2 Questions

L

laserr712

New Member
A quick question on what to do on reaches....

1) so what happens often when i'm reaching is that the boat heels to much and the boom ends up hitting the water and because im going at such a fast speed it causes the boat to "stall out" and capsize (this only happens in heavy wind) what do i do to prevent this is it a matter of not letting the boat heel that much?

My second question has to do with laser clothing and other stuff like that...

2) I just got a 250 dollar certificate to West Marine through school and i was wondering what to get because they mainly have clothes and stuff like that? Any ideas on what to get i have my eye on a pair of winter sailing gloves, but still would have a ton of money left over? Any advice...
 
on question 1, if ur kicker (vang 4 who ever calls it that) is too tight that may be why ur boom is low enough to touch the water,

questuion 2, hiking shorts maybe, and deffinatly a good piar of gloves,

i'm not too sure about ur first question, but thats what i think may be the problem,
 
I find that West Marines in my area carry very few dinghy sailing items. Pick up one of their full catalouges and order the stuff if they don't have it in their store. I know for a fact that in the catalouge they sell Gill spray tops and all sorts of neat things.
 
Hi,

1)
In the description "Ideal Vang Teension Downwind" (by
Mark Jacobi) that is to find here:

http://www.drlaser.org/ILCA/VangMJ.html

The author tells:
>>... In heavy air, easing the vang is vital, since you should have it drum-tight for upwind work. Leaving it on puts tremendous stress on your rig as you bear away, and the boom dips into waves if you roll even a little. The vang must be eased before you bear away to a run in big breeze. Even in 20 knots, I ease my vang to within an inch or two of the light air setting.
...<<

So, I think Jon had the right idea.

2)
You can make cheap perfect winter gloves for Lasersailing, if you use that rubbergloves, which are used to clean the vessel in the kitchen. Put some warm funtional gloves first on your fingers and then this rubber-gloves.

Hikingpants from Queenssport ("Hiker-lite" or "Waverider lite") or the Hikingpants from Burka could be a good choice with some nice new neopreneboots and a new spraytop, or a nice+new flat-racing-lifejacket could be useful for you. More details to that stuff, yoú find in several threads here at TLF. You only have to search a bit here.

Ciao
Looserlu
 
"1) so what happens often when i'm reaching is that the boat heels to much and the boom ends up hitting the water and because im going at such a fast speed it causes the boat to "stall out" and capsize (this only happens in heavy wind) what do i do to prevent this is it a matter of not letting the boat heel that much?"

I would asume that you have your vang set at the correct tension because you believe the healing is causing the boom to hit the water. In heavy winds (22+) on tight reaches when you are overpowered, crank the cuningham on as tight as possible (to the boom), as you would upwind (just like depowering the boat upwind in 20+ knots). You will find it easier to flatten the boat, while you are still planing at high speeds. Also when you start to heal, you can sheet out and head up at a higher angle to keep the boat flat. Lots of sheeting and steering can be necesarry to stay on a plane.

"2" West marine carries COSTA DEL MAR polarized sunglasses, good watches, and foul weather gear.
 
1) Hike like mad!!!! and tighten the cuningham and outhaul untill you feel comfortable.



2) Buy a good pair of hiking pants because it makes hiking soooooo much easier!!!!
 
1) As many of the previous contributers have mentioned; losen the vang, this will cause more air to spill out up top, you take a hit in power, but gain control, which is what wins races
2) I'd consider a Gill sailing watch, it has both analog and digital readouts (digital being super-imposed over the analog) and it has the most useful feature of a variable countdown timer with sound. It is also super accurate time piece I used for celestial navigation from Seattle to Hawaii to Austrialla then to Antarctica and then back again. Knowing exactly how many seconds are left till the gun w/o having to look away from the line/competion can make a world of differance in your starts.
 
May I make one suggestion about the Gill watch. I was recently in the market for a sailing watch as my parents let me pick one out as a christmas gift. I was considering both the Gill watch and the Suunto Regatta. I decided to go with the Suunto as it is waterproof to 100 feet whereas the Gill is only water resistant to 100 feet. For the amount of water that Laser sailing involves, I think being waterproof is worth the much higher price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top