Weather helm on a 5.2

Aye, they may not be down all the way. I rock mine in if that makes sense....down, up, DOWN and they always 'thunk' into place (great on my transoms, I know) on the second heave.

With my stock sail I have perfect helm, with my square top...well, not so much.

Weather helm could be caused by several different things. First check the toe in of the rudders. Measure distance from rudder to ruddetr on leading edge then trailing edge. The measurements should be with in 1/8th of an inch. Slightly toed is better than toed out if you cant get them exactly inline.

Mast rake makes a big difference. My 5.2 with square top was fairly picky about the mast rake. too much rake and i would get weather helm. too little rake and the bows would bury earlier. Theres a fine line there and the only answer is trial and error for your specific boat.

Move the boards up and down and see how much of a difference that makes. You may be suprised

Rudder lock down line. If your rudder lock down line that goes from rudder to pivmatic is stretching underway your rudder rake is changing and creating more helm. Run a simple 2:1 system on the rudders with a nonstretch line and you will be amazed at the difference in feel.

Rudder rake. adjust the rudders so that they stick further under the boat. inside the casting there is a screw...I took mine all the way out to allow for more rudder rake.

Hope that helps. I posted pictures of the rudders in one of wolfmans 5.2 topics a while back.

edited by: TurboCat, Jun 29, 2010 - 08:36 PM

See this topic
http://www.thebeachcats.com/module-forum-viewtopic-topic-11208.html

There are pictures of the 2:1 rudder set up and other mods i made to my 5.2