What's This Laser Site is About

Master Laser sailors will never make the Olympics. So why are we sailing such an athletic, wet boat? Because it is an athletic, wet boat and some people say we’re “over the hill” at 35.

I don’t like getting wet and cold; I get scared and tired and make stupid mistakes, but I also thrill at small moves in light air that I execute perfectly.

You can’t sail well without feelings. You need to psych yourself up and calm yourself down. You use the thrill of a wild noisy ride to get yourself out there on a windy day and you put in long hours of prep and practice because you know they will pay off in a controlled jib around the leeward mark and all those upside down hulls that use to be ahead of you.

I share my sailing experience with the spice of emotion stirred in. And I want to encourage those of you who are new Laser sailors or just plain old sailors - we call you a "Master Sailor." There will be lots of solid data you can find here, but there will also be the personal stories of pushing through fear to sail in heavy air or a tricky venue. There will be stories of setting up the boat when you don’t really know what you’re doing, of being so sore that you find it hard to get up the next day, of screaming your way across a reach.

Once the athletic young people have blasted off the starting line, this is a site for the rest of us. With a little support for our new or aging bodies and minds, we might just catch a wind shift and catch them at the top mark.

 So, welcome Master sailors (those over 35) new Radial sailors (light-weight men and women who want to sail the most popular boat, but can’t hold onto a standard rig in breezy conditions) and those who just enjoy thinking about sailing a Laser.