Laser top speed??

That is cookin right along........When ever I get going fast it is for very short periods of time. I'm usually very out of control at that speed.


Chris
 
I think that has to do with the theoretical hull speed. I forget what the
formula is. :wink:

I'll check and get back to you
 
Hi!

The formula for calculating the theoretical maximum hull speed (in knots) is: 1.34 x the square root of the boat's waterline length in feet. But as soon as you get your boat out of its own wave (ie when you're planing), you'll be able to sail much faster.

Michael
 
[quote:ed0a8fa45d="Chris, ILC 152124"]That is cookin right along........When ever I get going fast it is for very short periods of time. I'm usually very out of control at that speed.


Chris[/quote:ed0a8fa45d]

Oh yeah, I was fully out of control. I would come over a wave and lose my ballance the boat would turn slightly and the next thing I knew I was being blown off the boat by the water rushing over the hull. Every time I crashed I had to swim like mad just to catch the boat. Even though it was on it's side the wind was blowing it away so fast that it was all I could do to catch the damn thing. I did that 5 or 6 time before I decided it was time to hit the beach. As I was comming into the beach there were people running out to try to catch me. I had to dump it to keep from creaming them. I hung out and helped the people on the beach rescue thier motor boats that broke away from thier dock. They gave me a towel and a beer as I waited it out. The real heavy wind only lasted about an hour then I was able to hop on and get back home. It was definately the biggest wind I have ever seen on that lake. Lots of fun!!
 
[quote:e6b89e6a33="sui805"]Hi!

The formula for calculating the theoretical maximum hull speed (in knots) is: 1.34 x the square root of the boat's waterline length in feet. But as soon as you get your boat out of its own wave (ie when you're planing), you'll be able to sail much faster.

Michael[/quote:e6b89e6a33]


Bingo. I knew it was here somewhere; thanks sui805.

WOW !! what position of sail....beam reach.? what was you approx wind speed on this amazing day. I've been in 25knts before and it was all a blur. I was so consentrated on boat speed and keeping the boat flat that I don't remember anything....other than I had a blast. I have learned one valuable lesson though. [b:e6b89e6a33]NEVER LET GO OF THE MAINSHEET[/b:e6b89e6a33]. Unless of course you like swimming after your boat; its kinda like participating in a rodeo. :D :lol:
 
Top speed ever

The fastest i've personally ever gone is somewhere around 20 mph... Broad reach in about 25 knots with gusts to 30 on Shoreline Lake in Mountain View, so there was no considerable chop. It was hard to stay in control during the gusts (that was a bit of an understatement). i think I hit 20 about 5 seconds before the boat flew completely out of the water (i only weigh 135) and landed capsized. It was pretty amazing, even though it was more survival sailing. My board starts to hum in about 20 knots up, and it was just howling. I'm not sure of the exact speed, but 20 mph seems about right.
 
Nice story Seldon..!!

Holly fast batman...It's nice to have a little extra weight when the wind gets blowing. I'm at 175 myself....and it deffinetly helps. :lol:
 
I'm 200lbs and I could not keep it flat on a broad reach.

I don't know how hard it was blowing that day but I know it was not as hard as it was 2 nights previous when it was measured at 186kph just outside of town. I live in the damn mountains. It is not supposed to get that windy in the valley bottoms.
 
I have no chance just hiking out, I had too keep quite a bubble in my main... and i still died when i got lifted...
 
ummm...k

the fastest i've ever gone was probobly about 20 knts. i was at the junior olympics in portland maine and on the second day it was blowing about 25. so beam reaching across the starting line was absolutely nuts. people littlerally out of the water buzzing inches away. and on the downwing leg of that race there were 3 of us abreast when a huge gust came and deathrolled all of us simontainiousl. a spar missed my head by about a foot right after i was flung five yards from my boat. so i guess you can say thats the easy way to gybe on a day like that!!
 
Breaking Waves ???

