Club Racing

Tony R

New Member
Hi all,

I began sailing 2 years ago & now race every Wednesday evening & Sundays.

Annoyingly, despite reading books, talking to fellow club members I constanyly finish in the bottom third.

Usually I have a great start & always seem to lose out on the downwind part of the race when fellow lasers seem to come in on my port side & beat me to the mark.

Lasersailing are running an event in June hosted my Thompson - GBR no.2 - its a type of clinic for advanced sailors with video analysis.

Reading up on the course the term 'sailing by the lee' is mentioned.

I know its about downwind sailing & Rooster have a video on this but I still don't fully understand what it is.

If someone could explain it'd be real helpful.
 
Hi Tony,

It sounds like you need to work on your downwind technique. I used to struggle a lot with mine until I realised that you really do need to keep your head out of the boat and keep an eye out for gusts/waves/anything that you can legally use to make the boat go faster. In light winds finding the gusts is crucial so head out the boat all the time (and sit still if you are on flat water).

As for by the lee. it takes practice (be prepared to get wet). The basic idea is that you reverse the flow of wind over the sail so the boat effectively deep reaches but with the wind coming over the leach first as opposed to the luff. You need very little kicker. This is accomplished by bearing away until you see your tell tales reverse, you will feel the boat accelerate and you will need to use around half plate (or the boat goes sideways very quickly).

What you have not mentioned is how heavy you are in relation to you fellow racers. If you are heavier than them then you will suffer downwind but you can generally hold them offwind.

It is all about technique in the laser, if you have a chance to get on the course then go for it. We had a UKLA coach come to the club to do some fleet training (surprisingly affordable when split between a number of people) it was a great day and everyone learnt from the guys at the front ot the guys at the back.

Just my 2p....

Paul
 
Simply put :- Sailing by the lee is when you sail down wind with the sail on the same side as the wind is coming from. At roughly the same angle as a broad reach on the opposite tack.


In theory, if your on a port broad reach and were to gybe the sail without altering course you would be sailing by the lee to starboard. Don’t try to do this as it’s not possible in a real boat.


When you do this the wind flows the wrong way across the sail i.e. from the leech of the sail to the luff. If you have a wind indicator on your mast it will then point at the sail.


This allows you to sail the laser downwind in a series of S moves without constantly gybing. You go from broad reach to by the lee following the wind down the course. This is faster than going straight downwind as it keeps the breeze flowing over the sail rather then just piling into if and then having lots of horrible eddies behind the sail.

There are a couple of things to look out for.​
  1. A wind shift that forces you to gybe.
  2. Don’t let the boom out beyond 90 degrees.
  3. If you feel your going to death roll, get the centreplate down and sheet in ASAP.

2 other things to watch out for when going down wind.

1. Heel the boat to leeward so the sail is over the top of the boat, this reduces the weather helm which slows you down.
2. Keep your weight as far forward as possible to allow the water to leave the transom as smoothly as possible.


Finally just practice, 2 years of sailing won’t allow you to beat people who’ve sailed all their lives.


Hope this helps.

Hugh​
 

Finally just practice, 2 years of sailing won’t allow you to beat people who’ve sailed all their lives.

Hugh​

So true! I have sailed my Laser now for about four years and still finish in the bottom one third of my fleet :eek:.
To counter beating myself up over that dismal situation, I tell myself that the top one third of the fleet sailed in college... Doesn't always work though :(.

 
Contrary to what someone above me said, your boom can go out a touch beyond 90 degrees while by the lee, especially in the light stuff.
 
Contrary to what someone above me said, your boom can go out a touch beyond 90 degrees while by the lee, especially in the light stuff.

I would agree with this but would say not in anything from the top end of an F2 upwards. There is a guy at my club who goes out around 110 degrees and is wickedly fast when using this technique (he is very light though which may also help).
 
Your better than me then, every time I've tried it I've got wet. :D:D:D

Just try it a little bit. I mean, sometimes in the light stuff, you need to in order to get your boom to stay out.

In the heavy stuff, if you're diving down really deep by the lee, you'll need to let it out a touch past 90. I'm not talking super far, or else yeah, you'll be going for a swim.
 
Finally just practice, 2 years of sailing won’t allow you to beat people who’ve sailed all their lives.

Ive been sailing for 2 years and i still beat everyone, even when i started there a year ago when i was sailing toppers. In my first ever race i beat everything to the line in the crappy old club toppers (I was racing lasers at skwl at the time though :rolleyes:)

It made me look around clubs for next season as the competition is rubbish, even though my boats not that new its still the newest there (1985) thinking about moving to girton near newark (uk) where ive sailed a couple of times and the lake seems loads better, never mind the facilities.
 
you have to make sure that you're sailing into/against the current so you're course is pretty straight while you're going downwind, especially when the current is strong. this keeps your distance to the next mark at a minimum so you're not sailing a huge curve which gives people your lead. while still surfing the waves and keeping the boat at maximum speed. it is very important to loosen up the sail immediately after going round the windward mark, this makes the boat easier to steer and powers up the rig. be careful when you release the kicker, as too much will make the boat roll violently. i release my kicker a little before i go around the top mark, so i can bear away sharply as i round the buoy and finish the adjustments later on. people have earlier mentioned that sailing by the lee may be quicker, i do it, and actually the goal of downwind is to keep your boat planing so you'll be alternating between BTL sailing as well as a very broad reach, almost a run... if you're loosing positions while beating, try keeping the boat nice and flat, and ensure you're daggerboard is all the way down as even if it is an inch or 2 up, this can cause some serious sideways drift.

hope all this helps
 
i forgot to mention, i'm in the top 5 of my club fleet, and i do have some trouble finding competition at times but we've got some new laser guys and they're pushing me like crazy! however, before the laser, i was sailing the byte which is a much more responsive and unstable than the laser, so coming into the laser, it was an easier boat to sail offwind but way more challenging going upwind as the straight leg hiking was hard to aquire... and i've still not quite got it...
 
I agree with most of what the other guys have said about sailing by the lee etc. But another thing you may want to consider is "are they covering you and stealing your wind ?" You say they "get past me on the port side". Is this while you are sailing on port ? Luff up and don't let them past :)

If a boat comes behind you while going downwind, they will be taking some of your wind and even if you're just as good a sailor as them they will tend to catch up. Then they will obviously tend to try to get inside you for buoy room at the mark.
When you round the top mark, if there is someone right behind you it is important to get clear air ASAP. Make it obvious to them that you are not going to just let them sail over you so they will probably go a different way and find their own clear lane. As you bear off decide whether you will stay on starboard and sail away to the right side a bit, or gybe (or as mentioned go deep BTL) and head out to the left. Be prepared to get some width and curve/gybe your way downwind rather than just going in a straight line downwind with others behind you.
 

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