Sailing and injuries

S

scalimax

New Member
2 days ago I was on the Lake of Como (Italia) with my Laser. The wind was strong enough (15 knots). Changing my way from beating to running I did a mistake and I incurred in a death roll (in this forum I have discovered my errors... later: too loose vang, too loose outhaul, I should have sheeted more,...)
Anyway the problem is that I fell in a bad way and I knocked my back against the mast. The result is that now I have 2 broken ribs :(. No problem in 30/45 days I will be back on my Laser again :)
Anyway my question is: do you know of similar cases? Is it frequent to get injuries while sailing the Laser (or other kind of dinghies)?
 
scalimax said:
2 days ago I was on the Lake of Como (Italia) with my Laser. The wind was strong enough (15 knots). Changing my way from beating to running I did a mistake and I incurred in a death roll (in this forum I have discovered my errors... later: too loose vang, too loose outhaul, I should have sheeted more,...)
Anyway the problem is that I fell in a bad way and I knocked my back against the mast. The result is that now I have 2 broken ribs :(. No problem in 30/45 days I will be back on my Laser again :)
Anyway my question is: do you know of similar cases? Is it frequent to get injuries while sailing the Laser (or other kind of dinghies)?
Click to expand...

I get a lot of bruises--nothing more so far, but I don't usually get the opportunity to sail in that much wind. Hope you heal quickly.

Merrily
 
I have to say that I have not heard of broken ribs....I have had lots of bruises and I did brake the corner of the dagger board with my knee and had to have the piece removed an hour or so latter in hospital as well as one concusion (my first sail in a laser) but no broken ribs.
 
Long term, some of us older guys experience problems with our knees, lower backs and hips. I figure once I can't move around the cockpit too well anymore I'll move to an MC. I hope this move will be many years down the road as I have loved the Laser since 1983. I have to stay in a singlehanded dingy as I'm not fun to crew for. A bit of a control freak.
 
I am 54 and this year I got back into sailing Lasers after a 25 year lay-off. Sailing this boat in a breeze is much harder than I ever remembered. I have done several death rolls and I seem to suffer massive bruising on my arms when I am trying to right the boat. This didn't happen to me in my youth. I suspect I need to get to the gym over the winter and try to get back into some sort of fighting shape.

Philip Minnion
Vancouver BC
 
I've been sailing 420's in a junior sailing program for the last couple of years as well as my laser, and I find in 420's you should NEVER sail barefooted as there are so many cleats and things sticking out. I've cut my feet clean open many times as well as tearing off nails, bruises, etc. Also, regardless of boat, if i'm having a bad day and get lazy i'll hit my head on the boom multiple times[this has never lead to a concussion, but i'm sure it soon will]. Also, I was crewing on the 420 that was sent to the Bemis, and during the elimination round for ME, NH, and VT, we were planing off the wind[no spinnaker, the yacht club providing the boats was a little short on cash] in a good 20 knots with gusts varying from 25 to 35+, and we started death-rolling. We managed to save it after 3 near-misses and a close run-in with the lead competitor [we were in 2nd at the time], but not without myself gouging a chunk of my arm out on the steel jib cable- I still have the scar 6 months later...I could see my arm bone clearly through the hole. I can't speak for any broken bones, though I have bruised my ribs many-a-time doing really sloppy head-first dry-capsizes.
 
Yeah I sailed 420's and a Laser at the youth sailing center nearby wher eI live, and you can get pretty cut up and hurt sailing bare foot... Plus some foot wounds can get easily infected... So never in anycase sail bare foot.
computeroman2 said:
I've been sailing 420's in a junior sailing program for the last couple of years as well as my laser, and I find in 420's you should NEVER sail barefooted as there are so many cleats and things sticking out. I've cut my feet clean open many times as well as tearing off nails, bruises, etc. Also, regardless of boat, if i'm having a bad day and get lazy i'll hit my head on the boom multiple times[this has never lead to a concussion, but i'm sure it soon will]. Also, I was crewing on the 420 that was sent to the Bemis, and during the elimination round for ME, NH, and VT, we were planing off the wind[no spinnaker, the yacht club providing the boats was a little short on cash] in a good 20 knots with gusts varying from 25 to 35+, and we started death-rolling. We managed to save it after 3 near-misses and a close run-in with the lead competitor [we were in 2nd at the time], but not without myself gouging a chunk of my arm out on the steel jib cable- I still have the scar 6 months later...I could see my arm bone clearly through the hole. I can't speak for any broken bones, though I have bruised my ribs many-a-time doing really sloppy head-first dry-capsizes.
Click to expand...
 
The worst Laser injury I saw was a large cut to the top of the head as a result of the old stainless steel mainsheet fairlead (now replaced by a strap). The sailor did it on his last gybe of a windy race (fatigue?), and he therefore sailed the last beat and finished the race. He, and his boat, were not a pretty site coming back to the beach.
 
I always get covered in bruises sailing. I am currently waiting for some to heal after a couple of particularly violent windward capsizes the other day. Apart from that I've mostly just had grazes and cuts, nothing major.

However, one day when it was blowing 25 knots I made the mistake of wearing short-finger gloves and consequently tore all the skin off the pads of my fingers. That was incredibly painful!

Broken ribs sounds painful mate, I hope you heal up soon! :)
 
After a heavy air day, I sometimes find some pretty gnarly looking black-and-blue bruises on the underside of my upper arms (along the tricep muscles). The thing is, I have no idea what it is I do to get them, as it's a funny place to hit yourself against anything, and I'm not aware of doing anything violent to my arms.
 
Worst injury I ever got on a Laser??

When we were out sailing on Lasers going side by side up the lake, Jennifer decided to tell me she was moving back home to Annapolis. It broke my heart.

Not only that but Skipper lost his favorite doggie sitter.
 
Black Eye! Ok, not that exciting, but it sure got me some weird looks around town & at swim team, 'cause I'm not the type of girl you'd expect to get a black eye! (It was from FJs though. Got into a tangle with a 420 with our spinnakers up...)
Also, I think I know what Chris123 is talking about. The undersides of my upper arms bruise too. I've found that at least for me, it's from bracing the tiller extention. When I think about it, off the water, I can't explain how or when I do that. I do it sub-conciously. Then one time I realized that I was doing it; but I was so busy that I still don't remember why I did it.
And, at our yacht club, we have, more than once, counted bruises to see who's the most beat up!
My boats have survived worse injuries than myself though. Like my opti... Once got hit by a port boat & I could see his bow from the inside of my boat!
 
hola.

amongst the bruises..i also share those upper arm bruises...mine came from ( i think) trying to grad unto the daggerboard and forcing myself on top of it to right the boat (after many capsizes in my last regatta).

be well

ARM
 
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