Death Rolling

onetwoMeny

onetwoMeny

New Member
Hello my Fellow laser sailors.

Last weekend i took my Laser out for the first time anD i deathrolled allot. My down wind always sucked and i need some pointers to help me start off this season with less deathrolling. also wondering if u guys have any tips on keeping balance in the boat with out puttin a knee down. thnx
 
I have started off by over trimming the main. This seems to stabilize the boat from the death rolling. As you feel more and more confident ease the sail out.

It just takes time in the boat.

I also have learned that when i ease the main out to the point the boat comes unstable I can kind of balance it by pulling in the main or easing it based on the rocking motion. I just counteract the rocking with pumping the main.

Another thing to consider is keeping more centerboard down and vang on.

If you go out in 30knots with no vang on the centerboard up and the main out past 90 degrees you will deathrole.

Try watching the rooster downwind video as well, he has some really good tips for this as well.
 
jamesfreedman said:
I also have learned that when i ease the main out to the point the boat comes unstable I can kind of balance it by pulling in the main or easing it based on the rocking motion. I just counteract the rocking with pumping the main.
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Spot on! Thats exactly what I do. When it starts to heel I push off of the side of the cockpit wall to get up on the highside, while giving one big pull on the mainsheet. Why don't you want to put one knee down? I always sit that way, with the knee of my front leg up. I tighten the hiking strap so that my leg that's wrapped around it is solid, and I feel really stable. The key is to use the upper body when in this posistion.
 
Apparently classic text book sailing says never put your knee or knees on the cockpit floor. I think that it doesnt matter as long as you are mobile and agile to move around if needed in a hurry.
 
the thing that helps me te most is, never easing the main over 90°, and depending on the wind, pulling the vang thighter. Use to deathroll a lot, but after sailing some regatta's at the ijsselmeer in holland, where it aint very deep, i had to find a way to keep my topsection in one piece, and to keep the sail clean. on flat water with moderate wind, i loosen te vang totaly, and just never put the boom over 90°, cause then the top of te sail flops to the otherside, a nice breese, and your swimming.
 
When you feel a roll starting drive the boat lower by the lee with a little trim in on the main. It feels wrong, but it works. You can't sit on your knees in the cockpit.

If you're out in 30 knots you have bigger worries than death rolling.....
 
Chainsaw said:
Sail by the lee and kiss death rolling goodbye. :D
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Simply put!

Read/watch this: http://www.roostersailing.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=4thdim&Store_Code=1

Sailing dead downwind is a bit like watching a flag fluttering in the breeze. The wind flow moves it one way and then the other. In a similar way if you sail dead downwind, the flow over the sail alternates from leach to luff and luff to leach making the boat almost impossible to control.
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The common running problem is the violent roll to windward that causes the boat to start to bear away radically. What do you do? Perhaps you pull the sheet in and move your weight to correct the trim, but lets concentrate on the rudder. Do you push the rudder away from you (head up) or pull it toward you (bear away)? For most of you it is probably inconceivable to pull it towards you, but that is actually the right answer!
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(read Steve's article for the reason this works! :D )

Cheers,

Geoff S.
 
Chainsaw had it right... sail by the lee!
one thing almost everyone gets wrong though, is letting the main out past 90degrees. DONT! unless its light. By the lee, you can safely get to about 45 degrees past dead downwind without actually gybing, and without letting the main out too far! think about a simple gybe...how far do you have to turn before the sail comes over all by itself? probably far enough that if you try it, and the mainsheet doesnt get caught, your sail will flap on the other side. Digressing a bit there!!

the safest way I know of to get downwind in a hurry in a blow, is kicker looser than you think, boom out at about 80 degrees, steer by the lee about 5 - 10 degrees, sit on windward edge of cockpit, one foot each side of strap, but keep your weight on your legs so you can move IF you catch a wave badly and start to roll. the first time you try this, have a look at how the leech of the sail behaves... you'll be suprised just how "closed" it looks, especially when you compare it to a very broad reach with the same amount of kicker! oh, one other thing, remember to release the cunningham first, i dont quite know why, but people who forget this seem to roll out more often.
 
Cunningham tight means the top of the sail is more open. Top batten points more "forwards" when you have the sail eased right out. The further forwards any part of the sail is, the more torque pushing you in to the death roll.
 
Check out my avatar. This is my DW positioning in nearly all breezes. Feet against the front/inside wall of the cockpit so I can push back if I wanted and with my feet against the wall I can pull my weight in to counter a roll. I also pull straight up with my arms when trimming and trim from the block. If you pull out or trim directly from the boom it will initiate a rolling affect as you are moving your weight outboard.
 
Rob B said:
Check out my avatar. This is my DW positioning in nearly all breezes. Feet against the front/inside wall of the cockpit so I can push back if I wanted and with my feet against the wall I can pull my weight in to counter a roll. I also pull straight up with my arms when trimming and trim from the block. If you pull out or trim directly from the boom it will initiate a rolling affect as you are moving your weight outboard.
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So you don't wrap a leg? OK, I mean everyone has their style that works. For me it's not hard to get up and push to the high side when a deathroll threatens. I kind of just twist towards the high side and basically stand up, with my hands on the gunwale of the opposite side. As the boat levels out, I ease back to the correct side so my boom doesn't hit the water and I flip the other way =0P
 
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