Fastest Clocked Speed :)

LaserBen

New Member
I managed 14.1 kts on the GPS at the Stokes Bay Q event this weekend!
That was in a radial - 18-25 kts, guessing it was in one of the bigger puffs.

Anyone else got some decent tops speeds? :)
Measured only please - no random 23kt guesses :)


(GPS that is part of my mobby that I carry in a sealed bag thing in my front pocket - stays in there with screen off and not visible from launch to landing before anyone asks!)
 
Does anyone know the speed record for the laser. Also my fastest speed was about 140 in a cigerette boat in miami that was exciting!!
 
Michael Blackburn recorded 19 point something knots in the Bass Strait. Wind was about 25 ish and he had big waves to surf too.

But really it is a planing hull, so any speed is possible as long as you can keep the mast up and survive the hurricane.
 
Michael Blackburn recorded 19 point something knots in the Bass Strait. Wind was about 25 ish and he had big waves to surf too.

But really it is a planing hull, so any speed is possible as long as you can keep the mast up and survive the hurricane.

At the risk of being everso negative. Whenever i see really high speeds being claimed for dinghies I will always refer back to Rodney Pattison who took his Gold Medal winning FD down Weymouth speed course many years ago. He never made more than 14 kts and when asked to try again just said "no point, it won't go any faster than that!"

Incidentally Hobie 16s and Dart 18s only managed @ 20 kts and there aint no way you will live with them on a windy day!
 
At the risk of being everso negative...

nah, negative would be:

CRAP! CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!

and even then it only reaches "slightly negative" on the Arse Scale.

How much wind does it take to get a laser on a plane?
about two cans of chillie beans or 10-12knts. I say my boat has 3 speeds:

displacement spped

and

theoretically on the plane

and

vibro-speed, where the centreboard starts to hum.

vibro-speed, or VS, is fastest :cool:
 
i had the vibration speed and then i launched off of a wave in lake erie and when i was outa the water i just fliped over and crashed the fastest ive gone in a sailboat was 14.5 i was on a home made raceing cat but i can do 80 on my jet boat.. sucked for my cousin when we were tubing... ha i love going really fast on my laser i really wana put a spin on it thought any ideas?
 
i had the vibration speed and then i launched off of a wave in lake erie and when i was outa the water i just fliped over and crashed the fastest ive gone in a sailboat was 14.5 i was on a home made raceing cat but i can do 80 on my jet boat.. sucked for my cousin when we were tubing... ha i love going really fast on my laser i really wana put a spin on it thought any ideas?

For spinny ideas ask Ross or go to - http://www.rssailing.com/fleetsnew.asp?fleet=RS700&selection=Details and Spec
 
Incidentally Hobie 16s and Dart 18s only managed @ 20 kts and there aint no way you will live with them on a windy day!

Seriously debatable territory there!

I've seen a few very fast lasers go past cats on windy days, and i cant say the cats were taking it slow either.

Granted, on a normal, windy (ish) UK day there's no chance of keeping up with a D18 or H16 on a fast reach, and those figures are about right... BUT... they are still displacement boats, which is why they cant match, say, an RS800 or 49er.

That said, if anyone really knows how those funny Capricorn things work, then please reveal!!??

Personal top speed in a laser? no idea, probably mid teens, much like 'most everybody else.
Fastest clocked speed was 22 knots in a 25ft sportsboat in around 30 knots wind, in flat water. We made the centrespread of Sailing New Zealand magazine with the wipeout that followed!
 
Seriously debatable territory there!

I've seen a few very fast lasers go past cats on windy days, and i cant say the cats were taking it slow either.

Granted, on a normal, windy (ish) UK day there's no chance of keeping up with a D18 or H16 on a fast reach, and those figures are about right... BUT... they are still displacement boats, which is why they cant match, say, an RS800 or 49er.

That said, if anyone really knows how those funny Capricorn things work, then please reveal!!??

