SHORT BEAT TO THE FINISH......

1) Set outhaul and Cunningham up for the beat before coming into the excitement of the mark rounding. Centerboard can wait till the last. Vang after rounded and sheeted in.

2) Think about the last wind shift. Is it from your right looking down wind? Then port tack after rounding will probably still be the lifted tack. If a big shift from the left then think about a tack to starboard as soon as reasonable after leeward mark rounding. Starboard tack close hauled will have right of way over all those coming down wind, but the wind may be all cut up and collisions don’t make you go fast.

3) Try not to round outside. Slow up to get behind, if on the outside. S turns, trim sail in, move to back of boat to drag stern. If you get behind, try to make it more than just a few inches. You don’t want to have to go below the boat ahead to keep from hitting him/her.

4) Consider if you are close enough to those ahead to be able to pass someone or are you better served to hold your position and stay ahead of those behind. Are those behind close enough to challenge? What is your position in the series?

5a) Make a good rounding and if challenging those a head, split tacks as soon as reasonable. It will be hard to pass following behind.
Hit the shifts.
Tack on the first lay line to finish. Sail up to the lay line junction and judge which end is downwind (closest) and go for it. If there is a big shift from the right then the pin end will be it and if from the left then the boat end.
Sail to the down wind end and shoot the line.(Head straight into the wind the last ½ boat length. Shoot the line for practice even if no one is near. It will get you an extra place occasionally. You can’t do it in the middle of the line, because you can’t tell just where the line is.

5b) Make a good rounding and if covering those close behind, stay on port tack as long as they will follow you. If they tack, then you need to tack to cover. Go to the downwind end of the line as in 5b. Don’t get in a tacking duel with the first boat and let another close behind beat you both.

5c) No one close behind or ahead, sail the shifts and finish as 5a.

THE LIST

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18 ADVANTAGES OF THE LASER SAILBOAT
1. Forget the crew.
2. Race regularly, sail for fun or hang it up in the garage.
3. New vang, out haul and Cunningham system make it easier to sail.
4. Multiple rigs adjusts to skipper weight or wind strength.
5. At Lake Eustis, Florida we race in the morning and leaves the afternoon free.
6. At Lake Eustis we have 11 year olds sailing against 80 year olds.
7. Six to ten minutes to get the boat rigged or to put it away.
8. Half or less of the cost, unless you do Sunfish or Optimist pram.
9. Most popular adult and youth sailing boat .Current world wide number 190,000.
10. Racing around the Florida, your state, around USA, around the world. And in the Olympics.
11. Six continents and 122 countries.
12. Local help available lots of places and in Eustis.
13. Books, DVD and Clinics about how to sail the Laser.
14. Race during the Summer, frost bite or come South and sail with us in the Winter..
15. Boat is a "hoot" to sail.
16. Pile the whole family on board.
17. If you come by Lake Eustis, we will loan you a boat.
18. Tell your neighbors you sail the Olympic Boat.
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Light wind down wind.

So we want Marc to get a little better– and I am dead last in the 5th race on Sunday. Charlies Jensen and Marc are about 5 or 6 boat lengths ahead of me and Charlie is on the left, lounging in the cockpit with his feet out to the side and the boat straight upright. Marc is in the middle of his cockpit with the stern dragging a little and both have gybed to port. Sam is on starboard, by the lee, boat heeled to windward, and sitting up next to the dagger board. After the race and after I pass them I am going to tell them about how to do it right, except Mark sails away a little and Charlie J disappears down to inside at the mark and I struggle to catch a couple of boats on the short beat to the finish (that one with massive shifts, I think). Sometimes all the good stuff, just doesn’t seem to work.
I hope that most of you reading this realize that Alejandro is doing transitions down most of the leeward legs. Not sailing dead down wind, but starboard by the lee big time to get inside and shake off anyone trying to steal his wind. Then he turns right and goes broad reaching for a little ways and then back to by the lee. He does a good job on the beat, but really puts the races away going down wind.
He is out in front showing you how to do it. You spent the day –“paid” for the lesson. It is not his fault if you are not paying attention.