Copyright (c) 2011 AJ Sorensen All rights reserved. http://www.laserxd.com/Sailing-Blog.php Laser Sailing One Design Sailing The sun was shining and the wind blowing this past Sunday. It was a challenge sailing in shifty wind that ranged from 0kts to 25kt gusts. The wind shifted around in every direction, a good test of one's boat handling skills. At one point you would be hiked out to the max riding a big puff, then the shifts were so great that you could be on the opposite tack sailing the same course. Due to the heavy wind there was no racing, but it was still fun to get out there for a while. http://www.laserxd.com/sailing-blog.php This week turned into another gusty and shifty day. The biggest challenge for most people is sailing upwind in these conditions. Having a good amount of vang and cunningham helps to keep the boat powered and under control, leave enough slack on the vang so you can duck the boom for tacks and quick wind shifts. It is important to keep the boat moving in all conditions, otherwise you will stall your boat and/or get stuck in irons. Heading up will stall your boat so sheeting out is a better option. The hardest part of dealing with massive shifts is figuring out where to keep your bodyweight. You want to be hiked out with your knees over your chest, but when the wind shifts a great deal its easy to get caught off-guard and fall off to windward. Reaches and downwind legs were exciting, it would be interesting to bring a velocitek on your boat to see just how fast we were going. Sailing in these conditions is a great workout testing both your strength and endurance. http://www.laserxd.com/sailing-blog.php What a nice day! The high was around 45F, high enough to take a layer off under your drysuit. The wind gusts were around 15kts which was a nice break from the high winds the past 2 weeks. It was a good day to practice keeping your boat flat. The best way to keep your boatspeed up while sailing upwind today was keeping your boat flat and sheeting out in big puffs. There was one puff near the dock that came in 180 degrees from the NW wind today which almost caught me off guard. I quickly switched sides managing to avoid going for a swim. Sailing during the winter has really improved my boat handling a great deal since the end of the fall season. http://www.laserxd.com/sailing-blog.php Not a cloud in the sky, 50F with light-medium air, great sailing conditions for the first day of the spring season. There were significant advantages to playing the current and wind shifts in each race. The pin was favored today, getting a good start and taking advantage of the course advantages the best was the key to a good finish. At one start a few boats tried to start on port tack which resulted in a massive bumper boat rally. With so many boats racing its easy to get jammed up. Overall it was a great day of sailing. http://www.laserxd.com/sailing-blog.php No sailing this weekend due to flooding, the island was closed and there were trees down all over the area. Winds speeds were recorded at 75mph which brings up a good point, tying down your laser! It seems that some lasers weren't tied down at all, some loosely tied and many with the bow not tied down. About 10 of these lasers ended up flying around the parking lot, luckily none of them were completely ruined but definitely some damage. A few covers were torn off their boats, and some ripped badly. If you had a hole in your cover, the hole got bigger or your cover got ripped off. Another thing I noticed is that lasers that did not have their bow tied to their dolly ended up in trouble, even if they did have tie downs on. So, to secure your laser properly you have to tie the boat to the dolly especially the bow, then tie them both to the blocks or you risk damaging your boat. It doesn't take 75 mph winds to damage your boat and storms can come in quickly. http://www.laserxd.com/sailing-blog.php The winds today were medium, heavy at times with big waves. There was a very strong current and people that reached the current relief first were rewarded. I found myself using lots of vang and cunningham upwind, flat is fast. Downwind sailing entailed surfing the big waves and trying to ride them as long as possible. During one race I forgot to free the cunningham and it became obvious why it is necessary to let it off, your boat will become squirly. Also with these big rolling waves it was important to release the vang before rounding the windward mark. Rounding with the cunningham on will make for a faster rounding. Its important to have a good rounding because by catching a nice wave on the rounding you can gain a great deal of distance. Another key factor that was brought up in the post race discussion was to make a knot where your sheets are the max you'd let them out and not at the end of the line. I learned this the hard way when the mainsheet slipped out of my hand and the boom went out straight to the bow. It ruined my race since it took time to head the boat into the wind and re-sheet the main. This also helps with the control lines because you can free up the outhaul and have it let out to its correct position rather than going out too much or too little. It wastes time and I've even capsized a few times because