Personal top speed in a laser? no idea, probably mid teens, much like 'most everybody else.
Fastest clocked speed was 22 knots in a 25ft sportsboat in around 30 knots wind, in flat water. We made the centrespread of Sailing New Zealand magazine with the wipeout that followed!

Sorry for my cynicism but 25 ft sportsboat @22 knots yep v briefly on a wave - average speed down a 500m sped course in perfect conditions I'd be amazed if you beat 16kts

Laser mid teens - 2-3 second burst maybe

Cat / Laser in laser planing conditions or windier if the laser overtakes the cat in a straight line the cat is broken or the cat sailor(s) a beginner on his 3rd day out!

RS 800 / 49er never seen them raced together but both well sailed doesn't the 49er trounce the 800 everytime?

49er / Hobie16, Dart 18 on a reach well I've never seen the two race together and I guess it varies on conditions but max speed down my 500m speed course in perfect conditions for each boat cats comfortably take it.

Don't forget that there is a huge difference between peak speed on a wave and average speed over a decent distance!
 
This may sound like a brag but the 22kts was quite genuine. I used to race at Onerahi Yacht Club, which is where most of NZ's top A Class cat sailors came from. On occasion we could actually match them on a broad reach. Of course, no contest if the wind went around to the beam, we would slow down, they would speed up, but from a mass downwind start we often matched or beat them to the first mark, well over a mile away.
When we first got that boat, everyone laughed because it was a funny shape, and had an Asymmetric, which was pretty much unheard of on a larger mono, as they dont usually go fast enough to generate any decent apparent wind. Two designs from the early '90s, one called the Magic 25, and one called the Lightning 7.5 (which only ever had 4 built- mine was one of them) challenged the ideas and basically invented what became known as the "sports boat".
A few specs: 24'6" long, 8'2" wide,triple trapeze, mast height 38', spinnaker about 880 square feet, working area about 250-350 (never bothered to measure it), weight 600kg plus crew, including 100kg bulb at end of daggerboard, outboard, sails, fuel etc.

Photo's on the 'net.... none that I can find, although when I visit my parents later this year I'll try to find some to post. Plenty of pics of the Magic's tho, although we were faster downwind and they were better upwind.

If you're trying to visualise my boat, imagine a front end that looks like an albacore, fairing out into a near-flat, single chine rear end, with no rocker in the last 15 feet.

In terms of speed comparison, the fastest sportsboat racing in the UK club I belong to is a J80, which is dead in the water by contrast. I cant put a definitive answer, because I doubt there'll ever be another lightning built, and it'd cost a fortune to get it over here (purely because i cant afford to do it - someone give me some money!!!). I'd be quite willing to say that it would beat a Fireball or similar around a racetrack, and I THINK it would probably beat a B14 or 29er, but I guess i'll never know for sure.

Laser mid teens - as I said, dunno really, much the same speed as most other fast-ish laser sailors.

Cat V Laser - I'll remember to tell Pete that he's a learner. He was actually sailing a Paper Tiger at the time it happened to him - he finished third in the nationals that year.
Sadly the guy sailing the laser has passed away, but he was another top competitor.
It was blowing around 30-35 knots at the time.

49er, 800, H16, D18 - All except the H16 used to race together at TSC, where I am, and around a course it purely came down to wind speed and the OOD. In the light, it was the '9er, windy weather was either 800's if an up/down course, or Darts if a more reachy course.

Claims I post on here always have some (although not much) grounding in reality - if I was going to BS about stuff I'd just get caught out anyway.

On a separate note, why do the clubs around here seem to abandon racing just when it starts to get decently windy? Everyone gets caught out there sooner or later so I say just race!
 
Look given the chance I'd bore for Britain on the subject of speed sailing and not always be right!
Your boat sounds fantastic and when you get others to pay for its transport here I'd love a ride and love to get it timed over the official 500m course! Much of what you say fits the bill of my previous post so here are some comments.

