Can't depower the boat or keep the boom out of the water

No!!!

And don't forget that there are lots of lightweight 4.7 sailors who get the boat up on their own.

To be honest, I have never put my feet the hull of any boat I have sailed to get it upright.

The trick is just to get as much as your weight on the board as far away from the hull as possible.

If possible, I would practice as follows:

Take the boat somewhere quiet where you can capsize in water just deep enough that you can't stand up - ideally you will be not far off shore, and if possible, you could tether the boat to the shore with a long painter.

Turn the boat into the wind and deliberately capsize it.

Once in the water, swim around to the board - staying below and behind the board facing the front of the boat, reach up and put your hands on the leading edge of the board so that your body is at right angles to the boat.

pull yourself up as much as you can. You do not need to pull yourself right onto the board in a Laser, it will start coming upright long before you get all of your weight on the end of the board.

Once the end of the board starts to come down into the water, start grabbing the gunnels and pull it over that way.

In a real life capsize, it will help if you can let the vang off before you bring the boat upright. This will take a lot of the power out of the sail and reduce the likelihood of a second capsize in strong winds.

It might sound silly, but do you know anyone with a pool in which you can chuck the boat and practice.

Watch this video from about 1:35 onwards and it might help:

 
Hi SG-Aussie. Especially when I was younger, I used to right the boat by hooking my toes in the rolled over edge of the gunwales and then holding on to, think hugging, the end of the daggerboard. It seemed to take awhile, but eventually the boat would right itself.

I think why that works is because hugging the end of the board with your toes on the gunwales lifts your body out of the water and consequently adds a lot more weight to the end of the board.

Hope that helps.
 
started racing radials in high school at around 125lbs, about 150lbs now. dry flipping is the way to go, when the boat goes over climb over the top of the hull instead of swimming to the daggerboard. its way faster and easier, all your weight ends up being on the dagger board instead of in the water. You can also easily dry flip a death roll, just have to feel it coming and be quick about it but that comes with experience.

for being overpowered upwind, you want more vang and cunningham. main close to all the way in, not necessarily block to block ease in the puffs trim in the lulls. pinching alright if you cant keep it flat
 
started racing radials in high school at around 125lbs, about 150lbs now. dry flipping is the way to go, when the boat goes over climb over the top of the hull instead of swimming to the daggerboard. its way faster and easier, all your weight ends up being on the dagger board instead of in the water. You can also easily dry flip a death roll, just have to feel it coming and be quick about it but that comes with experience.

for being overpowered upwind, you want more vang and cunningham. main close to all the way in, not necessarily block to block ease in the puffs trim in the lulls. pinching alright if you cant keep it flat

Vang & cunno was literally on as far as i could physically pull it.

Still couldn't depower the boat enough to actually be able to sail it
 
Vang & cunno was literally on as far as i could physically pull it.

Still couldn't depower the boat enough to actually be able to sail it

I have found when the boat is capsized in breeze you have to let the vang off to get the boat back up. A super vanged sail is like a board in the water and the wind can't get out of it. This was not a problem with the old vang.
 
I have found when the boat is capsized in breeze you have to let the vang off to get the boat back up. A super vanged sail is like a board in the water and the wind can't get out of it. This was not a problem with the old vang.

First time i think that was my mistake. Subsequent sails though flicking the vang off when capsizing hasn't helped

I appreciate everyone's help. Unfortunately my husband is just as sick of the boat as i am so we are selling it

No idea what im getting instead (if anything), but its obvious that a laser is not the right boat.

I just do not have the time to put into my fitness or my sailing in order to actually be able to sail the boat (& not just swim).
 
First time i think that was my mistake. Subsequent sails though flicking the vang off when capsizing hasn't helped

I appreciate everyone's help. Unfortunately my husband is just as sick of the boat as i am so we are selling it

No idea what im getting instead (if anything), but its obvious that a laser is not the right boat.

I just do not have the time to put into my fitness or my sailing in order to actually be able to sail the boat (& not just swim).

I hate to say it but this has happened to a lot of people. The Laser, (as you've learned) is an extremely physical boat in anything over about 12 knots of breeze. Just jumping into one and taking off with no prior significant dingy experience and/or coaching/instruction is a recipe for extreme frustration and potential injury. I've seen guys, (good sized guys) come to the club to try a club boat out on a beautiful summer afternoon with a nice 15ish sea breeze. I always ask, "do you have experience?" "do you have any questions?" the ones that say, "Oh I did this years ago I'll be fine." usually stay on the water for about 10 minutes, (6 minutes being upside down) before heading straight back in and never trying again...

It's always sad to see someone throw in the towel but it's understandable especially if you don't have the necessary support to properly learn the boat.

If you're still inclined to do the single handed dingy thing try a Sunfish out.
 
I'm quoting from the other thread as it's about the sailing:
i know how to pinch upwind.

I spent the entire time fighting the boat so much that i couldn't even do that effectively.

Honestly my husband has the same problem (fighting the boat) when he sails it too, & hes a lot stronger than me - the weather helm is just ridiculous. Neither of us have ever sailed a boat with so much weather helm.
It sounds very much like you guys have it backwards. You should steer higher into the wind exactly in order to NOT have to "fight the boat". Think of steering so high that the sail flaps completely: you definitely won't heel to leeward or have any weather helm then! Somewhere between that and what you've been doing is a happy medium where the boat heels just enough to keep your body out of the water most of the time. You don't even have to look at the sail, just adjust the rudder and the sheet so that the boat stays flat and moving.

The above applies to overpowered conditions upwind and beam reaching; going downwind is something else but at least you won't have weather helm problems then...

I, and I believe everyone else on this forum, would really like to see you not give up just yet. As said before, the key is getting proper hands-on assistance. It's all the more important if your time is limited. Also, without that you'll most likely face the same problems in other boats of similar type. If you haven't already done so, follow AlanD's advice in post #30 and get in touch with locals who can help. (Living at 60° north, all I can do is to write these posts :confused: )

_
 
I'm quoting from the other thread as it's about the sailing:It sounds very much like you guys have it backwards. You should steer higher into the wind exactly in order to NOT have to "fight the boat". Think of steering so high that the sail flaps completely: you definitely won't heel to leeward or have any weather helm then! Somewhere between that and what you've been doing is a happy medium where the boat heels just enough to keep your body out of the water most of the time. You don't even have to look at the sail, just adjust the rudder and the sheet so that the boat stays flat and moving.
Yes an no. In flat water this works. In choppy water, particularly where Sailor Girl is, you need to go low and feather the sail.
 

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