LASERS DO NOT ALWAYS WIN

How do we keep the tail end of the fleet entertained? Do they get discouraged? Will they quit coming? We want them to come. The frontenders want someone to beat up on! The tailenders are the frontrunners of the future. Everyone starts there. We have to have them. And how do we keep them coming?? I have asked several people about that and gotten no help, so here are some thoughts..

HOW TO HAVE FUN IN THE BACK OF THE PACK.



1) Remember it is all fun for you. Those others are worried about winning a trophy. You are not!



2) If you wanted one of those big silver things you would go down to Merry Jewelry Old Silver shop and buy several really gorgeous ones for a lot less than a new sail.



3) Come early and go out and check the wind or come late and join in wherever. Who cares. You are having fun.



4) Bring plenty of water, soda, a sandwich. You are going to have a party.



5) Sail by the RC and wave to everyone. Remember to smile and laugh. You are having fun! They are checking watches, making lists, checking flags and checking the wind.



6) Wave to all your sailing friends out here on the water. Call them by name if you remember it.

Call things like “good luck” and “don’t turn over” and “did you see that big alligator?”



7) Don’t worry about the course. You are just going to follow the other folks.



8) Work on the small stuff.



8a You are competing against the other back of the packers.



8a1 Usually there is no money or trophy involved.



8b If you are way way last, skip a mark and suprise the next guy with how much you have caught up.–OK, but don’t pass him. He is working hard and you are having fun.



8c Remember you may be getting your own “our favorite sailor award” or the “pickle dish”.



8d You are really practicing “sailing the boat”. Make the most of it.



8d1 Before the start do the “four things” (another note for the four things, if you don’t know) and sail down the line and check the wind. Establish a routine.



8d2 Practice starting at the boat end.



8d3 Practice starting at the pin end.



8d4 Practice starting at the middle.



8d5 Practice starting second at the boat and tacking for clear lane.



8d6 Practice port start at the pin.



8d7 Practice port approach and tack into a starboard hole.



8d8 Follow the fleet Champ and see what he does.



8d9 Practice tacking.



8d10 Practice tacking into a close by the lee spot.



8d11 Practice ducking starboard tacker.



8d12 Practice bare off and then tack, to go behind windward boat that has you pinned.



8d13 Practice tacking on 5 degree headers.



8d14 Practice port tack approach to windward mark. Easy if you are behind or ahead.



8d15 Practice port tack approach to windward mark out past the 3 boat length zone.



8d16 On shore, pace off three boat lengths to see what it looks like.



8d17 Practice starboard tack approach at the windward mark and set up one or two boat lengths above the lay line. That will make it easier to get around when you are with a lot of boats.



8d18 Practice a “ head reach” (luff head to wind and coast around– good for ½ boat length if no waves) around the windward mark.



8d19 When you hit the mark, do a 360 turn before resuming you position behind everyone. More good practice.



8d20 Practice a double tack at the mark (easy if you are last).



8d21 Practice going around the windward mark. Clear the sheet, vang off, heel to windward, sheet out, turn to big time by the lee, and push the boom out if you need to.



8d22 Practice getting trimmed for downwind. Outhaul and Cunningham off. Weight forward with dramatic heel to windward. By the lee or broad reach. Do transitions downwind.



8d23 Look behind and to the side for dark water. Get in the pressure and try to stay there.



8d24 Downwind is the catch up leg. See if you can make it work?



8d25 Measure the guys ahead on you out stretched fist and thumb. See if you can make them bigger.



8d26 Think about entering the leeward mark zone on the left side, just in case you could be inside some other tailender.



8d27 Make note of the last wind shift. If it was from the left, then you might want to tack right after the mark rounding.



8d28 Set up the outhaul and Cunningham at 6 or 7 boat lengths. You want to do that before the excitement of fighting for inside and rounding the mark.



8d29 Sail to two boat lengths to the right of the mark.



8d30 Visualized the close hauled course past the mark.



8d31 Abreast of the mark push the board down and start the circle turn sheeting in with long pulls with alternating hands.



8d32 Aim for passing just to the right of the mark closehauled.