I didn't have my settings dialed in for heavy wind sailing. A little preparation goes along way! http://www.laserxd.com/sailing-blog.php Excellent conditions for laser sailing, overcast with medium winds and 3ft waves. The current was definitely a factor this week, but not as strong as it was the week before. The tide was going out this week instead of coming in. The way the course was setup, going out to the right was usually faster because it is more protected. Smaller waves and less current, so when the wind was ideal it would pay off. There weren't many big shifts and the beats were pretty straight forward and even most of the time. In the first race I was in good position rounding the windward mark and got thrown off balance which caused me to capsize. I recovered as quickly as I could and sailed fast downwind. I managed to almost catch back up with the fleet, I passed several boats which had capsized to windward either because they let their main out too far or they just got thrown off balance like me. I felt very fast downwind and managed to make up for my mistakes during the beats. By focusing on getting the most out of the wind and waves I was able to gain 20+ boat lengths. One race the whole fleet was close and you could really see the how much speed gain the waves can give you. I would see a boat close in front of me take off on a wave, then as I caught the next wave in I quickly caught back up. The wind was light at times downwind and near the leeward mark so by keeping waterflow on the blades you could maintain good speed. http://www.laserxd.com/sailing-blog.php Today I'll give you a recap on the fall frostbite season. First off, this past season is the first season that Intensity sails have been allowed in the Laser standard class (except for the fall district regatta of course). After sailing the whole season the fleet voted 50 to 3 in favor of allowing Intensity made sails for frostbiting. As soon as I found out that Intensity sails were allowed I bought one because a new sail is better than an old one especially in medium and heavy air. A new sail holds its shape better than an old sail. An old sail needs to be constantly trimmed and the draft is usually too far aft to be competitive. Intensity sails are a game changer, they are affordable and unlike the class sails they last for a full season. The Intensity sail is like a brand new Hyde class sail that holds its shape do to a slightly thicker Dacron. We had many windy days this fall including two cancellations due to gale force winds and even after several days of 15+kts the Intensity sails have held up. I'm really surprised that the Laser class hasn't adapted the same technology, Intensity is selling their sail for a much lower price and it is truly a better material. The class sail is still using the same material and cut that is very outdated, in fact, the material for the class sails is special ordered because they don't make it anymore! Even with the added class costs, Laser should be producing a sail that costs around $300 or less, not $600+. The laser class desperately needs to update the class sail. The performance of the laser with the new controls has made a huge difference in speed but, there is still along way to go for the laser to reach its optimum performance potential. Today's hulls are being built much stronger but, heavier than the old school lasers. We now have technology than can make a laser stronger and lighter which, will definitely make the boat even faster. I very much enjoy the boat just as it is, but at the same time some minor upgrades could make the class faster and even more competitive. I sail and have sailed many types of boats and my favorite is still the laser, you just can't beat a fast single hander that you can put on the top of your car and go sailing! Some of the other boats that I like are the melges 24 and 20 which, are practical boats just like the laser. Sailing the melges is like driving a racecar and they are much more affordable than a 30 or 40 ft keel boat. You can dry sail the melges and trailer it behind your car to a big one design regatta just like the laser. The melges is a competitive PHRF racer but, there is no substitute for one design racing. The Melges 20 you can be competitive with a crew of only 3. I think this is where sailing is going and a melges 20 or 24 is certainly on my wish list. http://www.laserxd.com/sailing-blog.php A week ago we had the pleasure of sailing with Rob Crane of the US sailing team. Rob has found a new gear in light-air sailing and had a great explanation of his technique. In light air it is common to see sailors heeling the boat to leeward in order to increase feel in the tiller. Rob explained that he actually sails the boat with a slight windward heel in light air ( ~ 5 degrees ). The theory is that you want the mast straight up and provided there are a few knots of wind the mast will bend slightly to leeward. By maintaining a slight windward heel the mast is essentially straigt up. Rob explained that it is difficult to sail this way because you don't get the same feel on the tiller. He said he is on the water nearly everyday year round and this is a big part of developing your skills. http://www.laserxd.com/sailing-blog.php