A fun day ending in disaster . . .

LaserSailorRy

New Member
So I took my novice buddy out for a sail today. It was his first time on his sunfish, and the first time since returning from activie duty that I took my Laser out. It took me a few tacks to re-orient myself with my old love, but it's like riding a bike. :) He is still learning so I went over the basics and then we headed out into (south) San Diego bay. I spent most of my time yelling advice; "come up, tighten that mainsheet, ok now tack . . ." but he's a quick learner and was soon sailing smoothly. We beached for a snack and to fix a small problem with his rigging. The out again. This time disaster struck. I had just tuned my laser into a nice stbd tack, close hauled, the wind blowing saltwater into my face (this is the best kind of sailing) I turned to check on Josh and saw a head in the water next to a completly capsized boat. :eek: Poor guy, he caught a gust and a decent wake (courtesy of the friendy motorboaters) at the same time. It threw him into his sail and before he could roll off it, the sail sank into a vercital position. I made sure he was okay, but I couldn't really think of anything I could from my Laser. Eventually we recieved assistance from some very nice people on a larger sailboat. Josh lost his mast, but not his sail or boom, and had to be towed in. We called it a day after that.

Moral of the story: Josh needs a lifejacket tied to the top of his next mast. . . .
 
Indeed, we are going to re-rig the whole thing. Looking back I did realise that it was poorly rigged. I'm going to get him setup proper for the next time.
 
From the control lines and fittings section of the class rules section 3 b xi.

"To secure the mast in the event of a capsize, a loose retention line or shockcord (that will allow 180 degree plus mast rotation) shall be tied/attached between the cunningham fairlead or the deck block fitting and the mast tang or goosneck. Clips, hooks, shackels and balls may be used to attach the retention line"

Reading this it is clear (to me) that this line is a requirement, and those racing in championships etc could be protested for not having the required equipment. Having said that, I am one of the few people in my Club that sails with this retention line. I tie a rope through the deck block fitting and then around the mast and then back above the boom vang tang. One advantage (apart from not loosing my mast!) is that I feed the centreboard shock cord under the rope where it passes through the deck block fitting and it keeps it clear of the boom vang.

Adam
 
From the control lines and fittings section of the class rules section 3 b xi.

"To secure the mast in the event of a capsize, a loose retention line or shockcord (that will allow 180 degree plus mast rotation) shall be tied/attached between the cunningham fairlead or the deck block fitting and the mast tang or goosneck. Clips, hooks, shackels and balls may be used to attach the retention line"

Reading this it is clear (to me) that this line is a requirement, and those racing in championships etc could be protested for not having the required equipment. Having said that, I am one of the few people in my Club that sails with this retention line. I tie a rope through the deck block fitting and then around the mast and then back above the boom vang tang. One advantage (apart from not loosing my mast!) is that I feed the centreboard shock cord under the rope where it passes through the deck block fitting and it keeps it clear of the boom vang.

Adam

The mast retaining line is a requirement to race. Tie it loose. I had mine snugged down and it bent the metal loops on my deck fitting after a severe capsize.
 
I'm moving this thread to open discussion since it is about a Sunfish. You are welcome to discuss it there, and please note that there is also a Sunfish forum (also owned by Bradley)>
 
Thanks for the advise, I'll add a retaining line to my Laser.

Actually his halyard was secured properly. What happened was the pin/rivet that connects the plastic top piece to the mast snapped. We lost the mast, but still have the mast cap.

Still the rigging of the sunfish bothers me a bit, the mainsheet seems sloppy and were adding a pully to the end of the mast, lengthing the minsheet, and replacing the stock piece that connects the main t the traveler with a brass clip. I'd like to add a two pully system on the traveller, like the laser, but he had to shell out 150 on a new mast and couldn't buy all the pullys I recommended.

In any case the sunfish seemed, to me, to haveheavy spars which aided in completly capszing. Whenever I dump my laser I only fall over 90 degrees. I sailed his boat prior to this incident and intentionally capsized it seemed that the boat really wanted to roll over 180 degrees. In fact I had a heck of a time righting his boat.

The more I sailed his Sunfish the more I loved my Laser. . .
 
Something is really wrong with that fish. Perhaps the spars are filled with water. Normally, a Sunfish is easier to right than a full-rig Laser (I know, having capsized both numerous times :eek:). Anyway, it would be better to move this discussion to the Sunfish forum. And please do read the rigging instructions; some of the changes you are proposing are not necessary....
 

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