8d33 If the last shift before the mark was from the left (now right), think about tacking as soon as you are organized and the lane is clear of other boats coming into the mark. (It will be clear if you are really still last.) After you tack you will be on starboard tack closehauled, and have right of way over anyone still coming down wind to the mark. Don’t forget that it is slow to be running into boats going the opposite direction, even if you have right of way. Not to worry – remember, you are last.



8d34 SHORT BEAT TO FINISH



8d34a Look for and go to the downwind end of the finish line. If one was favored at the start and the wind is the same, then probably the other end.



8d34b If a big shift to the right go left.



8d34c Approach on the first lay line. When you reach the crossing of the laylines to the pin and to the boat, look to see which is closest. Go for the short end. If you can’t tell, stick with the tack you are on.



8d34d Shoot (head into the wind just before you cross the line, so you get to the line a second or two earlier.) one end or the other.



8d35 Get a big drink of water.



8d36 Thank the RC for waiting for you (if they did.).



8d37 Get out your sandwich and stuff, if you brought them. Have a party.



8d40 Ashore, check for water inside your hull. Don’t do that before the race. Don’t spoil your record.



8d41 Check all the lines for wear and make a list of all the things that need to be fixed before the next big race.



8d42 Make a list of all these things that you were able to practice today.



8d43 Find the guy or gal that won the race and ask them what you could do better.



9 NEXT TIME WORK ON THE BIG STUFF.





NOW YOU OTHER FOLKS.... Look up these people after the race and tell them how glad you are that they came. Tell them that they will soon be ahead of some other folks. We need everyone, so let us try to keep them coming.

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LASERS PATCH THEMSELVES.

C.J. broke the rubber connector between the tiller and tiller extension. 

He had to drop out of the rest of the day's racing.

We missed him.

Long time Laser sailor Randy Rea from Crystal River, Florida told us several lyear ago to wrap about 2 feet of light line around the back end of the hiking strap to use for various repairs.

Tie the tiller extension on with a rolling hitch or camel hitch or or just wraps and two half hithes should do the job.  Hang in there. Sail the races.

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LASERS SURF DOWN THE WAVES

DOWN WIND IN WAVES.

First remember if the current is running with or against the wind, look for the zone with the smallest waves going downwind. Otherwise you are looking for the bigger ones.
If you are going faster than the waves, then try to go around the bigger ones. So be doing transitions right and left so that you can cross the them at their lowest points.

If the waves are coming up behind you then you need to be looking for the deepest hole in the water opening up someplace in front of you. Head down into it and pump the sheet to start the surf. When you take off then angle right and left to run down the side of the wave as far as you can go. Some of the waves will be good for only short rides and then others may be fairly long. Then look for the next one to ride.

Occasionally you need to look for leeward mark and get back on course.

To practice, you might get your coach boat to run back and forth behind you. Then try to have him run along side while you try to catch and hold the quarter wave.

If you are sailing with bigger boats try to get on the windward quarter wave as they go by and then hang in with them. I haven’t done that in a Laser, but sailed with John Smittle on his J-24 in the first Key West Race week. John was a specialist in catching quarter waves and we got on one with a 50 footer and went from 6.5 knots to 12 as we rode that quarter wave for a mile.

If you don’t have big waves where you sail, then try to make some trips to big wave country. Get hooked up with the local Laser sailors there. You will need wind, local knowledge, and maybe some motor boat back up. Then try to get in some of their races and regattas.
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LASERS GIVE MORE ROOM IN BIG WAVES

Everyone needs more room between the boats in big waves.   More info about waves two entries down.

Down wind wave riding coming up soon.
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LASER GUY STOPS WEARING HIS LIFE JACKET

This is in response to Tillerman’s writing challenge, to answer the question of “what sailing will be like 15 years from now.”




I AM NOT GOING TO WEAR MY PFD.



Actually I wear a Musto regatta thing that Musto doesn’t make any more. I have worn them since my Sunfish days when we kept them rolled up inside the hull, and then put them on when we got cold or when conditions got really hairy. Some one stole my previous Musto. My current one I bought used on e-bay from England for $90. Used only once and I think a real bargain. I have may name all over this one to reduce the tendency for some one to walk away with it.



Now I know that it will take a pretty mean person to protest an 80 year old guy because the Coast Guard didn’t stamp his life jacket.



