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GILow · 22-02-2013, 20:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

I googled the Swanson 42 and notice that they seem to have a rather small wheel. I wonder if someone installed a bigger rudder. Or maybe they were built for "real men"...

I can't speak for my own "manliness"... hard to be objective. :^)

I do gather from my reading over the last few years that the Swanson brothers had a fairly spartan approach to sailing and that therefore there is a touch of machoism needed to sail a Swanson.

My cousin, from Sydney where the boats were mostly built, refers to the S42 as "ballsy". Not sure exactly what he means but I understand this to be a positive term..

But the rudder at least appears stock standard.

GILow · 22-02-2013, 20:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

I googled the Swanson 42 and notice that they seem to have a rather small wheel. I wonder if someone installed a bigger rudder. Or maybe they were built for "real men"...

Actually, I am almost too scared to look, but what is the chance there is a thread somewhere on this forum refering to something along the lines of "Small Wheel Syndrome"?

Nope, I am certainly NOT going to look... I think...

charliehows · 22-02-2013, 20:09

thinking out loud here - you're down to fully reefed main in conditions where you're not going to amble up forward, drop the main and run up a storm jib - i think most of us have been there...but...essentially you've got a dirty big torquey thing trying to push the boat up to a beam reach and a lot of tons of water joining in as soon as theres a bit of hull exposed side on. This may be the normal reaction of this design of boat to these circumstances - ie overpowering the steering. Trouble is, none of us gets a lot of practice in extreme conditions but one thing i have learned is the right choice of sail combination is very important once the weather gets up - its...challenging to make big sail alterations by then. If your steering is functioning as it should otherwise, i'd be thinking about trying sail combinations til you get a feel for how the boat handles - an example from my own experience - my first sail in my boat taught me that the damn thing will not go about with main, genoa, and no mizzen. Spent several days running all the way round the jibe on every bloody tack (cos the mizzen wasnt rigged - not the first time i've made the mistake of thinking the idiot i bought the boat from actually knew anything about how to sail it - he told me "i dont bother with the mizzen, it just shoves the arse around..." he had the bloody boat for 7 years, i dont think he ever sailed it without the engine running... )

GILow · 22-02-2013, 20:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by charliehows

...essentially you've got a dirty big torquey thing trying to push the boat up to a beam reach and a lot of tons of water joining in as soon as theres a bit of hull exposed side on.....

..not the first time i've made the mistake of thinking the idiot i bought the boat from actually knew anything about how to sail it - he told me "i dont bother with the mizzen, it just shoves the arse around..." he had the bloody boat for 7 years, i dont think he ever sailed it without the engine running... )

Yep, two points well made.

a) I now know I did have the wrong sail setup, but by that stage in the journey I was NOT making good decisions. I've made quite a few notes about the trip and if I HAD to do it again, I would do a lot of things differently, including going back to my original intention to swap the jibs, I had the genoa on the self furler which was just plain DUMB, once of those last minute plan changes that you make when you are sleep deprived and not thinking clearly.

b) The people I bought the boat from apparently just motor sailed her all the time, hence I have tracked down the original owner for advice. Looking forward to having someone who SAILED the boat for 21 years accelerate my learning a little. The one journey I made with the people I bought her from made it clear they did not sail her when they could motor. Actually, I think it is kind of sad that they bought her, I reckon they would have had a lot more joy from a real motor sailor, not a Swanson 42, which is a real... er... SAILING boat.

M

charliehows · 22-02-2013, 20:36

"sleep deprived and not thinking clearly." know all about that...good fun though, eh, if you survive...

GILow · 22-02-2013, 20:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by charliehows

"sleep deprived and not thinking clearly." know all about that...good fun though, eh, if you survive...

Certainly a journey that seems better as time passes...

delmarrey · 22-02-2013, 21:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by GILow

Actually, I am almost too scared to look, but what is the chance there is a thread somewhere on this forum refering to something along the lines of "Small Wheel Syndrome"?

Nope, I am certainly NOT going to look... I think...

I prefer a small wheel!

.

GILow · 22-02-2013, 21:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by delmarrey

I prefer a small wheel!

.

Now that is a VERY nice setup indeed. I assume it is your hydraulic setup? I can't see where but did you mention how many turns lock to lock?

A small wheel like that would make much more sense than the current arrangement to me, though I take the point that I can reach the wheel from either side of the cockpit currently. The Swanson does not heel much though, so that's not too important to me.

M

delmarrey · 22-02-2013, 22:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by GILow

Now that is a VERY nice setup indeed. I assume it is your hydraulic setup? I can't see where but did you mention how many turns lock to lock?

A small wheel like that would make much more sense than the current arrangement to me, though I take the point that I can reach the wheel from either side of the cockpit currently. The Swanson does not heel much though, so that's not too important to me.

M

The hydraulics has a locking system that is on when I sail and off when I motor, by choice. The boat pretty much sails itself in winds up to 15 kt. I just adjust the sails then make minor adjustments to the wheel and it'll stay there for a long while w/tiny adjustment along the way, sometimes.

It's 4.5 turns to the locks but I can adjust it so it's 6.5 turns if I please. As it is now I just spin the wheel when I'm tacking and it travels most of the way over from center.

It's an IOR hull so the boat is only 8' across at the wheels location. But motoring and heavy weather is the only time I spend much time behind the wheel.

Also, there are pressure gauges on the pedestal that shows how much feedback is on the rudder, P & S. In which I can adjust the sails to the least amount of rudder feedback. IAW I can fine tune the sails vs rudder.

.

donradcliffe · 22-02-2013, 22:43

Small wheel or big wheel, your autopilot ain't going to be happy if you can't balance the boat better. Going off the wind, think more sail forward and less sail aft, or pole out the genoa

Sweet Chariot · 22-02-2013, 22:49

My Swanson 32 has Edson helm and has 2 3/4 turns lock to lock and i have no trouble with the strength needed provided the boat is balanced well.

Steve
www.sweetchariot.blog.com

GILow · 22-02-2013, 23:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by delmarrey

The hydraulics has a locking system that is on when I sail and off when I motor, by choice.

....

Also, there are pressure gauges on the pedestal that shows how much feedback is on the rudder, P & S. In which I can adjust the sails to the least amount of rudder feedback. IAW I can fine tune the sails vs rudder.

.

Any chance you know the brand name of that setup? It sounds rather good.

M

GILow · 22-02-2013, 23:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Chariot

My Swanson 32 has Edson helm and has 2 3/4 turns lock to lock and i have no trouble with the strength needed provided the boat is balanced well.

Steve
www.sweetchariot.blog.com

The S42 seems very well balanced most of the time, we just had a bit of struggle with my poor sail choice and a following sea/wind combination. Although I PLAN to avoid that problem in the future, at the time I wondered if 3 turns lock to lock was too highly geared, particularly as I plan to put a smaller wheel on her, hence my post.

Seems 3 turns is about normal, and in all probability the main problem has simply been my lack of experience of large boats. (Though I WILL double check the setup again)

But I do admit to quietly ogling the odd hydraulic steering arrangement, though I would bet that is another choice that people would have good opinions on, so I'm going to search for a thread on that subject now. I bet that one has been covered well.

Thank you all for the valuable advice, again I have gone into something armed with very little knowledge and come out the other side with some very sound advice and just a little wiser to what to look for.

M

delmarrey · 22-02-2013, 23:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by GILow

Any chance you know the brand name of that setup? It sounds rather good.

M

Kolbelt, I installed it myself. Goto my blog (bottom of post) under 2011/Steering Upgrade and the setup is all there, except the steering lock assembly, which I'll add later after I get pictures.