Rough Day on the Lake..

Hey Everyone...

I started sailing a laser last August here in Toronto and have fallen in love with it. I managed to sail until late November last year and back out again in early May but that's still not too much time on the water.

I went out today for my third time in what I consider high wind - around 20 knots. The first two times had been disasters but since they were both last year when I was REALLY green I wrote it off. Today though I had been ready to show off my skills since I THOUGHT I knew how to properly hike and read the wind. But I got blown off the lake again!! I found that despite hiking full out and wrestling the boat I could not keep it even remotely flat enough to build speed. I was constantly going so far to leeward that my rudder would come out and I would start to lose steering. More than a few times I went right over- which would be fine if I had even managed to build any speed first! The end result was that instead of flying around the lake I spent all my time either in irons and trying to get out, or sitting up in the air trying to keep my rudder in the water...

I am basically self-taught so I know that technique has much to do with it but watching other laser sailors I can't figure out how they seem to keep the boat moving and flat(ish) without half the wrestling with it that I do...

My boat is older (1982) but the hull is in extremely good shape. The set up is old school with no upgrades on the vang, outhaul and cunningham.. My sail is also old and pretty blown out I guess.

I realize that the sail is an issue for sure and I'm in the process of getting a newer one but do people think my set up/sail are the issue or do you have tips technique wise for higher winds? It burns me up that everyone else had a great summer day and I was swimming around in frustration!

I'm 35 and about 180lbs fyi... in anything less I don't struggle too much so I am wondering expense wise if I would be better off getting lots of upgrades for the boat to help me out, a radial rig for high wind or investing in some lessons!!

thoughts??

Hiya,
I feel your frustration as I have been (still am?) in awe of the guys who seem to keep their boat flat and fast in high winds.

Other more expert than me will chime in but here's my understanding of how they do it:
Upwind you wants lots of vang/kicker on so that when you ease the mainsheet in gusts, the boom stays low to the deck but you are easing out to spill some wind and keep the boat flat.
Not even the experts can keep the mainsheet block-to-block in high winds no matter how far out they hike.
Remember the phrase 'Flat is Fast' because you are better off spilling wind from an eased sail than trying to keep the sail full and tipping the boat on its edge.

I highly recommend the Rooster Sailing 'Boat Whisperer' DVDs by Steve Cockerill for video demonstrations of this and other useful techniques.

Michael
Windy Wellington
New Zealand

Oh brother you are preaching to the whole dam church...its really very simple, although much harder to accomplish wiith the old set up. You nail the Cunningham and outhaul hard enough that you think they will break. Then put enough vang on that when you tack you have difficulty getting under the boom. I dont know how the old timers did it with old boats. Today its much easier with up grades, than go ride the bucking bronco. Im 60, 3rd year on the boat and 175. Wait until you try sailing down wind in 20 plus....watching the pros is like watching a ballerina in a 150 lb boat. Have fun, sail fast and keep smiling.

I purchased an older laser about the same time as you (and was also new to this boat and
fairly new to sailing in general).
These were my experiences from the past year that you might relate to.
First:
Laser sailing is supposed to be fun and rewarding. If the winds are too high for your experience level
go out another day. I have gone out many times when the winds were above my pay grade and I just came home
beaten up, frustrated and demoralized. Go out in lighter winds and build up some experience and then
build up to higher winds.
I can finally sail in 20+ knots - but I can have just as much fun in 10 knots. I only sail in high winds
when racing or I just want need some high wind experience, otherwise I find something else to do that day.
Guys I know with much more experience than me are still intimidated by high wind, downwind.
...it still freaks me out at times.
(and as dingyj#22 said - "just Wait until you try sailing down wind in 20 plus" - that's when the sh*t really
hits the fan!
Upgrades:
I wasn't sure if the laser was the right boat for me (I'm 58, 195 lbs) so I initially resisted upgrading until I was sure
my body would hold up to the punishment. I figured upgrades were just a marketing gimick to separate people from
their hard earned money.
But, then the more comfortable I got and finally understood what the upgrades really do I finally upgraded the
vang/kicker, outhaul & cunningham - they have a meaningful impact.
A race vang/outhaul would absolutely help you going upwind in high winds as it is almost impossible to flatten
the sail sufficiently without them.

Videos:
Initially, what helped the most were YouTube videos from Shirley Robertson and Jon Emmett. They
break techniques down to short and simple steps which I would go out and practice, practice, practice.
A simple search will find you about 15-20 very helpful videos.

I too bought the Boat Whisperer DVDs but found them more helpful to a bit more experienced Laser
sailers, which I am slowly becoming.

Community:
Find a laser club and join it. Even if you feel intimidated by all the 'cool kids' with the newer boats
and expensive upgrades they will bend over backwards giving you tips. Frankly, at some point their advice
will become more valuable than videos.

It's a slow learning process. Gradually work you way up...

Well said Don, in addition, I am booking a week at La Cruz in Mexico this spring. Im sure I will learn a lot and have a blast, hopefully upon my return be able to handle 20kt both up and down wind.

If you're not racing- I'd say it's worth thinking about getting a smaller sail for bigger winds. I have all 3- full, radial, 4.7. I'm 59 yrs old and 165 lbs. When it blows more I just put up a smaller sail and go sailing- it's a blast to be out there in 25-30 knots. The smaller sails are MUCH more manageable. They're not only smaller, but the mast is shorter too. So whatever heeling force the sail creates, is exerted lower to the deck- on a shorter "lever arm", being the shorter mast. So with the 4.7, you can get hit with a pretty big gust and the impact on the boat is far less.

You can get non-race-legal smaller sails from Intensity or APS, + possibly others, much cheaper than a class-legal sail. The smaller sails each need their own shorter bottom mast section, which you can also get cheaper non-legal versions from Intensity +APS.

In terms of technique I'll just +1 what the other guys said- spilling wind from the sail is key. Once that rudder starts coming up out of the water, you're going to lose steering, which means lose control of the boat. I'll also say the vang upgrade is a big help in flattening out the sail, which reduces the heeling force a lot, and also reduces the "hit" from a gust.

You can more-or-less get a lot of the effect of the vang, by sheeting in block-to-block, and tightening the vang as much as you can right there. Then ease the sheet. You can't ADJUST it in and out after that, but you can just leave it tight.

BUT keep in mind that the vang will be pulling on that midpoint of the boom with HUGE force. If the rivets are old, the boom is old, and-or the line in the vang is old, the odds of something breaking go up a lot. If you're gonna go out there in bigger wind, I'd recommend putting a boom reinforcing sleeve in your old boom ($35 from APS), and re-riveting the vang attach fitting, and probably flipping the boom end-to-end.

Hope you have fun with it.