. Then the load on the rudders is more on the front of the blade giving a better feel. Some like a bit of pull on the tiller, others, (including myself), prefer neutral steering. Lee helm is no good though in my opinion.

If you are having to pull that hard, I would make sure that the rudders are completely locked down. If they are even aft a little it can load them up quite a bit. It doesn't look like you have the adjustable rake rudder fittings, so you will have to re-drill your rudders or live with the pull. That is if they were fully engaged in the cam locks and still getting the pull.

Check to make sure your rudders are mounted on the appropriate hulls and locked in the down position. With as little mast rake as your picture shows, you should not have as much weather helm as you are describing. I took a local sailor's boat out without noticing that he had the rudders switched (very severe weather helm). Your tiller arms should be pointed towards the centerline of the boat.

I've been reading posts related to this topic and trying to digest the bigger picture, as i have the same issue with a lot of weather helm (as in too much). What is complicated for newbies is not knowing the history of a new-to-me older boat (in my case, what I believe is a 1973), and the fact that some standard rigging techniques have shifted over the years. For instance, my rudders have been redrilled for some reason, presumably to tune the boat at one point in its life. Not sure if this is part of my problem, as I don't have a dramatic rake on my mast.

Not to hijack this thread, but can anybody point me to a basic backgrounder on rigging H16s and the the tweaking that can be done for specific purposes? I bought a new forestay and it's way too long unless I jam it on the clevis with the shrouds and the upper forestay for the original jib. In an ideal world, I'd like to find a reference book that covers this topic.

(BTW, I do have a copy of the assembly manual in hand and have been using that as a reference where applicable.)

Thanks!

ag

I too am going many of the same trials and tribulations with my 1978/80/88 frankencat-16.

The FAQ has a good bit o information.
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewforum.php?f=18


And this has some info on the newer rigging and the reason for the longer forestay.
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=9950

This one has some pretty good info, not totally relevant, but good.
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=9709


And finally, this article has been great.
http://www.thebeachcats.com/OnTheWire/h ... ature2.htm

Just by looking at the pic, your mast looks like it's pretty straight up. Also looks like you have stock, old style shrouds. Just for the heck of it rake your rig back and take it for a sail. The problem will probably get worse. If so, rake your rudders under the boat if possible.

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I my experience with inexperienced owners of older boats, too much helm results from not having the rudders completely locked down. More often than not, the rudder cams are in the locked-down position, making it impossible to lock the rudders down without resetting them.

To reset the cams, jam a small screwdriver between the cam and the plunger, then lift up. The cam should rotate up to the unlocked position.

With the boat on the trailer, put the rudder all the way down (should bottom out with a resounding "thunk!") and then bring the tiller down (you should hear the cam rotate and lock with a firm "snap!").

Now try to pull the tip of the rudder aft. There should be very little fore/aft play in the system. Pulling with a force of about 5 lbs at the tip should kick the rudder up (you'll hear a smaller "snap" as the cam rotates back to the unlocked position).

If you're not getting that "snap", your rudders are not locked down.

Resolved my steering issue.

In my particular case, the problem was with how the rudders were installed on the boat. I was a little suspicious because the upper rudder castings could lift up and not trip the cams ... I am 100% sure the cams were engaged when I was sailing because I knew how to make them engage, but even then there was a huge amount of slop in the rudder position - the leading/bottom edge of the rudder could rock forward and back about 3 inches. To engage or release the cams, I had to do it from the tramp and slide the upper housing along the lower housing so the cam would catch.

I was also curious when I removed the rudders while repainting the hulls, I found three sets of holes... two sets that had been filled in, and the rudders redrilled. To make a long story short, I figured out the position where I had to redrill the rudders so the upper castings would engage with the cam properly, and the rudder would lock in relatively tight. Funny surprise that when I went to redrill, I was drilling out one of the plugs that had been put in before the boat was mine.

Now, the steering is close to neutral in a good stiff breeze, and the boat is WAY more responsive now to radical rudder movements. Not to mention I don't need gorilla arms to hold course. Tacking is greatly improved as well. If I drop the helm, she will come up into the wind, but not immediately... will go straight for maybe 100 feet before starting to round up. I like it this way, since I can drop the helm briefly and deal with other issues, and the boat will track straight until I can pick the helm back up.

Cams work properly now without fail.

This is just one of a number of peculiar things I have found on my boat... but thanks to the guidance from others here on this forum, it's a fun learning experience, and in the process helps me better understand what makes the boat tick.