Laser beating technique
Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: Dinghy classes
Forum Name: Technique
Forum Discription: 'How to' section for dinghy questions and answers
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10787
Printed Date: 27 Jun 25 at 8:26am
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Topic: Laser beating technique
Posted By: dohertpk
Subject: Laser beating technique
Date Posted: 23 Mar 13 at 9:59pm
| Hey I'm wondering could anyone give me advice on my beating technique? Any time I get on to a beat in anything above 10 knots or so I find I'm battling the tiller to keep it straight. This puts a huge strain on my wrist muscles, leading to cramp very quickly, and necessitates either spilling or bearing off. Am I doing something wrong? Should I be battling the tiller this hard when I'm on a beat? Am I not keeping the boat flat enough? Thanks a mil for any help! Much appreciated. |
Replies:
Posted By: robin34024
Date Posted: 23 Mar 13 at 10:09pm
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in a laser it is particularly nescessary to keep the boat as flat as possible upwind, because the rudder is raked back, and accentuates the load that passes through it. for example, if you have it heeled away from you at all, the boat will want to luff up by itself, and you will have to fight it. ------------- |
Posted By: dohertpk
Date Posted: 23 Mar 13 at 10:11pm
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ah; that sounds familiar alright - I'll have to work harder to keep it flat so |
Posted By: dohertpk
Date Posted: 23 Mar 13 at 10:11pm
| Thanks for the advice! |
Posted By: Jon Emmett
Date Posted: 24 Mar 13 at 8:00am
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Just a thought but perhaps you could attend one of the UKLA training weekends where a coach could video your technique for you and you could see exactly how flat or not you are keeping the boat... ------------- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Be-Your-Own-Tactics-Coach/dp/0470973218/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312565831&sr=8-1 - |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 24 Mar 13 at 10:10am
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Try an experiment where you hang a small weight from the boom, up near the mast. If you are anything like me, I can guarentee that when you "Think" you are flat, the weight will show that you are still heeled. Knowing it and doing something about it are 2 different matters, of course. I've been meaning to change my sailing style for a couple of decades, now, but growing up sailing on a river in generally light winds gave me some very bad habits. ------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: fab100
Date Posted: 24 Mar 13 at 10:25am
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Could be time to start pulling the strings harder. Do you have the XD kit? Crude rule of thumb for minimum kicker upwind is to pull on main sheet until the blocks at the back are touching (known as block to block) when the traveller is tight too, then tension the kicker. Easing the sheet will then result in the boom rising 12-15 inches. That's the minimum. Keep pulling the kicker on harder as the wind comes up and you become overpowered - and yes, this is difficult to achieve with the original set up, but do-able with the XD bits. When it's tonking, the boom rising hardly at all can be well fast. With this setup, you can afford to ease the sheet. Without, easing makes the sail more powerful, exacerbating the problem. The Cunningham/down haul needs to come on proportionately, until, when tonking, the grommet is near or even on the boom. You will need to rig it all one side of boom, not straddling it. Next tip; if you don't have any, get some hiking pads. That way, the hiking challenge is to your muscles, not fighting the pain of restricted circulation caused by point load pressure on the back of your legs. With these things in place, it is a lot easier to hike like crazy, play the sheet and therefore keep the boat flat. Without, you are fighting a losing battle More tips http://clubsailor.co.uk/wp/sailing-faster/in-lasers/ - here ------------- http://clubsailor.co.uk/wp/club-sailor-from-back-to-front/" rel="nofollow - Great book for Club Sailors here |
Posted By: Contender 541
Date Posted: 24 Mar 13 at 12:12pm
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Laser Beating Technique Big Stick? Hammer? Or you could just punch it  ------------- When you find a big kettle of crazy it's probably best not to stir it - Pointy Haired Boss Crew on 505 8780 |
Posted By: dohertpk
Date Posted: 24 Mar 13 at 12:46pm
