Sailors often talk about their boat, explaining that it is weather helm or lee helm. But what does this mean, and how can you properly balance your sailboat?
Who hasn’t experienced that unpleasant feeling of not being able to do what you want with your boat? You get frustrated because it won’t point upwind and sail close-hauled properly. Or the crew starts to worry because the rail is getting dangerously close to the water’s surface. Obviously, beyond the various sailing maneuvers, boats have their own behavior, their own character. You will often hear about a weather helm or lee helm boat. These concepts are related to the boat’s balance—or rather, the balance of wind forces on the headsail and the mainsail. And this directly affects the sailboat’s power.
The Balance of the Sailboat
As I mentioned, a sailboat has its own character, linked to its design, shape, and sails. This means that some sailboats will be more powerful than others.
This power will have an impact on its heeling behavior and the helm, among other things. We will discuss weather helm and lee helm boats. Sailboats from the 70s and 80s were known for their power, for example. I remember the family Rush from my youth. We had to reduce sail at a good force 3 just to keep the boat balanced. Yet, we went faster than other boats with more sail area. Today, I sail a very well-balanced boat, a Sun Way 28, which can carry much more sail. Neither is better than the other; you just need to learn to know them in order to optimize your settings.
However, this balance is also affected by the condition of the sails, their settings—whether they are too flat or too full—and the stowage.
You can tell if your boat is weather helm or lee helm by observing the following points:
Characteristics of a Weather Helm Boat (Too Powerful):
- Significant heeling
- Unstable course
- Non-optimized speed
- Heavy helm
Characteristics of a Lee Helm Boat (Not Powerful Enough):
- Low speed
- Light helm, tendency to bear away
- Difficulty changing sails without losing speed
- No feedback from the helm
Now, let’s see how to balance our boat.
How to Balance a Weather Helm Boat?
Let’s start with a weather helm boat. This is often the case with many used sailboats over 30 years old. When the boat has weather helm, it tends to head up into the wind. This means the wind tends to push the stern, turning the bow into the wind. There is too much power in the mainsail.
You will quickly notice this because your sailboat will heel significantly. At the same time, the helm will be heavy, and sailing will become uncomfortable. In this case, you can balance the boat by adjusting the mainsail or even the genoa.
- Reduce the power of the mainsail by flattening it
- Take a reef to reduce the mainsail area
- Reduce power in the upper part by easing the boom vang
- Increase the power of the genoa
Logically, with these maneuvers, you should rebalance your boat and regain comfortable sailing.
How to Balance a Lee Helm Boat?
Now, let’s move on to the situation where your boat is too lee helm. This can be the case with some newer sailboats or those designed more for living space than power.
You will recognize a lee helm boat by its difficulty in pointing upwind and a light helm, giving little feedback to the helmsman. This type of sailboat can sometimes be just as troublesome in certain situations. For example, you may need to constantly adjust the helm to keep the boat pointing upwind.
In this case, the wind pushes the boat forward on the headsail, the genoa, or the jib. Since it pushes from the front, the boat tends to bear away.
What should you do in this situation?
- First, if possible, increase the mainsail area by shaking out a reef, for example.
- Optimize the mainsail power by fine-tuning the settings. Tighten the boom vang and close the sail at the top.
- Reduce the genoa power by flattening it or rolling it up.
These tips are not from a professional skipper, I admit. But we tend to forget, during cruising or family sailing, that our sail settings can be fine-tuned. Yet, these small adjustments can greatly improve life on board and gain us a knot or more. The best scenario is even to sail with a helm so balanced that the boat sails itself, with a tiller tamer acting as a pilot. Yes, I assure you, it’s possible.