Anyway, in 15 years I will stop wearing a PFD, life jacket or Musto



Most of the rest of you folks will be moving to the bigger and bigger boats sailed with more and more folks on the rale and on the payroll. Maybe you will be sailing two or three lapse around the world. Or maybe around the North Pole in the iceless Arctic Ocean.



Perhaps the little boats will be all gone, except for a few Puddle Duck Racers hanging on.



My boat will be pretty much rigged like a Laser . Maybe a square top sail. Then I think I want a BIG window so I can see the Starboard tackers coming at me without bending down to look under the boom.



The boat will look pretty much like a golden cloud. I will try to get a new one every year. We will be racing Portsmouth or something like that because I expect to be racing against Chris Columbus, Sir Francis Drake and Arthur Ransome. They will all be sailing their favorite boat and the BIG G will be giving winning trophies to everyone on a regular basis to keep them all happy. How can everyone be a winner? The BIG G can arrange it.



We don’t expect to see any of the current rich rich yachting types, because to get that much money you almost always have to cheat someone. They will be doing something else, some place else.



Near Sunset you may be able to see my golden cloud heading West and I won’t need the life jacket anymore. Someone else can wear my Musto.
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LASERS NEED TO HYDRATE

Laser sailors need to drink plenty of water.  Sometimes we just need a place to rest.

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LASERS SAIL UPWIND IN WAVES

I have some other parts of the blog that comment on sailing in waves, but a recent “Speed and Smarts” is about playing the waves, so let me review what I know about Lasers in the waves.

Generally go upwind in the smaller waves and downwind in the bigger waves, if you have a difference on the two sides of the course without a great deal of pressure difference.



If there is current, then the above is reversed. When the current in with the wind, then the waves will be less with more current and bigger where the current is weaker. Current against the wind then makes the waves bigger, so in either case go upwind in the bigger waves and look the smaller ones going down wind. If you are sailing in tidal waters, it helps to know when the tide will change.



Going upwind with the Laser, when the waves are less than 18 inches, you just need to power through them. Bare off a little to be sure you are moving well. Don’t pinch. Tack in a flat spot.



Somewhere between 18 inches and 2 feet you have to begin to think about the old up the “up side and down the down side.” That gets you through the wave faster and gives you a little push going down the down side. When you do this you pump the tiller down (to leeward) to get the bow up and rock you weight back to help lift the bow. Then on the top of the wave, pull the tiller toward you and rock your weight forward to help get the bow down. These moves can be quite vigorous when the waves are steep and short . Robert Scheidt, recent great Laser sailor moved to Stars, could be picked out of a fleet by his radical movement.



Dellenbaugh divides the waves up into 1) Normal wind for waves. 2) More wind than waves. 3) Less wind than waves. 2) happens when the wind is increasing and it gives you more power to trim tighter and sail higher. In 3), you power up and bear off. Don’t pinch. In any of the cases you need to be sure you are moving through the waves and not being stopped. You need to manage them better than you competitors. If not, see if you can tell what they are doing.



Try and stay in clear air, tack in the flat spots, or just before the wave so that the waves pushes you bow around, instead of stopping you. Be careful with close maneuvering as everyone has less control.



You need a clear air lane more with waves.



Not all waves are the same, so you have to keep watching ahead. Some waves can just rise up ahead of you as forces below the surface join. Some will need powering through and some worked up and down. If you are going to stick your bow into one, then let the boat heel and dump as much of the water as you can, so that you don’t get all the water in the cockpit.



If you sail on a small lake and don’t have bigger waves, then you may want to take some long visits to places that have them. It takes practice working alone and then sailing beside someone so you can make some judgement about your technique. Every day will have a little different set of waves, so get out to the race course early and get the rhythm down before the races start.



Dellenbaugh says that usually the waves are the same on both tacks, but occasionaly skewed.

My experience is that they are almost always lopsided with one tack more square into the wind and one more at an angle. Either the waves are changing as they move along the bottom or the wind shifts and the waves have not yet. If you are going square into the wave, bear off more and take it a little on diagonal. The changing angle to the waves will also help you pick up the wind shifts, as the waves will take a long time to change angles.



Motorboat waves should be worked the same. Power through the smaller, up and down the bigger and take them at an angle if coming on square.



Next week we will do the downwind section.

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