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Thanks for your responses; Jon - I'm in Ireland but there's bound to be something comparable at some point over here, Rupert - that's a pretty ingenious idea actually, I'll definitely give it a shot, fab100, unfortunately I don't have the XD kit so I find it very difficult to adjust the kicker and downhaul on the fly. I'm beginning to think it might be worth investing in though. That link is great too; cheers! |
Posted By: Caveman
Date Posted: 24 Mar 13 at 1:28pm
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A few years ago one of our club members used a Silva clinometer in his boat (just for club racing) so as to remind himself to keep his boat upright. He said it helped a lot. I see they cost about £20. I assume they are not class legal for open meetings. In a Laser, does one have to remember to slacken off the kicker before tacking? If I were to forget in my boat (not a Laser) it could lead to a bang on the head and an unplanned swim just to add insult to injury. ------------- Enthusiasm>Skill |
Posted By: fab100
Date Posted: 24 Mar 13 at 1:55pm
If you want to get the most from your laser, I'm afraid the XD bits are pretty much essential Without, minimum requirements are a big barrel swivel to go between mast tang and cleat/block and a couple of extra blocks so you get at least an 8:1 on the kicker. A couple of extras on the downhaul will help too. And a big lean back, using you legs to pull rather than bicep ------------- http://clubsailor.co.uk/wp/club-sailor-from-back-to-front/" rel="nofollow - Great book for Club Sailors here |
Posted By: Neptune
Date Posted: 24 Mar 13 at 4:24pm
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If you want to keep the costs down, new kicker first then cunningham blocks. The adjustable outhall I'd less important as its still hard to adjust on the fly ------------- Musto Skiff and Solo sailor |
Posted By: Reuben T
Date Posted: 24 Mar 13 at 7:58pm
| When I invested in a swivel and a few more blocks for the kicker my results improved noticeably, for adjusting this type of kicker the best method seems to be to cleat the main then push your foot on it between the boom and block while pulling like crazy. I have now fully upgraded to XD and have found it to be so much easier. Having said that, the best laser sailor at our club prefers the old style, and even managed to snap his mast with it last week. |
Posted By: fab100
Date Posted: 24 Mar 13 at 11:08pm
Happy days - I've broken a boom like that too Cheaper to get the XD then! ------------- http://clubsailor.co.uk/wp/club-sailor-from-back-to-front/" rel="nofollow - Great book for Club Sailors here |
Posted By: jeffers
Date Posted: 25 Mar 13 at 7:01am
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As others have said the XD kit is essential as is keeping the the boat as flat as possible. This often leads to having to play the main a lot especially in gusty or shifty conditions. The other thin to check is that your rudder is down as far as is permitted. It is allowed to be a maximum angle of 78 degrees from the bottom of the stock. The most common mistake people make here is to route the rudder downhaul rope incorrectly and it get squashed between the rudder and the pin in the stock. The one final thing to remember is that if you are overpowered (and I am assuming you are light having issues in 10+ Kts) is to pull more cunningham on, you need a lot (yes it does wreck the sail if you over do it) to keep the boat balanced. That and try moving towards the transom and your hiking effort being in front of the center of effort of the sail will cause the boat to turn in to the wind and you end up fighting the tiller to keep the boat tracking in a straight line. ------------- Paul ---------------------- D-Zero GBR 74 |
Posted By: Fraggle
Date Posted: 25 Mar 13 at 9:41am
One of my favourite coaching exercises is to put my own rigged boat (so its my sail getting stretched) in front of a group and ask them to set the controls for a given direction and wind strength. Get them to set it for a breezy upwind and when they are happy then show them just how much cunningham is actually needed! No one ever uses enough cunningham to start with as always scared of wrecking the sail. ------------- |
Posted By: Late starter
Date Posted: 25 Mar 13 at 10:19am
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Agree with what's been said so far, would also add that sailing with a blown sail can also induce lots of weather helm. IMHO once a Laser sail gets to a certain time of life pulling on the cunningham doesn't do too much ! |
Posted By: fab100
Date Posted: 25 Mar 13 at 3:27pm
Fair point, which queues Official vs Knock-Off Sail Debate: please please no ------------- http://clubsailor.co.uk/wp/club-sailor-from-back-to-front/" rel="nofollow - Great book for Club Sailors here |