Laser Mainsheet

[Wafoo]

Just rigging my Laser with new ropes and sheets,the guy in the shop said I need 10meters(approx 33ft) of mainsheet,now it seems to me this is a bit short or is it,thought it was a bit longer than that,can't compare it to the old one as that's dissapeared,can anyone help?

 

[49208]

That is too short. 46ft to 48ft

 

[144679]

always been told 12mts was the magic number

 

[knot_moving]

Mine is 42 ft & I had some interesting experiences downwind during our last club regatta. It was steady blowing near 20 with significant gusts on top of that.
I lost control of the mainsheet a couple of times downwind and proved that letting go of the mainsheet and holding the tiller will guarantee a capsize as the boom goes forward of the mast. (end is tied off at the hiking strap).
Now I know I'm not supposed to lose control of the mainsheet, but I do lots of things I'm not supposed to do :-0 . To help with this one I'm thinking of tying off the mainsheet so it can't go out past 90 deg. I'm guessing there might be some really good reason NOT to do this & I'd like to hear about it without having to experience it if at all possible

So is there anything wrong with tying off the last 6-8 ft of the mainsheet at the back end of the hiking strap?

 

[knot_moving]

Mine is 42 ft & I had some interesting experiences downwind during our last club regatta. It was steady blowing near 20 with significant gusts on top of that.
I lost control of the mainsheet a couple of times downwind and proved that letting go of the mainsheet and holding the tiller will guarantee a capsize as the boom goes forward of the mast. (end is tied off at the hiking strap).
Now I know I'm not supposed to lose control of the mainsheet, but I do lots of things I'm not supposed to do :-0 . To help with this one I'm thinking of tying off the mainsheet so it can't go out past 90 deg. I'm guessing there might be some really good reason NOT to do this & I'd like to hear about it without having to experience it if at all possible

So is there anything wrong with tying off the last 6-8 ft of the mainsheet at the back end of the hiking strap?

 

[Sarah B]

I tie a figure of eight by the block so the boom can't go past 90degrees for normal fce 3-4 sailing. If is it windier I tie the knot so the boom doesn't quite reach 90 to avoid death rolls if I drop it, then when the wind is lighter I tie the knot so it can just go a little bit past 90. So basically I adjust the knot position according to the wind strength!

I then tie the remainder of the mainsheet to the back of my hiking strap to the loop I use to pull the toestrap tight with. The logic being when it is windy I pull the spare bit of mainsheet rather than fiddling around at the back of the cockpit and taking my eyes off where the next wave is coming from.

Hope that makes some sense!!

 

[jamesfreedman]

I bought the Laser New Rules Performance Line Package from APS. The website is at the following:

http://www.apsltd.com/Tree/d90000/e87620.asp

Between 42' and 48' is the norm....

James

 

[WestCoast]

many people do 46' and tie off the end to the back of the hiking strap. Effective length is more like 44' then, and that seems to be pretty sweet.

 

[Wafoo]

Yeah,sounds about right,measured off 12 meters and got that,with boom at 90 degrees leaves about 2meters lying around

 

[eugeniocingolani]

You don't want your mainsheet to be short ... since you may want to go slighty over the 90 degrees on light wind conditions or if you can live with it.... I guess you need 12 meters and try not to loose control ...