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Old 09-04-2007
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RichH RichH is offline
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In all probability what you're experiencing is SLIP rather than lee helm. .... it feels the same on the rudder but the causes are different. Excessive slip is caused by a too loose a forestay (backstay) wherein the luff of the jib falls off extremely to leeward with the result that the draft in the jib goes toooooo far aft and too too too full.

For a 210 a sailmaker will cut approximately 4-6 inches of 'luff hollow' into the luff section .... so that the 'normal' sag of the forestay under load *matches* the curve cut into the luff of the jib. If the forestay sag is greater than what the forestay normally sags off to leeward at normal headstay(backstay) tension: .... draft aft, too full draft, excessive heel, cant point up, dead slow, always seem to be 'overpowered', lots of very adverse helm pressure ... and the boat will be rapidly skidding off to leeward - and the pressure on the rudder will feel like 'lee-helm' as the rudder attempts to counteract the skid. Hint: look at the wake of the boat .... the wake is probably coming out the stern at a very noticable angle to the boat's centerline; If so the boat is SKIDDING off to leeward.

Rx: tighten the backstay as taught as you can stand it or dare and see what happens ... but dont 'overtighten' the jib sheet with a winch or that too will cause excess forestay sag.

More precisely .... take the jib/genoa OFF the boat and lay it on
"FLAT" (clean) ground. Make an accordian fold about 24" back from the luff and again 36" back from the luff - this is so that the luff section of the sail is absolutely FLAT on the ground, the accordian pleat will allow the sail's luff to be FLAT and unwrinkled on the FLAT ground. Pull tight from the head and tack and then remove any wrinkles in the sail near the luff. At this point you will observe that the leading edge of the luff section has a curve to it .... called 'luff hollow' and is what the sailmaker cut away from the luff to compensate for expected luff sag under normal rig tension and normal sailing conditions (at ~15 kts). Measure the amount of 'hollow' to the luff and REMEMBER the shape ---- and if what you 'remember' that is cut away (hollow) does not match what you see when the boat is sailing in ~15kts.,----------- if that 'hollow' that you SEE when sailing is GREATER than what to saw/remember when the sail was FLAT on the ground .... TIGHTEN the backstay until what you saw approximately matches what you SEE. At that point of matching the sags and hollows, you should have no more apparent lee-helm.

Sometimes (and depending on the actual jib set-up and design) you will need to add MORE jib halyard tension to help with this condition, **especially if the jib doesn't use any hanks that attach to the forestay** .... in that case (a small wire cable or small three strand dacron rope in a sleeve at the luff) you have to add significant halyard tension to the jib/genoa ... as the jib luff (wire or 3-strand) in the luff takes ALL the tension (and the forestay goes slack when you do). All depends if the jib attaches with hanks OR has is own wire or 3-strand luff rope to support ALL the loading.

Short answer: tighten hell out of the backstay and see what happens. If the jib doesn't attach to the forestay with hanks, tighten hell out of the jib halyard too.

hope this helps.
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