Problem with pointing...

T

Turtled

Member
Hi all.
I've recently been doing some race training with a couple of different trainers / good Laser sailors. The training was Laser to Laser on the water, and they both separately identified that I can't / don't point 'high enough' when sailing upwind (but my downwind speed is good).

My question, basically, is what is / are the most likely reasons for this?

Additional info is:
  • My hull is in pretty good shape.
  • Centreboard is pretty new, and is in ok condition apart from a small chip out of the trailing edge (about the size of a pencil eraser) half way up. (I did it about 3 weeks ago, and boy did I curse!!!).
  • Rudder blade is ok. Not great, but ok.
  • Rudder angle not checked.
  • Centreboard case is pretty worn.
  • Sail is probably getting a bit old now... I've worked it pretty hard for a couple of seasons, and it wasn't new when I got it....
  • Settings - Block to block & kicker on tight. Outhaul: messed with different settings, but mostly fully out. Cunningham on enough to 'remove the diagonal creases'.
  • I sometimes feel to be trying to point too high to compensate... (is that called pinching? - when my sail starts to collapse, I bear away a little...)
The trainers were sailing different boats. One was a 196000 hull with a sail that has basically just had one season's light use and is still crispy.
The other was our club Laser - tatty hull & foils, but brand new sail fresh out of the bag.

I'm guessing it is a sail issue, so plan to try to borrow one at some point, but I thought it would make sense to ask the gurus on this forum for their input as well!!!!!?

Many thanks in advance for your assistance....!
 
Sail is the most likely issue. Easiest way to confirm while out on the water is to switch boats for a short while.
 
You mentioned that the outhaul was fully "out". Do you mean the sail is flatter or fuller?

Weight distribution may be a factor too. I like to move forward a bit when pointing to balance the boat.
 
49208 said:
Sail is the most likely issue. Easiest way to confirm while out on the water is to switch boats for a short while.
Click to expand...

That's a great idea - devastatingly simple, and I've not idea why I didn't think of it already! Cheers.

Quite how one swaps from one Laser to another is another issue...?

paxfish said:
You mentioned that the outhaul was fully "out". Do you mean the sail is flatter or fuller?

Weight distribution may be a factor too. I like to move forward a bit when pointing to balance the boat.
Click to expand...

I mean flatter; and my weight is usually pretty well forward when racing upwind.
 
Turtled said:
That's a great idea - devastatingly simple, and I've not idea why I didn't think of it already! Cheers.

Quite how one swaps from one Laser to another is another issue...?
Click to expand...

Depending on the ability for each person to "scramble" under booms, the best way is to leave all the controls exactly as they were during the prev speed test and have one boat luffing, roughly on a close-hauled or tight reach heading.. The other boat can then approach from from the windward side, come along side and do the exchange. If you are vanged hard, and not that agile, blow off the vang before exchanging.
 
Helming technique is the most likely issue. Did your trainers take a good look at you sailing upwind? Instant and appropriate reaction to the small shifts is essential.
One tip- I use a Hawk wind indicator at the goose neck. I have noticed I react slightly quicker to shifts in light/medium winds than boats with a mast head burgee. I also have sail telltales but take little notice of them on such a primitive sail. Pointing is one of my strong points, even with old sails.
 
To a certain exent:

Little folks can point higher than big folks

The Laser, and most other boats, feel sorta dead and downright powerless when they are pointing at their optimum.

The outhaul depth is pretty important for pointing...deeper oesn't point as high but sends pressures to teh rudder that make teh boat "feel like it is working" better.

You need to learn what fast and high feels like so you can learn to seek out that feeling as "feels good."

"the groove" is that elusive perfect nirvana path which mortal sailors forever seek.

The very same settihngs that allow a sailboat to point the very closest to the wind, leave the machine most vulnerable to sliding sideways and failing to accelerate after encounering inhibitions such as waves or tiller movements.

the moe hours you spend seeking the groove, the more likely you are to find it.

Lining up with your old sail next to a newer sail as a guaranteed way to frustrate yourself.
 
gouvernail said:
The Laser, and most other boats, feel sorta dead and downright powerless when they are pointing at their optimum.
Click to expand...

That was for me the most important thing to discover; upwind, it feels like I'm always pinching. FWIW, to me Lasers feel more "dead" than other boats.

The biggest single thing I did to improve my upwind ability was to install two tell-tales on each side of the sail and quite a bit forward (the first about 6 inches aft of the mast, and the second one about 6 inches aft of that - they maybe a bit further aft, I can't find a good photo...).
If both leeward tell-tales aren't streaming back, I know I need to head up a bit).

Here's another thread (with a photo).

Here's a link to "Dr. Laser's" page on observations of tell-tales at the 2002 Masters Worlds:
The interactive image at the top doesn't seem to work, but there is another image a bit further down the page that is visible.

Cheers,

Geoff S.
 
49208 said:
Depending on the ability for each person to "scramble" under booms, the best way is to leave all the controls exactly as they were during the prev speed test and have one boat luffing, roughly on a close-hauled or tight reach heading.. The other boat can then approach from from the windward side, come along side and do the exchange. If you are vanged hard, and not that agile, blow off the vang before exchanging.
Click to expand...

you have to get pretty close to do this, an alternative method is to intentionally capsize close to one another and swim to swap boats. The capsize method will ensure you don't bump eachothers boats.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top