I've never timed myself, but half an hour sounds like an awfully long time to rig a Laser. I'm guessing that you do something unnecessary/impractical and/or have to do multiple tries before succeeding at a certain step of the process. You specifically mentioned that...It still takes me a good 30 minutes of hard work
The hook, definitely. I have no idea why a shackle would be better in any way here. Actually, as you're not racing, I can recommend using the Harken hook and tying it semi-permanently to the boom with the included piece of line. Gets rid of the clew strap.One of the hardest parts is to get the clew attached to the boom. I have a shackle on the outhaul instead of the hook. Which one do people find easier?
30 minutes isn’t bad. Here are some ideas for reducing rigging time though.
1. Use an old practice sail and just leave it on the mast rolled up. Take the battens out of course and leave them in the cockpit.
2. Having the sail on the mast allows you to also leave the Vang and Cunningham attatched.
3. Use a Velcro clew strap.
4. Leave main sheet attached to it the boom and the cockpit block.
5. Only put the top cover on. No need for bottom cover unless on the road.
6. Leave blades in the cockpit and fix rudder in the down position and leave tiller attached
7. Sleep In your hiking boots and life jacket. If you drink enough alcohol this will happen naturally.
Jason, did you peak inside my tent when you couldn't sleep at the Kerr Lake event?
I'd expect this to be extremely rare. The hook should stay in even without an inhaul (which I'd be tempted to leave out for recreational-only sailing), because there should be enough tension on the leech so that the clew isn't pulled backward by anything. Solutions: use a hook with a latch, and/or rig the vang so it never goes completely loose.I've seen a hook come off in the week before the UK Open in Plymouth. Reason? Somehow, the bungee cord lost its power to pull the sail forward. The hook lost its tension and worked itself out of the loop.
That should take less than a minute, and why would one take it off in the first place?At lot of time is lost mounting the vang block to the lower part of the mast