Recent content by bluehull

I think it's mostly because Harken is the official supplier for the US/NA builder (Vanguard) and that's what comes with new boats. Plus I think you'll find the Harken in stock at a lot more places than the Holt here in NA. Plus it's cheaper. Go to UK/Europe where Performance Sailcraft is the...

Certainly. As per the Rooster page, moving your weight "uphill" and pushing the tiller "downhill" is the right "reflex". Read that page, practice, read that page, practice... Laser sailing in a blow is all about developing instincts. The dynamics can change so abuptly that you don't have...

Get the small cam cleats and learn to sit on them when you have to.

They are largely the same thing. I haven't heard any compelling argument for choosing one over the other. You can make a decent vang out the old version with additional blocks, but the new ones do work better on all counts, especially ease of (un)cleating, though many thing 15:1 is too much...

Back in the old days of 2:1 cunninghams the cunningham would work well as a mast retainer if you had some kind of stopper knot at the (old rigging) cleat at max ease. Using the old rigging now with a higher purchase you have to be careful since the mast can pull up more with the stopper knot in...

Rooster has a 9mm rope that might make a good heavy-air main. At roughly $1.75/ft, I won't try it until someone else says it's great. I didn't like the 7mm Rooster at first, but after switching back to what I was using and trying one or two others, I've developed a new respect for it. It has...

Mainsheet blocks with integrated cleats are not class legal, which is why you don't see them. Remember, anything not explicitly allowed in the rules is usually illegal. As far as deck cleats for the main, you should put some on. At the very least there will always be times when you need to...

Will Wrote: "In reply to Foo Barstow's post: sailing by the lee with a trimmed in sail is what everyone else calls gybing!" Ripped from the Rooster site - if you back off the vang (so the luff, which is really the leach in this case) is in still in front of the mast when you sheet in a bit...

My advice (mostly learned the hard way): -Don't spend any time reading about advanced Laser sailing/racing topics until you've spent a lot of time on the water. -When you do start reading about advanced techniques, practice one thing at a time. Go back and re-read after you've practiced...

Sailing in winds over 18 knots, a great lifesaving technique on a run is to turn down by the lee with the boom in a good bit in from abeam. Much more stable than dead running and faster than a very broad reach in the other direction.