Am I too big for my laser?

B

BrianLaural

New Member
I am 6ft 220lbs and I find it impossible to find a comfortable way to sail her. The wind on my lake is finicky and dies a lot out of nowhwere and everytime it does, the boat tips over on top of me. When I feel the wind die I try to shift so I don't rollover backwards but that kills my back after a little while. Am I sitting wrong or what do you think? She is a great boat, but after sailer her I am sore for a few days.
 
BrianLaural said:
When I feel the wind die I try to shift so I don't rollover backwards but that kills my back after a little while. Am I sitting wrong or what do you think? .
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What do you mean by shift? When I get a puff on my reservoir and I'm fully hiked, then the wind just stops, I hang on to the sheet for stability and sit up. The main sheet has saved me many times, but at 160, it is more to keep me from falling off the boat. Would this make a heavier person roll the boat over on them?

OK, you self-called Clydesdales, ;) what do you think?
 
I too have put on some lbs. over the years.
6' - 225
it is a little more difficult getting under the boom with the new vang, but am getting used to it.
i now have a few more reasons to try to get back to "fighting weight".
one of the htings that makes it ok for now, is that there are other Clydesdales out there with us having a ripping time on these balmy summer evenings.

hang in there... have fun
 
BrianLaural said:
I am 6ft 220lbs and I find it impossible to find a comfortable way to sail her. The wind on my lake is finicky and dies a lot out of nowhwere and everytime it does, the boat tips over on top of me. When I feel the wind die I try to shift so I don't rollover backwards but that kills my back after a little while. Am I sitting wrong or what do you think? She is a great boat, but after sailer her I am sore for a few days.
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If you can tell us more about the wind velocity (ie is this happening while you are hiked out or not) we can prob give a little more specific advice, but for starters:

1. Have your hiking strap setup with no slack - This will help you slide into the boat easier from a hiking position.

2. If the velocity is varying from between hiking and sitting in, try hiking off the leeward toe rail instead of the strap (It helps to make sure all the fasteners are holding and go as far as to glue the rail to the cockpit with 3M 5200)

3. If your flexibility is lacking, work to increase it. It will make a huge difference in how quickly you can re-act. Ditto with core strength - it's mostly the muscles around the core that are responsible for the movement in and out that we do on the Laser.

4. You'll need to be more aware of what the wind is doing then the lighter folks so you have additional reaction time. That means getting your eyes out of the boat and looking around more and anticpating more. If you don't have a wind indicator, consider adding one. Right up on the bow eye will give you the most advanced reading, but it's also easily ripped out by mainsheets of other Lasers sailing by - if that's not an issue, that's where I would suggest. Otherwise go with a mast mounted one.


Other then your back, what else is sore ? If the soreness is in your lower back, besides the flexibility, excersizes such as supermans or hyper-extensions will help avoid it in the first place.
 
I am of similar weight and hieght and I will admit that over the years I find it a bit more of challenge to react quickly to changes in wind speed and direction. I am certainly not considering the possiblity that I am to big for the boat but rather that I have become to slow.

I have worked on this over the last few seasons and find that the I am better than I was before at reacting to changes (faster).

With a bit of extra weight the boat is alot more fun than it use to be in the heavy stuff. I also find that I have to watch the water and almost anticipate the next move.
 
Hell Yes!! You are way too big. Ideal size is about 165 lbs and 6'5 "

Little people will sail by in medium air and they will seem to point 10 degrees higher when going up wind. When you are on a reach, your boat will slog through the water while little folks plane by.

Having said that.... I am probably up to about 230 and only a couple inches shorter than you are. At 53 years young I still have managed to win or be second in at least a dozen of our 20 boat Wednesday races this summer and I have even managed to horizon the fleet a couple times in that pesky medium air.

Loosen up and stretch a few times before you climb in the boat so your muscles will actually be able to flex enough to get around in the boat.

When one of those pesky shifts knocks you over. Enjoy the brief swim and take your time righting the boat and climbing back into the cockpit.

And finally:

When the whitecaps pop up on the lake and make the wind blow, you can just hang your big 220 lb self over the side and ease around the lake while the little runts whine and complain about how much work they have to do.

Remember, you ate that last bit of brussel sprout and saved those kids in the deprived foreign country from starving. Enjoy the rewards!!

Don't hike hard. Just sit and enjoy!!



really


not kidding



enough already I have to get back to work!





,,,

ddd
 
I am currently 230 lbs and 5' 10". Bought the boat in May and now just starting to get comfortable. I have flipped over in light air to windward twice now. It just takes a lot of time getting use to being in a Laser. It is important to get down to a weight of 185 - 190 for me to gain more speed downwind and in light air. Also excersize to becoming more flexible and more like a gazelle on the boat than a rhino. Im not close to it yet but maybe in a year I will have the weight problem solved. Keep going out as often as you can it will become easier for you.
 
BrianLaural said:
I am 6ft 220lbs and I find it impossible to find a comfortable way to sail her.
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Half of the pictures I have seen of people sailing Lasers have the people with their butts hanging out over the side of the boat. The other half of the pictures I've seen of people sailing Lasers have the boat on its side with the sail flat on the water OR the person sitting real far forward, crunched up pretty good near the centerboard trunk and waiting for better wind. I don't think I've ever seen a picture of anyone looking comfortable in a Laser. (They all seem to be having fun, but it doesn't look like the comfortable kind of fun.)

BrianLaural said:
The wind on my lake is finicky and dies a lot out of nowhwere and everytime it does, the boat tips over on top of me.
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The thing where the wind dies and the boat flips over toward what, was, seconds ago, windward -- that happens to me, too. It's not just an unhappiness visited on the bigger folks.

That said, make sure you take full advantage of the range of places you can sit. You're bigger than I am (5'7", 160#), so you can probably do rather a lot just sitting on the deck -- and for that part, you just shift your upper body in or out. If you still have way-too-much righting-power, try sitting kind of at the front of the footwell. For me, that seems to make any righting moment I apply less powerful and, therefore, less likely to dump me in the water when the wind dies.
 
Hi!! hmm.. i kindoff have the opposite problem. I sail radials, am 161cm tall and weigh 55 kg. Over 12 knots and i'm stuffed as my legs arent that long and hiking isnt that effective :S but always keep at it and you will reach your goals! I've already seen heaps of improvement with practise. The more you practise in winds that don't suit you the better you get at sailing in them. :D
 
hi the wind on my lake is also extremely shifty and i am also a big guy 6'1" 230 lbs, and i have not yet had any problems with death rolling or sore backs but i am still quite young (15), but try sitting further back that way you dont have to bend you back as much and should help with the pain.

Crazy Sailor
 
I was 225 lbs at the start of the summer. My wife gave me a great incentive program. if I can get back to my old sailing weight of 185lbs then I can buy a new laser. My current boat is a 77 vintage. so far so good! I am down 17lbs. Best diet I have ever been on!!!!
 
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