Is it just me...?

S

Skipper Johnson

New Member
Sailed on Monday, for the second time in a row with breeze 20 Kts plus.

I am 6 ft 1 and about 95 Kgs so I have plenty of weight, but...

In over 20 knots and beating, I am constantly struggling to keep the boat sailing well and upright

Should I be able to handle this
 
Hey Skipper J. Don't worry, everyone is overpowered going upwind in 20kts. To get the boat sailing well in that pressure you need everything tight and you simply have to play the mainsheet A LOT!

Think of it like this "Ease, Hike, Trim" This will translate as extremly tired arms as well as legs. Good luck.
 
Skipper Johnson said:
Sailed on Monday, for the second time in a row with breeze 20 Kts plus.

I am 6 ft 1 and about 95 Kgs so I have plenty of weight, but...

In over 20 knots and beating, I am constantly struggling to keep the boat sailing well and upright

Should I be able to handle this
Click to expand...

Hey Skipper J,

Don't be blue. That's a lot of wind for a dinghy, and it's a lot of wind for a newbie sailor. Here's a hint: at my club's Laser regatta last autumn, when the wind built to 20-25 knots, we called it quits. There are were some damned good sailors too (not me). I think even experienced guys are going to get a little beat up in that kind of wind after a while. The question is, are you having fun? This is supposed to be a good time, after all. When I'm struggling, I back off, sail in a bit lighter wind to keep my confidence up, review stuff, go out with experienced people.

Did you:
1. Have the cunningham grommet below the boom?
2. So much outhaul as to make the sail flat?
3. Supervang?
4. Foot off to keep level?
5. Do crunches instead of drinking tinnies beforehand?
6. Hoist a few after?
 
as you play the main upwind (ease hike trim as rock steady said) make SURE you have the vang on SUPER hard.

When you ease the main with the vang on, the sail goes out and depowers.

If the vang is not on hard, the boom will rise up as you ease, instead of going out.


Also, cunningham is vital with that much prebend in the mast (with the vang on hard) so yank on the cunningham.

Outhaul is important, but you still want some shape to drive off of.

Also, if you are healing way over, and hiking flat, pull your daggerboard up 4-6 inches.

HIKE HIKE HIKE :) and it's all worth it when you round the top mark, that's what you keep telling yourself!
 
Pulling on the cunningham opens the leech. That shoots the ari out the back and not only makes the boat easier to handle, the boat goes foreword too.

Also, be careful not to over tighten the outhaul. The outhaul only changes the chape of the bottom of the sail. The bottom of the sail is the part where you actually have the leverage to use it.

So..if you keep the outhaul set such that the middle of the sail is 2 to 4 inches away from the boom, you will still have some draft in the sail.

2 to 4?? Yes...The bigger the waves, the more outhaul you need to throw your bow up and over the waves.

I like all the cokmments above. especially the little slogans.

When overpowered, I try to sail as low as I can. It is hard to sail low because it is overpowering and the boat might tip more and I need to hike more as a result and I am lazy but..lower is faster in a blow.

Try to sneak the bow down every chance you get. Then let it go up and over a wave and then get the bow back to leeward as soon as you can. You will ultimately point higher and go faster
 
Hi...

I agree with all of the above but I would ask how old your sail is? As a sail gets older the draft of it moves back towards the center. When the breeze picks up (which at 20+knots I'd say it had) the sail is shaped such that it's more of an arc shape rather than an aerofoil and this means that the main element of force is pretty much perpendicular to the boat. So.. you have to crack on the cunningham, hike harder than ever and still it feels like you're fighting forever to go anywhere.

However, put a new(ish) sail on when it gets windy and it's the opposite - you scream upwind with comparatively little effort as there is a huge element of forward force from the new shape of the sail.

If a new sail is not an option then definately haul the cunningham on hard... vang like you never have in your life but definately, definately do NOT haul the outhaul on tight... as people mentioned, you need to keep a couple of inches in it in flat water and more when it's bumpy. Spend a ton of time training on a hiking bench so that you can straight leg hike forever and if you're super fit... heel the boat to windward 5 degress or so while still trying to keep your butt out of the waves. If a gust hits, spill sheet rather than pinch upwind, you have to maintain forward momentum as the laser grinds to a hault when you pinch in 20+ knots... just keep it flat, let out some sheet and maybe bear away a touch just to make sure the boatspeed stays up...

Then, with your 90+kilos.... approach the windward mark, ease the outhaul a lot, let the vang of a touch, free the cunningham and fly down that reach....
 
Something worth doing when the wind is at a max for your weight, is to simply sail for a time with minimal sheet (just enough to maintain consitent steering control and keep the boat level and steering to just control where you want to go at relatively low speed for the conditions)

Using this as a 'baseline' you can then deliberately and progressively tweak the rig and engage more power - find a controlled compromise that suits reaction time and weight/stamina for the prevailing conditions, wind and water roughness etc and adjust your up and cross-wind race-plan accordingly. - knowing you will scream past heavier sailors downwind.

At 55kg (and now 30 years later at 65kg) I have tried the radial (and love it) but find that hanging on to the standard sail in winds over 15kts upwind still pays greater dividends through better downwind performance and overall 'round the course' performance. If I was fitter the advantages would be even greater.

Always rig for max power in the 'lulls' if racing (opposite if cruising socially)

GL
 
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