Laser 2 Solo Best Advice

MPP1234

New Member
So I've spent the summer solo trappin' on my new old laser 2. I was wondering what types of tips/tricks folks have for sailing solo on the trap (with both sails up of course). Recently I was told to tie my jib sheets to the trap rings so I can have access to the jib sheet while trapping... I'm wondering what other things I'm missing out on.

Looking for all things, body positioning, rigging, adjustments mid plane, etc.. I don't have a spinnaker but the boat is rigged for one but for now I'm justing thinking about heavy wind solo trap'ing.

Cheers,

CaptMo
 
Hi CaptMo,

I don't have a Laser 2 but I did spend quite a lot of time sailing solo on my 470... most of the time on the trap. Because I only had half the mass of what was intended for the boat, it was all about managing the power as you worked your way fully out on to the trap.

In the case of going up wind, here's what I'd do.

- Decide how high I wanted to point then set the jib on the cam cleat. Never had the tail of the jib sheet out on to the trap, as dumping the main always was enough to get the boat back under control. Next, hook into the trap and work my body... while still sitting... in sort of a pile over the gunnel. As I'd do this I'd start applying the power of the main by gradually pulling in the main sheet. No applying the traveler yet.

- I'd continue to do this until I was standing on the gunnel. By then, I'd have the boat going and have my apparent wind well forward. Once in this more stable configuration, I'd then move the traveler to leeward while pulling on the mainsheet more... thereby flattening the main and at the same time firming up the leech so I could point well. I'd then cleat the main and sail by the traveler, keeping the shape of the main constant while adding more drive or taking it away by sheeting in and sheeting out the main with the traveler. Again, it was all about managing the power because unless the wind was really light, I was always overpowered.

- Because the centerboard's center of lateral resistance plays a very large role in how much you heal, I'd raise it to the point where I could sail well powered up but not having to dump the power in the main because I was healing too much. Because the centerboard rakes back more as you raised it on the 470, that would have the potential to create a "leeward helm"... where the boat would want to head off. Having a firm leech, by virtue of having a set mainsheet and "sheeting" with the traveler allow me to still have a balanced helm. Rigging the mast with more rake to begin with on my solo outings helped this also.

- On beam or broad reaches it was easier to sail solo because the power was more directed in your direction of travel than when pointing. It was still just a matter of slowly bringing on the power as you got your body over the gunnel and eventually standing up. Keeping your apparent wind always forward was key because if you weren't paying attention and plowed too much into the back of a wave and, therefore, rapidly slowed down, that would bring your apparent wind suddenly back and now you were very overpowered and having to dump everything to keep from going over. So, being extra aware of every puff you were about to sail into was important.

- Running... while flying the spinnaker... was pretty hilarious. At least figuring out how to get the thing up and flying while sailing solo was concerned. One trick I learned was to raise my centerboard all the way up while raising the chute and getting it squared away. This eliminated all healing because when the puffs... or unwanted course changes because I was solo and had my hands full... would load up the main, having no centerboard would allow the boat to just get pushed off the wind with no heal. Then when I'd get everything squared away, I'd lower the centerboard some, come up slowly and sail on a broad reach. Never did get out on the trap fully while flying the chute. It just seemed ridiculous in terms of the mess you'd create if you lost control.

Anyway, that was some of the most fun sailing I've done in the 470. I still clearly remember getting all squared away while pointing high in a light, steady seabreeze, my legs fully extended out on the trap, finessing the tiller and traveler, all while looking under the healing hull at the beautiful, white centerboard foil driving me upwind.

Cheers,

- Andy
 
I sailed a 470 solo on the trap when I was young but I could never articulate what I was doing better than was already said. There is a one man skiff, "solo skiff." Check out info blogs etc you may find some additional info but what has been said is pretty dam good.
 
Andy thank you for the great writeup and all the pointers! This is perfect and thanks for putting in the time!

Cheers!

morgan
 

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