I only weight 95 pounds and have been out in 15 knots and 5 foot rollers (I live on Lake Michigan... we get big waves). Sometimes when I get on plane on a broad reach going with the waves the waves break right on my boat from behind. It has only happened twice but the crashes it caused were no fun. Is there a way to make this stop?

:lol: :D :lol: :D
 
If you can see the wave coming the general idea is to position the boat at an angle to it. Then start surfing. Keep in mind a deathroll at this speed can be quite violent. I've heard of people getting thrown up to ten feet from there boat.

Let us know how it goes.

:D
 
GoOd TiP

Thanks!
I got to try out the tip today and it worked great. When I saw a roller coming I either got on it and stayed on it or I headed up more until it passed. If I felt I was losing the wave (and had no chace of staying with it ) or going to deathroll I did the same thing (head up).

:D :p :D :lol: :p :lol: :D :p :lol: :p :D :p :lol: :)
 
It's an awesome feeling isn't it.

Wait till you hit the uberplane and you right at the edge of crashing, barely in control..... .flying .!!! All you hear is the centerboard sing as loud as she can and then bang you've gone so fast you have actually climbed up the next waves back in front of you.....and it all starts again.

Broad Reaching in 15 to 20 is definitly the bomb. :D 8)
 
[quote:8a01632d0d="Goonie"]K, what would you sugest, Laser I or II?[/quote:8a01632d0d]


Never done the Laser II thing. I guess they are hot enough. The only problem is it needs two to really get her going confidently. I myself like the fact that I can go out....by myself.....and scream at the top of my lungs at my boat when I'm flying......man what a feeling. I crew on a Thistle as well and even though they fly and you can get the same general feeling but when your out there on your own laser cranking you know its all you..... no-one else. 8)

Granted having a jib for upwind pinch and razor sharp taching is nice also can't forget the spin.

It's a crap shoot........I went with the laser.
 
hey justlaxin how old are you im about 120 and im 13 so i just wanted to know......

the fastest ive ever been on by boat is about 15 knts in aboout 30-40 knts of wind it scared the crap out of me and i didn't stay out there very long but it was the most amaizing thing goin' in a beam reach on a plane. i love that sound its soo cool i just love the boat period...
 
one day at camp it went from steady 20 knots of wind to 35 gusting at 40 an it was crazy . it did this in like 20 min. one opti snapped its mast in half and my extension fell of so i was royally screwed. bu it was fun.
 
HaHa going 45 in a laser....thats JOKES! The fastest I have ever gone in a sailboat was probably in a 29er just messing around one day with my buddie. Other than that, jokes...thats all I have to say.
 
I've dropped down the face of waves while going downwind in 15-20 kts and had the main hang limply for a few seconds as my boat presumably went faster than the wind. It's about the most fun thing imaginable...also a good time to leisurely jibe!
 
@ about 15-20 you will probably loose control cause o the fact that your foils will start to cavitate and you will be going till the boat desides she doesn't want to go anymore!!
dylan
 
Re: Top speed ever

A litle while ago when i first bought my laser radial i was out sailing in about 20kts of wind and the thing was flying. However this is mostly due to the fact that i weigh 100lbs :) . It was close to impossible for me to work the boat upwind though (i have been sailing for a while but not real sailboats until recently). i think that now that i have more time in the boat i would have spent a lot more time sailing instead of swimming and untangling the mainsheet from around my foot. For the time that that the boat was upright it was a real rush though. I have since bought a 4.7 which i'll probably use for the next year.