I'd be quite willing to say that it would beat a Fireball or similar around a racetrack, and I THINK it would probably beat a B14 or 29er, but I guess I’ll never know for sure.

I bet you are right - but the only one I'm really familiar with is the Fireball which is a fantastically exhilarating ride but no way quicker than an FD in speed trial mode - therefore less than 14kts

Laser mid teens - as I said, dunno really, much the same speed as most other fast-ish laser sailors.

OK as before

Cat V Laser - I'll remember to tell Pete that he's a learner. He was actually sailing a Paper Tiger at the time it happened to him - he finished third in the nationals that year.
Sadly the guy sailing the laser has passed away, but he was another top competitor.
It was blowing around 30-35 knots at the time.

OK I didn't mean to insult Pete but put them to the WSSRC (World Speed Sailing Record Council) 500m requirements and the Cat will win every time. Incidentally I just looked up their website http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/content/view/14/16/ and they don't list all the speeds recorded just class and annual winners. Fastest unmodified cat (that I recognise) recorded was a Hobie 16 in 1975 at just 16.9 kts. I'd also bet that under the 500m rule both the Paper Tiger and the Laser would be faster in 25 kts than 35kts. In smooth water most if not all craft will see a decrease in sustained speed as soon as they have to start depowering their rigs.
49er, 800, H16, D18 - All except the H16 used to race together at TSC, where I am, and around a course it purely came down to wind speed and the OOD. In the light, it was the '9er, windy weather was either 800's if an up/down course, or Darts if a more reachy course.

Speed round a course has no real relationship to maximum speed achievable. I bet that if Finian Maynard sailed the Windsurf rig he used to do 48.70 kts round one of your dinghy races in any weather condition below 35kts of wind I could beat him in a Topper or on a Dufour Wing

On a separate note, why do the clubs around here seem to abandon racing just when it starts to get decently windy? Everyone gets caught out there sooner or later so I say just race

Dunno - I'm heavy and they do it in my club races in a Laser and European Races in my other (obscure) class 12SqM Sharpie just at the point we are coming into are own. My personal theory is they don't like me!
 
.... faster in 25 kts than 35kts. In smooth water most if not all craft will see a decrease in sustained speed as soon as they have to start depowering their rigs.

Thats my point. On a windy beam reach, even a very quick F18 would struggle to keep up with a H16 sailed well.
Take it to the point where a laser is on a very broad reach with a helm both big enough and good enough to keep powered up in those conditions, and find out how fast we can go!

Incidentally the H16 speed mentioned was just the fastest B class cat up until that time, any faster and more recent, unless it was at an approved venue and new record, wont be included in those results.

On the boring for britain idea, i think we both have a lot of practise to do if we want that title - at least we get off the sofa :D
 
ok im sorry but going mid teens lower twenties in a laser just scares me well my laser would break in half but thats cause its the old geezer kind but that would be wicked awsome..
 
Heh look what I started :)

That speed I recorded was definitely a short burst flying down the front of a wave on a reach - no question of it being sustained. And I have a good idea of when it would've been too. I did feel like the boat had lifted out of the water and was FLYING, the rudder went very light, there wasn't much spray and there was a very big grin and a slight feeling of panic.

A kind of "PLEASE GOD DON'T WIPE OUT NOW!" panic.
 
WOW looks like quite something - how does it compare with the current crop of Lake Garda races that I've seen write upsand photos of?

Honestly I have no idea!
They're now a 20 year old design, and there are quicker things out there that dont look anywhere near as cool.

The best thing about the magics/lightnings was that you can tow them legally on the road behind a 2 litre medium family car, and be afloat, rigged, and ready to race an hour after arriving at the slipway. The next weekend you can take the family cruising and sleep aboard!
 
Get in behind a power boat that displaces a fair bit of water at the right wind angle is the best fun. Cavitation in the rudder can be a problem . Hard to prevent nudging the transom or outboared.
 

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