LASERS GO IN IRONS

..
We recently had more wind and a couple of boats stalled in irons. When the wind is up or you have bigger waves, the tacks have to start with more speed and miss the waves.

In the waves, pick a flat spot to tack or going down the wave or just before the upside of the wave, so that it helps push the bow around after you are head to wind.

The problem, if you are stopped head to wind, is if you just fall off to close hauled and then try to sheet in, the aft part of the sail fills first and pushes you back up head to wind. You can stay there a long time fighting the wind and the boat.

You need to get the bow down to close reach, sheet in quickly, keep boat flat and it helps if the board is up some. So if you can back the sail away from the direction you want to go, push the tiller down toward the direction you want to go, pull up some board if you don't have anything else to do, wait till the bow has dropped way down and then trim in fast.

Now keep the boat moving. Speed is king.
...