Newbie- Rigging Questions

Bud.Haycock

New Member
Hi

Firstly, I don't own a Laser sailboat... I have a Bombardier Invitation 16', which seems very similar to the Laser, so hopefully that is close enough to belong to the forum.. there are no Invitation forums on the net.

I'm fairly new to sailing( 3 years), and new to this style of boat. I have a couple of questions hopefully someone can answer. All the boats I've sailed before had a halyard for raising the main, which allowed for easy rigging and then hoisting the main on the water. This boat has a sleeved sail which is fitted over the mast before it is stepped. I'm wondering what techniques you use for 1. Keeping the sail from flapping while rigging/stepping the mast? and 2. How do you shorten/reef sail if you find yourself in sudden bad weather?

I had heard that some people wrap the sail around the mast a few times, step the mast, and then fit the boom and outhaul the sail once pointed head-to-wind on the water. Has anyone tried this? Does it work?
Can you safely leave the sail fitted to the mast while the boat is moored?

Boat Details:

Hull 16' Beam 5'
Mast 22'
Sleeved Sail with simple Cunningham through a deck cleat at the step
2 block Boom Vang
Loose Footed with simple outhaul and boom cleat
Center mainsheet with stern traveler
daggerboard

Hope someone can help me..

Thanks

Bud
 
I'm wondering what techniques you use for 1. Keeping the sail from flapping while rigging/stepping the mast? and

Hi, Bud. Welcome to the forum. We just let it flap while rigging. After it's rigged and the outhaul connected you can put on some vang to stop the flapping.

2. How do you shorten/reef sail if you find yourself in sudden bad weather?

I had heard that some people wrap the sail around the mast a few times, step the mast, and then fit the boom and outhaul the sail once pointed head-to-wind on the water. Has anyone tried this? Does it work?

I haven't tried it but it definitely works. Remember to take out the top batten. I'd fit the boom and connect the outhaul before launching though. Of course, you have to make sure your outhaul is long enough (if it's rigged like a Laser). Still have to keep it head to wind.

Can you safely leave the sail fitted to the mast while the boat is moored?

You can't moor a Laser. The gel coat isn't designed to be constantly immersed. Most of us don't leave our masts up either.

I'm curious about the Invitation. How much sail area does it have? Is the hull fiberglass and gel coat or is it that heavy plastic?
 
Hi Merrily..

Thanks for the reply... I'm not exactly sure about the boat specs, as it came to me without any manuals etc. I think the hull is GRP.. At 16' I think it's a bit longer than the (original) Laser.

The mast is about 22' long, so stepping (alone usually) in the wind is a bit exciting, so I was hoping to avoid doing it 4-5 times over the weekend. I'm not much of a racer.. I'm old and fat and mostly just like to cruise along it light winds.. The boat probably isn't the best match for my style (non-racer).. but it's what was available in my price range.. and it is in great shape. I have set it up several times in my yard... stepping the mast, rigging boom, vang, outhaul, mainsheet etc. but I haven't had it in the water yet (this weekend) as I just picked it up last week..

Thanks for the tips... For the last two years I've been sailing a friends little 12' Starcraft which is way smaller than the Invitation.. I'll let you know how it goes...

Bud
 
If you have a sandy beach, you can unhook the boom, etc. Then pull on leach and just tip the boat over on you (in a foot of water or so), and pull out the battens as you go up the leach. Right the boat, beach it, then you can just wrap the sail around the mast fairly tightly.

That works overnight, etc, but long term the sun eats the sail, and a storm might unravel it, etc.

Al
 
HI Bud - I have an Invitation - actually 2 - great boats and really quite fast - re your first question - the sail flapping - it will flat when you unfurl it byt what I did was attach a snap shackle on the line at the end of the boom and this allows for a far faster attachment and release when you are finished. Reefing is definately a challenge - if the wind does pick up considerably you are not going to manage to wrap the sail around the mast and reconnect without dumping - your choice - get used to sailing in 15 - 20 knots of air and you will not become too suprised when a blow dose come up. This is by the way a great forum for Invitation sailors as the two boats are so similar in many ways including the common maintenance problems. The sail area is 90 sq ft and there are no battens in the sail. Question does anyone have an Invitation which is rigged with a gib - they do exist but are very hard to find.
 
From the above thread on Sailing Anarchy


Re your INVITATION 16
My family had one in the late 70's and 80's as well as a Bombardier 3.8
The boats were built by Bombardier near Montreal
There was a smaller version known as the Bombardier 3.8(LOA 12'6"; Disp 123 lbs; SA 60 sq ft) I could accomodate 1 adult or t jr sailers
To correct the previous posts, there were no battens is either boats sails. This made furling the sail on the mast very easy. We used to leave our boat in the water on a mooring for days with the sail wrapped around the mast. The boat could be sailed quite effectivly with the sail "reefed" in this manner. The boats were supplied with exceptionally long outhauls for this, however, the sail wanted to "untwist".
The invitaion was a very fast boat with 90 sq ft of sail and almost 15' of waterline. The cocpit was large and could accomodate two adults or one adult and 2 jr sailers.

The rigging was very simple and almost a copy of the laser. Most of the blocks and fittings came from the same supplier

Put the mast together, slide the sail slever over the mast and wrap it up. now stant the mast up, and put it in the mast support in the deck.

Main Sheet. Rig the traveler with the small block with brommel hook on the traveler line. Attach the large block to the brommel hook on the traveler block. Start the mainsheet on the fiddle block on the boom, around the block on the traveller block, back around the boom block, forward to the mid boom block and end at the cockpit swivel block with cam cleat.
(Some booms had an eye strap midway between the two blocks to support the mainsheet).Same as a Laser

Cunningham - Attach the cunningham to the gooseneck fitting just above the boom pin, Reeve it through the tack and then to one of the deck faileads at the mast base then then to one of the jam cleats. (the reason for attatching the cunning ham to the gooseneck is to give you a secure attachment between the mast and the boat, not solely relying on the sail sleeve)
(same as a Laser)

Outhaul - start at the small silver jam cleat on the boom, through one of the fairleads on the end of the boom, throught the clew, back to the other fairlead and then forward to the fairlead on the front of the boom, down to the other fairlead at the mast base and then finish at the corresponding jam cleat. (a little different than a Laser)

There is a dealer of used boats near Midland ON, who has a fairly complete library of manuals for many older boats, including those by Bombardier. Contact Richard at Quiet Waters, Waubashene ON (www.sailboatsales.com)

Good Luck
 

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