New Olson 911S owner

[dinodes70]

Welcome,

We sail our O911S in lighter air on the Chesapeake Bay, so I haven't noticed too much weather helm, but then we haven't really pushed the boat in full crewed racing conditions either. That said, from previous discussions, most owners have been able to minimize the weather helm by adjusting the mast rake closer to vertical, putting mast forward at the partners to allow for more prebend, and tune the rig to the conditions you sail. I have not tried any of these suggestions, so YMMV. There are also some differences in how the Pacific built boats and the Ericson built boats respond to these changes.

As far as sails, what condition are yours? The ability to flatten them out will help with weather helm as well. If they are stretched and you can't flatten them, a new set will also help.

As a last thought, some owners have put a deeper Schumacher designed rudder on the boat which also helps in controlling the extra helm.

Another good source for O911 information is the mailing list. It's pretty much a ghost town these days but there is some decent information archived there. http://www.sailpix.com/email/olson911/

I'm sure that others will pop on here and ask you to post pictures of your boat in your user gallery, so please do that too.

Thanks for the information. Suspect it might be the sails, we are looking around for new ones, will update if it solves the problem.

 

[Seth]

Weather helm

For sure the boat does NOT normally have a heavy weather helm.
1). Make sure the mast is not raked too far back
2). Make sure you do not excessive weight in the bow
3). Do not sail heeled more than about 20 degrees (flatten and shorten sail if heeling more)
4). related to 3-it is esential (as with any boat) that you have the right size and shaped sails for the conditions you are sailing in. If you are overpowered you will have a lot of weather helm. Heeling is slow and uncomfortable and makes the boat hard to control. It looks good in photos, but is poor sailing to run around tipped over too much

Have you noticed this problem is worse on one tack or only shows up on one tack? If so, you may have a bent rudder, or the rudder is flatter on one side than the other (not symetrical).

The deeper rudder is not a bad idea, but is not the solution for your issue-the boat has a good and powerful rudder (some of the older King designed e-boats could use a bigger rudder for some types of sailing, but not your boat). You issues is either 1-4 or there is something wrong with the rudder. BUT if this is the case, the boat will feel vcery different on one tack from the other. If it is always the same, your answer lies between 1-4.

Cheers

 

[windshear]

I have owned and raced an Olson 911e for years starting around 2000. Very successful.
The boat is now up in Canada racing successfully. I now own a Capo 30, # 8 hull racing in CT..
I need a new rudder. Have heard about the Schumaker upgrade, but cannot find any info on it or the standard rudder on the olson. Does anyone have information on this. Thanks.
Windshear.

 

[Loren Beach]

You might want to look at this blog entry and within it, a link to an upgrade rudder.

O34 - Olson Rudder picture

Rudder shape is a regular topic on the site, and I did not have a decent profile picture of the stock Olson-34 rudder. Just noticed that I have this photo from a haulout a couple years ago and recall some discussion of the shape and shaft...

ericsonyachts.org

I am curious to know if the earlier Capo 30 design used the same rudder as the Olson. On-line info about the boat seems to say that the Capo and the O-911s displace the same, but I would kinda doubt that, especially since EY added some interior furniture and also used a solid rather than cored hull.
My intuition would be that the Capo would be the fastest "version" of all, at least by several nano-knots !

 

[Slick470]

The pictures I've seen from line drawings of the Capo show a more traditional rudder design. When they went to the 911 they put the elliptical keel and rudder design on. The newer Schumacher upgrade is also elliptical, but deeper and higher aspect. I'd expect that the 911 rudder would also work on the Capo. Foss foam would probably know for sure.

 

[windshear]

You might want to look at this blog entry and within it, a link to an upgrade rudder.

O34 - Olson Rudder picture

Rudder shape is a regular topic on the site, and I did not have a decent profile picture of the stock Olson-34 rudder. Just noticed that I have this photo from a haulout a couple years ago and recall some discussion of the shape and shaft...

ericsonyachts.org

I am curious to know if the earlier Capo 30 design used the same rudder as the Olson. On-line info about the boat seems to say that the Capo and the O-911s displace the same, but I would kinda doubt that, especially since EY added some interior furniture and also used a solid rather than cored hull.
My intuition would be that the Capo would be the fastest "version" of all, at least by several nano-knots !

Capo is 900lbs lighter than the 911. Faster, not as nice indide as the 911. Thanks for the info. Still searching for details of the Schumaker upgrade for the 911.
Gilly

 

[Slick470]

Here is the Schumacher designed upgraded rudder

 

[Slick470]

Here is a version that Foss Foam has been using:

 

[Slick470]

Last one I have, this is the upgraded rudder that was done for the Olson 34 hull #1 (the only one built by Pacific Boats)