Weather helm

Hi,
I did some drastic changes to the settings on my boat lately and Really like the way it sails with one exception, excessive weather helm. Should I just deal with the weather helm cause everything else feels dialed in or work on adjusting it. Again, i really like the way she's sailing so without a ton of experience i don't know if I should mess with it.

ltr

cory

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82 named SeaBass

To reduce weather helm you need to rake the bottom of the rudders towards the front of the boat. Remember to leave a little weather helm so if you fall off the boat will pinch up by itself.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

I don't have the adjustable rudder castings. I'm afraid to start drilling on my rudders cause i'm just not sure how far to rale them. Is it worth buying the newer adjustable castings?

Latr

Cory

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82 named SeaBass

I attacked this problem by doing a rudder job (a day in the basement and lots of cussing at the delrin screws). That way I could adjust rudder rake and keep my rudders locked down better. I wound up putting small bungees around the upper castings and rudders to add incentives for the rudders to stay down and locked in weather. Then I put the anti-slop spacers on the tiller and castings - one of the best things I ever did, even though it has nothing to do with weather helm. I also stood the mast up a bit straighter, which helps excessive weather helm. As the other fellow said, you want some weather helm.

sc

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1989 H16
2009 H16 squaretop

Before going nuts spending time and money on the rudders, you should try adjusting the standing rigging. Perhaps you have too much mast rake, so back off a little and see how the boat handles. My '81 16 also doesn't have adjustable rudders, but we did manage to rake the mast back enough to keep from easily pitchpoling and without much, if any, weather helm. The balance can be found without spending money. However, if you can't find the proper balance, then maybe new upper castings will satisfy you.

By the way, if you do decide to get new castings, then you've made up your mind to spend money, so seriously consider spending a little more and get the Hobie 20 tiller upgrade - it's worth every penny. You'll need a drill, 3/16" bits, and a rivet gun, and if you don't already have these tools, then it wouldn't hurt to have them anyway.

Although it might be anything stated above, the first thing I did when I had bad weather helm was tightening the kick up mechanism and this did it for me. I believe one or both of my rudders were pulling back slightly but not kicking up and this was causing my weatherhelm. Always try the easiest thing first! Good luck with it.

I recently raked my mast back to avoid an annoying pitchpole problem - and am now also in the position of needing to increase my rudder rake to reduce weather helm.

I didn't want to redrill my rudders by "guessing", so I looked into buying the adjustable lower castings, and it seems that I would need to buy the upper adjustable castings as well, increasing the cost to ~$550.
This has motivated me to try re-drilling my rudders - any advice on how to get it right the first time, or failing that, how many times can I really patch and redrill them if I don't get it right?

What is the H20 setup that you are referring to? It that the tiller bar connection?

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"Without my morning coffee I'm just like a dried up piece of roast goat."

Check the FAQ section in the Forum Index for posted instructions and a hole template.


Yes. It makes disassembly much easier and safer, allows for on-the-water-no-screwdriver-needed rudder alignment (if necessary), and reduces free play at the connection points. It's way better than the old nut/screw/spring/bushing connection.