Newbie question: was I sailing by-the-lee?

I

ill will

New Member
Hi,

Just started on Lasers after taking some sailing classes this summer.

Took a Laser out during lunchtime yesterday with some fairly gusty conditions. At some point, I bear off to go on a run for a bit. I had the sail out pretty much 90 deg with respect to the centerline of the boat. Maybe it was a combo of a slight tiller movement and a gust/wind shift, but the boom lifted up really high in the air at some point. I mean REALLY high. I turned to go dead downwind and that brought the boom back down safely without a jibing.

Just wondering if I had accidentally sailed by the lee for a second there. Well, to be honest, throughout the day I had actively tried to sail by the lee just to see what it would be like...but it seemed to only have worked by accident haha. I'll have to make sure the vang is on tighter next time.
 
Hi, was it just the boom or was the boat rolling to windward?

My first reaction is that you where on the way into a deathrole because the gust pushed away the top of your leech and the air streaming out leewards at the top, pushing the top of the mast windward.

But somehow you got out of it before swimming
 
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It was more boom than rolling. I mean the boom was at least 30 deg with respect to the deck and the boat was relatively flat at that point. Also, wouldn't rolling to leeward bring the boom down?
 
I have only read a tiny bit on the death roll, but I don't believe that was what happened. I don't recall much rolling at all in this particular moment. Granted, I was mostly watching the boom and thinking wtf and wondering what was gonna happen next; but I think I would remember if there was also excessive rolling. I think I was more like I was sitting there on a relatively calm run and then all of a sudden the boom shoots up.
 
If the boom was 30 deg up compared to the boat You need a lot more vang to not lose the leech in a gust. The advice from experienced sailors is that the leech should be able to move about one foot with the changing pressure of wind and waves.
 
Mark your vang line or tie a stopper knot at the position where the distance between the vang key and mast tang pins is 62 or 63 centimetres. If you use a knot you need to push the boom down a bit when rigging and unrigging the vang, but it makes on-the-water adjusting easier.

And yes, you were sailing by the lee. Do more of that.
 
LaLi said:
Mark your vang line or tie a stopper knot at the position where the distance between the vang key and mast tang pins is 62 or 63 centimetres. If you use a knot you need to push the boom down a bit when rigging and unrigging the vang, but it makes on-the-water adjusting easier.

And yes, you were sailing by the lee. Do more of that.
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Dear LaLi,

What do you consider as the top reference point? The pin that attaches the key to the top block or the end of they (the little dish shaped extremity)?

Best,
Duncan
 
Duncan_vdH said:
What do you consider as the top reference point? The pin that attaches the key to the top block or the end of they (the little dish shaped extremity)?
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The pin. It doesn't make much of a difference though, and it's not a highly accurate number anyway - just something I found to be a good approximate starting point a long time ago.
 
By "inverted", I didn't mean under water. Once you get going by the lee, they will stream in the opposite direction - from the leech of the sail towards the mast.
 
torrid said:
By "inverted", I didn't mean under water. Once you get going by the lee, they will stream in the opposite direction - from the leech of the sail towards the mast.
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Oh yea I understand, but I'm saying that the telltales were wet from capsizing earlier and were stuck to the sail.
 
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