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What are 'lowers' for?
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GarethT View Drop Down
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    Posted: 11 Jan 15 at 7:33pm
My son and I have recently got an old Laser 3000 for mucking about on and the occasional race.

For mucking about with his mates, removing the lowers would give them a bit more space for their general tom foolery, but not having spent a lot of time sailing boats that require lines to keep the mast up I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.

Will it just mean that the mast will bend more and depower earlier, or could something a bit more catastrophic happen?
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JimC View Drop Down
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Posts: 6662 		Post Options Post Options   Quote JimC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jan 15 at 7:36pm
Pretty much essential to stop the kicker overbending the mast with the kicker force you need. Without lowers I should reckon there's a distinct possibility of bending (or worse) the mast at gooseneck level.
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Daniel Holman View Drop Down
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Posts: 997 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Daniel Holman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jan 15 at 7:38pm
Leave them on! if trapezing and using enough vang you are endangering the mast if the tube was intended for lowers.

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GarethT View Drop Down
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Medway Maniac View Drop Down
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Posts: 2788 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Medway Maniac Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jan 15 at 7:49pm
Originally posted by JimC

Pretty much essential to stop the kicker overbending the mast with the kicker force you need.

Pity nobody told the 2k lot that - they're only allowed to use the lowers when running the out-of-class trapeze  Confused

On a 3k, as indeed others have said, leave them on.  I appreciate what you're saying about limiting forward movement of the crew, which is very necessary, but once the boat is familiar it's easy to simply walk over the lowers.  For boats fitted with a gnav, the lowers attach higher up the mast, so passage underneath is easier.

As a rough guide, for conditions where you can hold the boat upright without spilling much wind, set the lowers up so that they go tight just as the required rig tension is reached when tightening the jib halyard.  If really overpowered (rare in a 3k with any sort of crew-weight aboard), then you can happily ease the lowers by two full (i.e. not half) holes on the adjusters.
Wilsonian SC
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