Dan
 
Ok, Here is the deal. During the summer I spend 2 weeks sailing Lasers in Upper Michigan. The winds are extreamly stedy because of the great lakes. I sail on a lake about 2 miles from Lake Michigan and our avrage wind is like 15-25 and sometimes more. During my 2 weeks of sailing we were doing a trip across the lake to the public beach. It was one laser a hobie wave (really slow) and a hobie 14 (good speed) we all left at the same time and I was in th laser. After about 2 minuits we were far off of shore the wave was still just getting out of the shallows and this was in a 25MPH wind with greater gust. When the winds get big up their so do the waves. The waves were huge and crashing over our boat if we sailed the wrong way. WE managed to sail along side of the waves and what we would do is sail up the wave then surf it down and actly plain accross it being lifted out of the water. the boat would go so fast that it felt like it was going to leave us behind. I had my GPS unit with me that day and it measured a top speed of 20 knots. my avrage speed was 18 Knots and i bet i could of gone faster (if it was only one perosn on the boat). As we were sailing somone was on a windsufer and they were litterally flying by us doing the leingth of this 10 mile lake over and over again as we were making it accross. We went so fast that day we passed moter boats (including the whaler that was coming with us incase something happened, they were not really usefull cuz they could not keep up with us we were going so fast.) BEST sail ov my life
 
"I had my GPS unit with me that day and it measured a top speed of 20 knots."

Intresting, you just set a new world record :p


Just kidding, but be careful with using handheld GPS, they aren't as accurate as people believe them to be. The world record for the Laser class is 19.7 knots, set by Michael Blackburn on March 10th, 2005. The article is here.


Just a little note, next time you should make your own topic about your experience, instead of bringing up one from last Christmas ;).

Happy sailing, it sounds like you have awsome weather there :).
 
David said:
Just a little note, next time you should make your own topic about your experience, instead of bringing up one from last Christmas ;).

I don't know why. I enjoyed reading the old posts and the new one fit right in.

Merrily
 
kwilson said:
[quote:8a01632d0d="Goonie"]K, what would you sugest, Laser I or II?[/quote:8a01632d0d]


Never done the Laser II thing. I guess they are hot enough. The only problem is it needs two to really get her going confidently. I myself like the fact that I can go out....by myself.....and scream at the top of my lungs at my boat when I'm flying......man what a feeling. I crew on a Thistle as well and even though they fly and you can get the same general feeling but when your out there on your own laser cranking you know its all you..... no-one else. 8)

Granted having a jib for upwind pinch and razor sharp taching is nice also can't forget the spin.

It's a crap shoot........I went with the laser.

I agree with alot of the points about a laser 1(crew, fleets, etc.) but in a breeze just shitting around i would take the laser 2 anyday. On a reach with the spin up and the crew almost touching the water on trap....there is nothing like it.
 
i was practicing with my coach and one of my mates who was in his blazex dont kno if u got them across the pond but hey he had it rigged up with a gps thing and he just passed me to leeward doin 25 knots it was blowing like mad but yeah i must of been going 22or 23 knots it was amazing spray everywhere.
 
Merrily said:
I don't know why. I enjoyed reading the old posts and the new one fit right in.

Merrily


Alright, sorry about this then. Most of the staff at other forums I use always get a little angry when people bring up really old topics.
 
Fastest clocked for me so far was 15mph in a small gust racing my family's ski boat (though I know I've gone faster). And I've at LEAST doubled that in my sailboard. My friend and I bought an international-14 but we can't keep it upright long enough to get moving very fast.
 
David said:
"I had my GPS unit with me that day and it measured a top speed of 20 knots."

Intresting, you just set a new world record :p


Just kidding, but be careful with using handheld GPS, they aren't as accurate as people believe them to be. The world record for the Laser class is 19.7 knots, set by Michael Blackburn on March 10th, 2005. The article is here.


Just a little note, next time you should make your own topic about your experience, instead of bringing up one from last Christmas ;).

Happy sailing, it sounds like you have awsome weather there :).



Neat article! However, unless I am reading it incorrectly, 19.7kts was his top speed during the crossing. His time of 13 hrs was the record, not his top speed. Though 20kts is crazy fast. I'm exhausted after a few hours of racing, no way I could keep it up for 13+ hrs.

-C
 

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