Priority of control lines in de-powering sail

O

OldDog

New Member
Hi All,
Just purchased a 1993 Laser last weekend. The boat has all standard control lines (original vang, no upgrades to cunningham and outhaul). I will only be recreational sailing for now but might race in the future if I feel that I will be able to do it without screwing up and getting in the way of someone who really knows what he/she is doing :)

I plan on upgrading the control lines as I understand in doing so the boat will be easier to handle. I have a limited sailing budget so the upgrades will be made as funds become available. With regards to de-powering the sail do you think there is any priority in which I should look to install the upgrades? Which upgrades will provide the most impact on control. In other words, when you go to depower the sail which line to you adjust first, second, third?

My plan right now is to install the forward deck plate and blocks and the dual cam cleats for the cunningham and outhaul to get them in place. For the moment I am going to install 2 blocks in the vang to make it a 8:1 purchase.

Starting from there I will either buy blocks, line or upgrade kits for the vang, outhaul and cunningham. What order would you do it in?
 
I would definitely say the vang. That's the one you play the most, and has the greatest improvement of operation when upgrading.
 
after the vang you may want to upgrade to the deck cleats so you dont have to work with the outhaul cleated on the boom (its really annoying)
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks for getting back to me. I've already purchased the deck cleats for the outhaul and cunningham. From that point it's just blocks and line for the outhaul and cunning ham with a possible vang kit in the future if I find the 8:1 ratio doesn't work for me.

Thanks again!
 
OldDog said:
Hi everyone,

Thanks for getting back to me. I've already purchased the deck cleats for the outhaul and cunningham. From that point it's just blocks and line for the outhaul and cunning ham with a possible vang kit in the future if I find the 8:1 ratio doesn't work for me.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

I think you've gone the right direction. To get more vang going upwind two block the main sheet trim and pull like hell on the 8:1 vang. Then you can vang sheet pretty well.
 
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