Trailing Arm Leeboard Mounts - For T-front rigs and Canoe Kit -- moves leeboards aft to reduce weather helm

Product Description

Snap-in leeboard mounts with trailing arms to move the leeboards aft of the main front crossbar and reduce weather helm.   If you have too much weather helm even with the mast at the very front of your bowsprit this is the accessory for decreasing weather helm some more.     

The picture tells the story: Snap-in arms that will point straight back from your main front crossbar, with leeboard mount on the back of each one.

You snap these in, then move your mast aft (back) along the bowsprit until you find the perfect placement for the amount of weather helm you desire.  You won't need the mast to be at the front tip anymore.  You would almost certainly have lee helm (bad!) if you didn't move the mast back after deploying these trailing arms. 

As always, find the best tuning of the steering for your boat and your preferences through a series of experiments under moderate conditions close to shore.  Don't try to move your mast forward or back while you are on the water.

Price is for a pair.   ("Weather helm" is the tendency to turn into the wind, that you have have to counteract with the rudder or steering oar to go straight.  Moderate weather helm is the desired goal.  Too much weather helm is tiring and slows you down.   Too little, none, or the opposite -- lee helm -- makes the boat hard to control.)

Suitable for any of our kits with the T-shape front assembly, such as the canoe sail kit, or the #2021 kayak kit.

You probably do not want more than 42 inches of separation between the mast and an imaginary line drawn from leeboard to leeboard, and even that is probably too much.  This accessory will move the leeboards back 12 inches, so you may need to move the mast back from the tip of the bowsprit.  Determine the optimal location through a series of experiments under moderate conditions, so that if you end up having lee helm in one of your experiments, you won't have too much trouble getting back to shore safely.   Do the moving of the mast at the shore, do not attempt on the water.

"Lee helm" is a tendency of the boat to turn downwind. Very undesirable.