Chrysler Sailors Forum

Hello all! I am new to sailing in the last few years. (self taught so far). Before buying the Chrysler Lone Star 16 this year to try a bigger boat, have sailed the last few years on a AMC sunfish. (never sailed with a jib sail before until now)

The last few times I have taken the Lone Star out, when the jib sail is full with wind, it seems to make the boat very hard to steer with the tiller. It seems to want to pull the front of the boat with the wind more than I would like causing me to counter steer very far, almost to the point where I can't counter-act the pulling of the jib sail with the tiller.

Is this common? Am I doing something wrong with the aspect to what the jib sail and the main sail are at in relation? Am I catching too much wind with the jib? When I sail the boat with just the main sail it seems to steer very well and the boat points to where I want it too a lot easier.

Any feedback or pointers would be helpful!!!!!!! Very new to sailing with two sails, even through they are smaller. Was sailing in 19+ winds and was almost impossible to correct the pull of the jib with the tiller. Even in slow winds can start being hard to correct.

Note: When I have trouble with the jib pulling I am usually going sideways or somewhere near 45 degree to the wind (not sailing down wind, that is fine), both keel boards down, and a crew of 4 people both times.

Thanks everyone!

Welcome !

Question - is the boat turning in to the wind, or blowing away from wind causing you to have to try to turn in to the wind to correct? Guessing its the 2nd one, so answering that way.

If you have too much power in the jib try moving the jib sheet blocks aft. The further forward the blocks are the more draft the jib can form and the more power it develops. Move the blocks back so you are pulling back more than pulling down and you will flatten the jib.

If you can't move them aft any further, let the jib out until you feel the balance changing back. And get more power in the main at the same time..
it really is a balancing act sometimes.

Also if the jib is really old and "blown out" it will always have way too much draft...only one cure for that,,,

Hello!

Thanks for the reply! I will try moving the blocks back a little bit as you stated below. Currently I have them somewhere in the middle but they can be moved back a little bit on their rail. I will also try to be more aware of the balance of power between the two sails.

On your other comment, it is very well possible that the jib is "blown out". As far as I have been told and can tell, both of the sails are original to the boat. The jib is what you could say "soft" or very flexible so maybe that is causing the problem too. For now, I'll try the blocks. Thanks. I'll keep you updated on my trials and errors. haha

Something else - check the tension on the shrouds and make sure they are keeping the mast a bit vertical or aft a bit. If the mast is leaning forward you'll have the same problem. And since there's no backstay the shrouds cover both side to side and vertical alignment.

I can sympathize with the soft sails, when I got the Coronado C15 the main was so soft and blown that I could hardly point up at all. And when the wind got up a lot you couldn't flatten the sail enough to keep from heeling way too much,,

Thanks for another item to double check! I will do so today. I took it out yesterday and your advice worked very well. Thanks! I moved the blocks back about 3-5 inches, but that was enough to have a good impact. We were able to straighten out the jib a little bit more and it helped a lot, even with the jib being a "soft sail".

I plan on taking it out later today again so I will pay attention to the mast and which way it may be leaning. Again, since I am new to sailing, which way should the mast be leaning (if at all)? Should it be leaning one way or the other when with no sail pressure? or while under sail? I have not adjusted anything from the settings of the previous owner as far as the shrouds go. Again, thanks for your help so far. I am learning fast!

You can start with the boat level as possible and..

and be sure the mast is vertical by taking the main halyard and moving it over to where the port shroud attached to the hull. Mark the halyard right there, then do same on starboard side. If distance is same then mast is vertical side to side. If not loosen the short side and tighten the long side till it is.

Then you can hang a wrench or such from the halyard and look to see how it hangs along the back of the mast. If it hangs just a bit behind the mast then its vertical fore and aft. If it bangs the mast or tries to go around the side of the mast then tighten the shrouds (equally which when pulls the mast head back) until it hangs right.

That's a good starting point..