Best way to deal with an incident on board

[ducky]

I was wondering what the best way to deal with issues on board when in other boats the sail would be dropped and the boat towed in.
I'm a new laser sailor, been sailing for 4 or 5 years but only just got my hands on a laser and i had my first major incident today.
It was blowing 18-20 knots with really big waves and i am a very light radial sailor. I was doing fine until i got to the gybe mark, when i capsized. After i got upright i had some issues which I sorted out, knot in mainsheet coming undone, sail going all the way round etc. When i was finally ready to go sailing again my tiller came away in my hand!
It was very scary and i didn't know what to do since it was windy and had really big waves.
I am the lone laser at my club and i don't think the rescue boat people quite knew what to do with me. Eventually they came up beside me and we removed my mast and I drifted the long way in.
However there is now a slight, very slight chip in the mast step, easily fixed and not crucial but i think it could have been a lot worse.
Was there a better way to do this?
And has something like this happened to somebody else?
Thank you

 

[jeffers]

Sounds to me like there are 2 issues here:

1) You didn't seem overly confident of your ability to handle the conditions (to be honest 18-20kts and big waves would scare a lot of people off myself included).

2) The rescue boat crew whould have known how to handle it. If all else fails get you onboard and tie your boat to something, it can always be recovered later! I certainly would not advocate them removing your mast and leaving you to drift home!

The issues with regards to boat are simpler to resolve.

1) Practice practice practice. Go out and practice gybing until you can (litertally) do it wioth your eyes closed. When windy remember speed is your friend, the fast the boat goes through the gybe the less force there is on the sail when it comes across.

2) Mainsheet in a knot. Always pull the mainsheet out to its full length before you launch, this works out any inherant twists and kinks. It will not stop the thing getting tagled but it certainly does help!

3) Tiller coming off...this is simply down to boat prep in my view. Make sure that every rope is in good condition. Every fitting is secure, every block is running smoothly before you launchy. Make sure the tiller universal joint is not split and make sure that you have secured the tiller in the stock by either using a pin or tying it in.

Once you know your boat is right it leaves you to concentrate on making the thing go as fast as possible.

People look at me like I am mad when I spend 5-10 minutes going round the boat before each race but it has saved me quite a few times (I did learn the hard way mind).

 

[Merrily]

I was wondering what the best way to deal with issues on board when in other boats the sail would be dropped and the boat towed in.
I'm a new laser sailor, been sailing for 4 or 5 years but only just got my hands on a laser and i had my first major incident today.

First things first. Congratulations on getting your first Laser! You are going to have a blast!

It was blowing 18-20 knots with really big waves and i am a very light radial sailor.

I agree with Jeffers. Practice, practice, practice in lighter wind until your sailing is second nature before trying that much wind again.

I was doing fine until i got to the gybe mark, when i capsized. After i got upright i had some issues which I sorted out, knot in mainsheet coming undone, sail going all the way round etc. When i was finally ready to go sailing again my tiller came away in my hand!

The Laser has lots of little things that can go wrong. I've had all of the things that you describe happen, including drifting to shore. In addition, I've had my sail detach itself at the clew, the tiller over the traveler lines (you figure this one out in a hurry!), and my centerboard bungy in a twist. You have to rig a Laser "mindfully." Make sure all your knots are tightened, or "dressed." I'm not sure how the sail would go all the way around while you are capsized. Did this happen when the sail was in the water?

It was very scary and i didn't know what to do since it was windy and had really big waves.
I am the lone laser at my club and i don't think the rescue boat people quite knew what to do with me. Eventually they came up beside me and we removed my mast and I drifted the long way in.
However there is now a slight, very slight chip in the mast step, easily fixed and not crucial but i think it could have been a lot worse.
Was there a better way to do this?
And has something like this happened to somebody else?
Thank you

It's a bad idea to remove the mast while on the water. You are lucky you only got a chip. If done wrong, you can break the mast step out.

You should have tied a tow line to your mast at the base and had them tow you in very slowly while you remained in the boat to steer. Either detach the sail at the clew or have the mainsheet totally released to allow the mast to rotate. In 20 knots I vote for a released clew.

Welcome to Lasering!

 

[dpearson]

You've got a lot of good feedback. Practicing in quieter conditions certainly is the key. A couple of refinements / other thoughts:

(1) The tiller does attach with both a pin near the top of the rudder and the rudder pull down line that runs to the cleat up near the front of the tiller. Both of them provide some security to the tiller coming off in your hand. Make sure you use them! In your case, I imagine the knot came undone at the cleat?

(2) When getting towed in, release the mainsail at the clew. Sometimes easier said than done? Personally, I attach the outhaul / clew holddown lines to the sail's clew using a snap-shackle. Probably not Laser-legal for racing, but good for other times. The snap shakle literally makes it a snap to detach the sail from the boom and get the pressure off your system! Once you do that, pull the vang on hard so that the boom doesn't slip out at the mast. I figure you don't want parts everywhere ;-).

 

[ducky]

Thank you very much everyone
Unfortunately the tiller snapped off in the rudder box so there was absolutely nothing i could do in the way of steering.
I was relatively comfortable in the wavs as it is what i am used to sailing in having only ever sailed from Chelsea.
The eye/saddle thing that the mast tie down and cunninghamare connected to snapped which is why the sail went all the way around i think.
The guy we bught the laser from suggested that i should have capsized the boat, held in to the mast and i would have been taken straight in with out any issues.
He also said to tie the end of the mainsheet to the hking strap after the figure of 8 knot was put in for extra security.
I'll try that when i get out sailing after all the various bits and bobs that broke get fixed.
Hopefully i won't need your suggestions but in the world of sailing anything is possible.