I just got in from my first sail in a Laser!
I've only been in 4 dingys in my life and one of those times I think I spent more time in the water (all inclusive resort in the Dominican). Last summer my girlfriend tried to teach me to sail a 420. We went out three times over the course of that summer and I barely got my feet wet (not literally... literally I was soaked).
Around the same time I picked up a Laser hull for free. It was in rough shape! The bottom had a fist sized hole in it (that had been "repaired" with bondo) and a crack about 10" long. The entire hull had been coated with epoxy resin over the gelcoat, to stop the leaking I assume, and the hull/deck joint was 80% broken.
At the end of that season we had an opportunity to buy an L2. We got the boat but didn't get out on the water early July of this year due to our work commitments and the weather (I live in Nova Scotia, Canada). It was a lot of fun but I wanted to try solo sailing. I kept working on the Laser hull, and although it wasn't finished I could wait any longer. I was going to go Laser sailing!!! We headed to "The Bay" (St. Margaret's Bay, NS) on Friday evening. It's about 30-45 minutes from our place in Lunenburg. When we pulled into our friends place we were scared. It was probably 12-15 knots. That wasn't ideal for my first Laser run so we figured we'd wait an hour. We went to grab some food and when we returned the wind was completely gone. We gave up and headed to the city (Halifax). We returned around 1pm today to similar conditions but probably faster gusts (15-18knots). Again I was cautious about taking the Laser out alone so a friend and I took the L2 out for an hour or so. When we returned I felt a little more ready to try it. I rigged the boat and headed out. I was probably only out for 30-45 minutes but it was a blast. The wind had calmed down (6-8knots) but that was a lot better for me to learn in.
I'm heading out again tomorrow for my second ever Laser sail. Wish me luck!!
I've only been in 4 dingys in my life and one of those times I think I spent more time in the water (all inclusive resort in the Dominican). Last summer my girlfriend tried to teach me to sail a 420. We went out three times over the course of that summer and I barely got my feet wet (not literally... literally I was soaked).
Around the same time I picked up a Laser hull for free. It was in rough shape! The bottom had a fist sized hole in it (that had been "repaired" with bondo) and a crack about 10" long. The entire hull had been coated with epoxy resin over the gelcoat, to stop the leaking I assume, and the hull/deck joint was 80% broken.
At the end of that season we had an opportunity to buy an L2. We got the boat but didn't get out on the water early July of this year due to our work commitments and the weather (I live in Nova Scotia, Canada). It was a lot of fun but I wanted to try solo sailing. I kept working on the Laser hull, and although it wasn't finished I could wait any longer. I was going to go Laser sailing!!! We headed to "The Bay" (St. Margaret's Bay, NS) on Friday evening. It's about 30-45 minutes from our place in Lunenburg. When we pulled into our friends place we were scared. It was probably 12-15 knots. That wasn't ideal for my first Laser run so we figured we'd wait an hour. We went to grab some food and when we returned the wind was completely gone. We gave up and headed to the city (Halifax). We returned around 1pm today to similar conditions but probably faster gusts (15-18knots). Again I was cautious about taking the Laser out alone so a friend and I took the L2 out for an hour or so. When we returned I felt a little more ready to try it. I rigged the boat and headed out. I was probably only out for 30-45 minutes but it was a blast. The wind had calmed down (6-8knots) but that was a lot better for me to learn in.
I'm heading out again tomorrow for my second ever Laser sail. Wish me luck!!
