Lowest weight someone can get away with?

K

Karma

New Member
Hey everyone, I am 15, 150 pounds(68.2kg) and 5''11. I am very tight on money(student... o noes!) and I am wondering if I need to get a Radial rig or If I can get away with a full rig. One of the laser site says that full rig is for people "70kg+"(154 lbs) which if that is true I can save about $700 but I dont know if I can be competitve at my weight. Their is a gym right by my house it it will be no problem at all to put on 10 pounds and I work super hard so I dont think hiking will be any trouble too. I dont know which class is better around here(Halifax, RNSYS hopefully) but I have to pick one. I can dish out some bucks for a radial mast and a pracitce sail without saving that much but then I cant race with it and you might want to keep in mind that I will weight a bit more with gear on too.

ANY info would be great because I am lost here.
Thank you for your time
Karma
 
you would be better off in a Radial, you can sail that in any wind

in a Full, you would be good up to 10 knots, after that, I hope you have religion
 
I weigh about 150 lbs. and struggle to be competitive in anything over ~12mph wind (any maybe only part of that I can blame on weight). However, I'm only 5' 6" while you are 5' 11". If you are fairly athletic and can hike hard, you might do all right with a full size. The real question is which class is more active in your area - full size or Radial? You don't want to be the only person in a Radial when everyone else is sailing a full rig. You won't keep up no matter what the wind speed.

One other comment. You could get a Radial, but I bet you would outgrow it in a year or two. Get the full rig.
 
Probably also depends on the sort of wind strengths you get. I'm 5'10" and 151lbs and I have a standard. However, I'm hopeful I wont be growing too much more (at age 50). When I got the standard the main consideration was that we normally have lighter winds here. However, I do recognise that I may end-up getting a Radial (partly because in France seems there are far more Radials than Standards). Another aspect was that if I can get used to handling a Standard (in the stronger winds, though maybe not as competitively) then a Radial will become much easier. For me time will (and can) tell as I budgeted for the Radial rig as well (just have not purchased it yet).


Ian
 
I'm pretty sure Ben Ainslie was only at 155 in the 1996 games. You can get away with being underweight but you have to be damn good.
 
You can get away with beeing underweight, you'll just have to fight harder than the heavier sailors in the fleet.
A good example would be Finn sailors back in 60-70s, there are quite a few wins/top placements in the Finn gold cup by people who didn't weight more than ~70kg.
Anyway, considering that you're 15 the weight shouldn't be a problem for too long =P

I think you'd have an easier time in a radial at the time, but of course you can sail a full rigg too.
 
I have been told that there is more Radial lasers at my club but it might be better to just fight it out on a standard because after this summer I should weight a good 170. Somethings I learn on a Radial will become useless when at the in of the summer(right?). I am still lost here. Wouldnt I be slow in a Radial too because I am over weight?

Thanks for the help so far but I need a bit more.
 
The honest answer is that it really depends on a number of variables and ultimately only you can come up with the right answer.

For example, what are the conditions like there? If they tend to be on the light wind side then you might find it tough to keep up when you hit the upper limit of Radial weight. If it blows pretty strong then you you might be in better shape overall. But your sailing experience and skill will probably be a more important factor. Are you new to sailing completely? Then a radial would be a better choice to learn on. If you're experienced in other small dinghies, especially single-handers then a full rig might make more sense. Your weight isn't going to affect your performance in the fleet as much as your skill level will -- although it's a great excuse many of use use when we get skunked. . . ;-)

You'll probably get the best advice by talking to the guys in your local fleet. Are any of the radial or full rig sailors in your size and experience range? What do they think? Sometimes following the herd is a good thing. Maybe someone in the fleet has an extra rig so you can try out both before you decide? If the radial fleet is a lot bigger there is a lot to be said for learning in the larger fleet even if you're not the optimal weight.

But if you want a bottom line recommendation, buy the radial and sail it for the season. If you find you've grown out of it at the end of the season sell it off and buy a full-rig (a radial sail and lower mast tend to have a much better resale value than a full-rig). And your financial situation might be better then. Life will be much less pleasant if you start with the full-rig and discover you are way overpowered.

But either way, make a decision and go sailing. It's almost June and the clock is ticking.
 
4 out of the last five radial men world champions have been around 75 kilos, some slightly heavier (eg Blackburn) some slightly lighter. The exception was last year in LA. I believe his weight was around 65. The recomendation of Laser weights published by the ILCA is rubbish when it comes to competing at the highest level.

I know they collect weights of sailors at world titles so why isn't this information released so we can make a proper informed decsion about what rig to get into?

Check out the this site for weights of sailors. http://www.cascaisworlds2007.com/home.php?content=entryListSailors.php

Bear in mind that alot of sailors are intentionally losing weight based ojn the predominant light winds predicted in China for the Olympics.

If you are under 75 kilos and male, sail a radial.
 
Josef said:
A good example would be Finn sailors back in 60-70s, there are quite a few wins/top placements in the Finn gold cup by people who didn't weight more than ~70kg.
Click to expand...

but didnt they wear weight jackets back then???
 
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