Ideal weight for Radial

I just received the 2005 US Sailing Championships package and the write-up for the Laser Radial states "A good goal weight for the Radial sailor is 165 lbs." Is this a typo? I thought that the Radial was designed for lighter sailors.
 
unless US sailing is on crack i would reckon that is a typo, 170 pounds is ideal for laser, radial is 15-25 pounds less. Perhaps they are talking about fully clothed, as that would add some weight., or perhaps their used to people only having their weight down low, or that can't hike very well, and hence need more weight to improve their moment.
 
140-160 lbs is quick, at the radial NAs in Corpus Christi in 03, i think four guys in the top ten were over 160 and 3 were 165 or more.

But at the radail open world in AUS, Michael Blackburn won in both lgiht and windy conditionsand he must have been well over 165 lbs.

I think it makes more of a difference to be big in the breeze than small in the light stuff.
 
Cindy Taylor said:
I just received the 2005 US Sailing Championships package and the write-up for the Laser Radial states "A good goal weight for the Radial sailor is 165 lbs." Is this a typo? I thought that the Radial was designed for lighter sailors.


I would think 165 is top end weight for a Radial, more like 145-155 but more important is height and fitness. Paige Railey kicks just about everyones a** and my guess is she's 5'9" and 140
 
See this one hits me, im now 18, 5'11" and a wopping 115lbs, yes 115, I sail the radial, its a pain in the ass but worth it. when I tell people that I sail it and I am that light It looks like they just saw a ghost, but I have fun and if I go for an unexpected swim, the key is to crank down everything: vang, outhaul... and then I can keep it pretty flat
 
I have to crank on the cunningham/vang too when the wind picks up. I have noticed a big difference since I lost some weight over the years. I now weigh about 130 lbs. It was easier when my weight was 140ish.

Now, I've just noticed that the 2005 International Laser Class Association has the weight range for the radial is 55-70 kg or 121 - 154 lbs. It seems like the ideal weight for the radial is creeping up.

In light winds (5-10 mph), I have no problems keeping up with the full rigs. When the wind picks up to 12+ that's when I really have to start cranking down to keep the boat flat. After this post I did do a search and the subject of radial and weight has been discussed a lot. In some of the posts there are hints how a light weight sailor can go up wind in heavy air.
 
i'm 15(16 nxt week) sailing the radial.i weigh 62kgs, and am 1.74cm tall,

i can keep up with and beat most of the full rigs in my club, this been because its mainly older gentlemen sailing the fulls so in light airs i can keep my weight right forwards no problem and i'm also lighter then them, and in the heavy air i can keep the radial flatter then they can with there full rigs,
 
WestCoast said:
per Vanguard, the ideal weight range for the radial is: 110-150lbs.

your results may vary....... =)
Yeah, I bought the standard at weight 155, and had to get a Radial too for higher winds. Vanguard sells more rigs that way, I think, but then I'll bely my name and say I'm cynical. It will be interesting to see if when I become a better sailor, I can sail the standard in winds above 10 knots.

Merrily
 
144679 said:
i'm 15(16 nxt week) sailing the radial.i weigh 62kgs, and am 1.74cm tall,

I am not real familiar with metrics but 1.74 centimeters is very short. You are about the size of a quarter...haha :p
 
I finally sailed my laser (std.) for the first time after restoration, Don't know the wind speed for sure but should've been around 12-15 kts. (small white caps appearing) I had a blast on reaches but trying to point I couldn't handle it, cranking everything and so on, still couldn't keep it flat. I'm 1.68 m. and 74 kg (163 lbs.) Anyway it was my first two days on a laser, and the second day I did much better, although it was windier. What I'm really sure now, is that I have to get in shape soon, I feel like somebody kicked my butt all weekend...;-)
 
Bradley said:
I am not real familiar with metrics but 1.74 centimeters is very short. You are about the size of a quarter...haha :p


LOL!! oops

not that short (i think) more 1.75 Meters
 
Picaroon said:
See http://www.laserforum.org/showthread.php?t=1922 for a previous discussion. 70kg is about max on the sea - inland it's a lot less.
With steady winds, I don't have trouble sailing the standard. It's on our narrow reservoir that I get into trouble with fluky winds gusting through gaps in the trees. There's also a whale of a windstream that comes off the manatee building at the Columbus zoo when the wind direction is just right. So I say weigh more on an inland lake or go to the Radial or 4.7, especially if you are only as tall as a quarter! ;)

Merrily
 
This is not exactly on-topic, but I'm gonna add my two cents' worth anyway.

Once you find a rig you like, standard or radial, you need to stick with it. The different size sails have different handling and adjustment characteristics. If you switch back and forth you don't really learn either one.

I'm sort of an inbetween size at 5' 6" and 150 lbs. I have spent the last five years constantly swaping full size and radial rig depending on the wind. In the process I have un-learned everything I knew about the Radial rig and picked up quite a few bad habits. Only recently have I realized that I need to stick with the Radial full-time.
 
torrid said:
This is not exactly on-topic, but I'm gonna add my two cents' worth anyway.

Once you find a rig you like, standard or radial, you need to stick with it. The different size sails have different handling and adjustment characteristics. If you switch back and forth you don't really learn either one.

I'm sort of an inbetween size at 5' 6" and 150 lbs. I have spent the last five years constantly swaping full size and radial rig depending on the wind. In the process I have un-learned everything I knew about the Radial rig and picked up quite a few bad habits. Only recently have I realized that I need to stick with the Radial full-time.

Yikes, that's kind of frustrating when there's not much wind! Please give some examples of the differences in handling, bad habits, etc.

Thanks,
Merrily
 
torrid said:
This is not exactly on-topic, but I'm gonna add my two cents' worth anyway.

Once you find a rig you like, standard or radial, you need to stick with it. The different size sails have different handling and adjustment characteristics. If you switch back and forth you don't really learn either one.

I'm sort of an inbetween size at 5' 6" and 150 lbs. I have spent the last five years constantly swaping full size and radial rig depending on the wind. In the process I have un-learned everything I knew about the Radial rig and picked up quite a few bad habits. Only recently have I realized that I need to stick with the Radial full-time.

I'll disagree with you here, the boat handling doesn't vary and the differences in sail shape adjustment seem pretty minor, certainly less then moving between a Laser and any stayed rig. The biggest issue I see is remembering that you might be on the hvy side in the radial and the light side in the full rig and need to make the nec adjustments how you set up the sail... We have a number of people in our fleet that switch back and forth depending on wind strength during the frostbite season, w/o issues.

Ryan Minth is another example, up until about a year or two ago, he was sailing both rigs depending on regatta/wind and doing well in both. It didn't seem to both Michael Blackburn either, as he dropped down into the radial and won the worlds a couple of years ago, if I recall correctly.
 
I'm sort of an inbetween size at 5' 6" and 150 lbs. Only recently have I realized that I need to stick with the Radial full-time.

At 5'6" and 150 you definately made the right choice going Radial full-time..
 
So, I guess at 5" 8", 135 lb, I should switch from full to radial. I'm new at Lasers (used to j-boats) and sailing on a very shifty lake.
 
yes, you SHOULD sail a radial.....but......

I'm basically the same size, 135lbs and 5'7ish and I go for the full rig effect.

If it blows 16+, you can barely keep it flat if you max most everything and hike like you weight 170. But much more and it's just not fun.

I'm getting too old for this, and might get a radial so in 20+ I'm competitive and not just going for a ride.

(though, reaching hard in 20 with a full rig and 135lbs is relatively exciting):)
 

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