sea water versus the pond

madyottie

Apprentice
Hi all,

Today one of the clubs near me had a large pursuit race.

Sadly only 2 lasers turned up - must be afraid of the cold, the club thermometer said 6 degrees below zero. The breeze was perfect for the other guy, who weighed somewhere around 75kg, with marginal planing, and lots of broad reaches. At 100kg, I was a little worried!!

When I race on the sea (I normally do) I find it quite hard to keep pace with the lighter guys in marginal planing conditions, where they seem to pop out a lot sooner, as you would expect.

Today however, on the fresh water lake, this didn't really seem noticeable. With the exception of one leg, when he pulled up to level with me on a gust, which allowed him inside on a mark, I seemed to have better speed in all directions.

Aha! I hear you say, he might be still quite novice. No. Apparently he is quite well known, and races the UK national circuit, where he performs rather well. (I haven't bothered to do any national or internationals for about 8 years, so am relying on hearsay about that.)

Big question of the day........

When switching between ponds and oceans, have any of you noticed a change in relative boatspeed compared to lighter or heavier competitors?

Any answers as to why this effect should occur, and whether you've ever gained/lost from it would be much appreciated. Might be a good research assignment for my next uni project!

Cheers to all, and a happy new year to everyone on TLF!
 
I don't know about salt versus fresh, but I do know that colder air is denser air, and the same wind speed will have more force when it is cold. 6 below freezing? Did you have a problem with icing?
 
Being heavier on the sea helps as you have waves to contend with. Without the waves on flat water the lighter guys can usually keep up better. Other things like sail setting etc change depending on water condition so if you set up to what you are used to sailing on the sea it isn't always so fast on flat water.

I was a pond sailor for years, only sailing on the sea for the first time in 2001 and finally moving to the coast about 3 years ago. There is a huge difference in the way you sail.
 
Merrily, yes I did have a problem with things icing up. My mainsheet, which had sat in the car overnight, had frozen into straight sections when I went to thread it in the morning. When I dipped the boom end in the water during a roll gybe, the knot got wet, and when I got ashore after the race it had frozen into position, which was quite funny to see. Also the ratchet block was partly frozen, and the ratchet pawls had jammed up, so the block just free spun until it got warmed up (by friction, i guess). After a few minutes it came back to life, which was good as it got a bit breezier toward the end of the day.

Sailorchick, thats exactly what I expected to happen, with the lighter guy leaving me behind, especially as it was flat water. Thats why I was asking if anyone had experienced the opposite, which is what happened yesterday. I was heavier, and faster.

I've been racing Lasers on and of for 20 years, most of which was in NZ, in both inland and coastal waters, and never found the bigger guys to have an advantage in marginal planing conditions, except yesterday. Maybe it was the cold air, but whatever it was, I liked it!

I had a point to prove, which is that cheque books don't make a huge amount of difference in Laser sailing. My boat is number 13985, which puts it older than the records on the laser site. The outhaul still ends on the boom, and I dont have an XD kicker block. The other guy had a brand new boat, number 19something, which he said was two months old.

The only new part on my boat was the sail, which was having its first proper race after its warm-up.

Did I win? No. But I was an entire leg ahead of the other guy, at about half way through the race, when he retired because it was getting a bit too cold. Amazingly, I couldn't catch the Europe, or the Solos which were ahead of me, but caught all the enterprises rather easily.
 
On a side, sea sailing is so much better than lake sailing. Lake sailing just isn't as enjoyable. It's a good education for understanding headers, footers etc and how to deal with shifty conditions but sea sailing is where it's at.... it doesn't get better than a force 5 and big chop on the nose before bearing away for the downwind blast. Is there anyone who prefers inland stuff?
 
Is there any differences on the force of centerboard because of the lake water??I mean is it harder to keep the boat flat in lake water or does the horizontal force of the wind drags the boat to leeward??

sorry for my english :S
 

Back
Top