Laser 2 questions...

T

trist007

Member
I have a laser 2 that I bought a year ago. The rear part of the hull by the tiller is very soft if I push it down with my hands, I try not to sit on it. Is there anyway to reinforce it?

Also, where can I find boom vangs for the Laser 2. I tried moving the vang over that I have for my Laser but the fittings are different.

-Tristan
 
Also, where can I see how to rig up the Laser 2 boom vang. I have the blocks but I have to put the line in it and I don't know exactly how to do that.
 
Great also, the rim around the centerboard has a furry lining to prevent water from coming up along the sides of the centerboard into the cockpit. A strip came off and now water gets in on the side of the centerboard. Where can I find that furry tape to line that section?
 
I have been sailing a lot on a Sunfish and a Laser Full mast for a little over a year. I finally got everything working on the Laser 2. Oh man, it's a great feeling have 2 sheets to the wind. It's surprisingly easy to single hand this boat. I have a little method putting up the mast and taking it down all by myself. Any how it was a pleasure sailing it. I got a little high wind and noticed that this boat gets overpowered easily. What do you guys normally do? Take down the jib? Tighen the boom vang, outhaul, and downhaul? There are no reef points right? I usually just sail close hauled and point into the wind if I get overpowered. Also, I have two pins for mast placement, either closer fore or aft. Which is better for high wind/low wind? I guess this changes the center of effort.

Also, I never turtled the boat, but I would assume it would be the same method, pushing the centerboard down to right it back up. Makes me wonder if the mast can handle the stress of righting it back up.

P.S. Regular velcro worked great!

-Tristan
 
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trist007 said:
I got a little high wind and noticed that this boat gets overpowered easily. What do you guys normally do? Take down the jib? Tighen the boom vang, outhaul, and downhaul? There are no reef points right? I usually just sail close hauled and point into the wind if I get overpowered. Also, I have two pins for mast placement, either closer fore or aft. Which is better for high wind/low wind? I guess this changes the center of effort.
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Just work the mainsheet in and out with the gusts. The vang should be tight enough to take almost all of the vertical load on the main, so the mainsheet moves the boom sideways only.

If the main then ends up flogging most of the time, then the mast isn't raked enough. On a Laser 2, you increase rake by loosening the jib halyard and tightening the shrouds. As you obviously can't do this on the water, it's a setting that you have to choose when rigging. If you're not racing, I would recommend sailing with a heavy-air rake all the time, just to make things simpler.

Adjusting the mast step on a stayed rig doesn't much affect the centre of effort, and it doesn't do much else either, so just choose either position and forget about it. But leaving the jib out would shift the center of effort back quite a bit, making the boat actually harder to handle with the increased weather helm. Also, you need the jib halyard to hold the mast up, as the forestay on the Laser 2 is not supposed to take any rig loads.

Makes me wonder if the mast can handle the stress of righting it back up.
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This is actually much less of a worry with a stayed rig.
 
LaLi said:
If the main then ends up flogging most of the time, then the mast isn't raked enough. If you're not racing, I would recommend sailing with a heavy-air rake all the time, just to make things simpler.
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LaLi,

That's very interesting. And here's my question. All things being equal, meaning, two identical jib and main set ups... with the same outhaul, cunningham and vang settings, what is it about more mast rake that will make heavy air sailing easier?

Thanks,

- Andy
 
Andy, it's about several good things happening together. It depowers through twisting the jib and opening the slot, and lowering the rig. More importantly, it moves the centre of effort back, to balance the rig by compensating for the sheeted-out main. There are other aerodynamic advantages as well, but I believe they're minor effects.

This applies to traditional high-performance dinghies with a sloop rig, such as Laser 2, 470, 505, etc. which plane upwind. They have a clear threshold wind strength, above which it pays to go low and fast. I believe that skiffs don't do this (they're always in the "fast" mode), and neither do heavier boats (always in the "high" mode). For instance, in the Lightning we always sail with the same rake. For most una-rig boats this is also irrelevant.
 
LaLi said:
More importantly, it moves the centre of effort back, to balance the rig by compensating for the sheeted-out main.
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Ah... ok... I totally get that. Back in the day when we'd sail my 470 and it was blowing hard, I'd cleat the main then just "sheet in and out" by using the main traveler. But there would be times as I'd do this (ease the traveler)... when we'd sail into an even stronger patch of wind... the jib would blow the bow down and I'd have to steer upwind to compensate. More rake would have helped. Thanks.

LaLi said:
It depowers through twisting the jib and opening the slot, and lowering the rig.
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I'm having a hard time picturing how having more rake would twist the jib more. That is, while keeping the jib car and jib lead settings exactly the same, how just moving the rake of the entire rig would twist the jib more. And I'm assuming that your phrase "opening the slot" means you're opening the slot a bit because the jib now has more twist exclusively as a result of more mast rake, not because you've actually moved the jib clew outwards towards the gunnel via the jib car and opening the slot. Or by easing the jib leach tension by having the direction of pull more along the foot of the jib rather than downward along the leach and opening the slot. That's the way we would open the slot and add twist to the jib on my 470.

I enjoy discussions about these nuances. Good stuff!

- Andy
 
andyatos said:
I'm having a hard time picturing how having more rake would twist the jib more. That is, while keeping the jib car and jib lead settings exactly the same, how just moving the rake of the entire rig would twist the jib more.
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It does because the head of the jib moves back with the mast, and the distance between the head and the jib lead decreases. That is, if you don't adjust the leads to compensate. This is more relevant for the Laser 2 than the 470, because its jib leads aren't very adjustable - they're either on athwartships or very short fore-and-aft pinstop tracks.
 
I want to make sure I completely understand. So I know how to tighten the shrouds.

<quote="Lali">
you increase rake by loosening the jib halyard and tightening the shrouds
</quote>

So you mean I ease the jib halyard which will lower the jib a little?

By "flogging" you mean luffing right?

And by adding more "rake" you mean moving the top of the mast further forward not aft correct?

But in heavy wind shouldn't the mast rake be more aft?

http://www.getwetsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Mast-Rake-2.jpg

What is the jib lead?
 
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trist007 said:
So you mean I ease the jib halyard which will lower the jib a little?
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The jib won't actually move downward very much - it rather pivots a bit around the stemhead fitting. The halyard should always be very tight, enough to pre-bend the mast slightly forward (the "wrong" way).

By "flogging" you mean luffing right?
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Yes. (Although "luffing" makes me think of the opposite of "bearing away".)

And by adding more "rake" you mean moving the top of the mast further forward not aft correct?

But in heavy wind shouldn't the mast rake be more aft?
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No, and yes. When you say you rake more, it means increasing distance from the vertical. It's fairly universally measured by the distance between the masthead and the transom, though, so increased rake actually means a smaller number in tuning guides.

What is the jib lead?
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It's the fairlead that your jib sheet goes through.
 
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