Lee Helm Mac 22

[jtis1]

I need some help solving my strong Lee helm. Yesterday I was out sailing on the Delaware in 15-20k winds with my (boom roller) reefed main and OEM jib. Before I put up the jib the boat would strongly pull away from the wind and could not tack well. I "hove to" simply by turning the rudder towards the wind and the boat would go in and out of the no go zone. Once I hoisted the jib, this balanced the boat better and I could then tack and sail on any point but still with a healthy lee helm. DOes this have anything to do with the roller method of reefing. I've never done this before. Or is this just a fact of the Mac 22-cant sail with the main alone. On other boats I have been able to sail with the (standard) reefed main alone under strong wind conditions. Any suggestions?

[finding41]

Did you have your keel all the way down? Was the rudder strait up and down? Both important.
Check those and tell us what you find.

[jtis1]

Good points. Keel was all the way down. I assume the rudder was all the way down, but sometimes it drags back when its choppy.

[mastreb]

How is your shroud tension and mast rake? Those strongly affect lee and weather helm as well. I'm not sure what the ideal numbers are for your boat, but others on the board do.