Equip & Maintain

One windy day last season a group of us were getting ready to launch for Sunday racing. A new Laser sailor was going from boat to boat watching how we each rigged our Lasers and asking questions about our thinking behind the minor variations that the rules and equipment allow. One example was how we held our sails’ clews down to the boom.

 One friend is always ready to defend his approach and was particularly adamant that the old “line through the clew” was the best way – it was simple, had no chance of coming undone and held the sail closer to the boom than any other way. Two people used the Velcro straps and declared that they weren’t expensive and were easier to undo. I, of course, had little doubt that using the new stainless sleeve is the way to go – so easy to rig and launch and to retrieve and unrig, holds it down just fine and I’ve never had it slip.

Over the last few years I’ve been pleased with the improvements the Laser community has allowed; the boat is much easier to sail and adjust.

But, I’m not thrilled with the new centerboard brake. It’s easy to install, it just doesn’t work without a lot of fooling with it. Is it me, or did they just not design it to work?

I have tried it on two of my Lasers and in both cases I’ve had to slightly trim the adjustment holes to allow it to be moved fractionally closer to the board.

Not a home run. We’ll see how it holds up to use over the season.

Jay Livingston

Which rig is right for you? If you’re thinking of Olympic glory in the Laser you’d best be around six foot tall or better and 180 lbs or so for the standard rig, and 150 lbs seems to be about right for the Radial rig. For the rest of us, the need to match our physical attributes to the boat is probably secondary to developing great boat handling and solid strategy and tactics.

The Laser radial sail helps those of us under 155 lbs keep our Lasers flat during breezier days, but if you’re small enough to want a radial then you may not have the height or strength to put the mast in the boat when there’s a breeze. Consider this technique as a possible substitute for brawn.

I received my new mainsheet blocks a few days ago. They have a slightly different look and feel than I’m use to with other Harkin blocks. I’m struggling to describe the difference, but the only explanation I can give is that they feel more like a Laser block than most Harkin blocks. How’s that for specifics? They have a slightly less dense feeling than other Harkin blocks. They are essentially the same size as the old blocks.

I have no idea whether or not the new replacement blocks for the mainsheet will be difficult to acquire at first or not, but I do expect them to be a major help getting the sheet to run out in light air. They are available to pre-order and I’ve decided that they are too appealing to not get in the front of the line.

The “old” way to rig a Laser put a premium on strength and was tough on older and smaller sailors and really a pain for everyone in a brisk breeze. The new vang, cunningham and outhaul are much easier, but the rules allow more leverage than you may need or want. More leverage or purchase isn’t all good; it means you have to pull extra line through the system and will end up with more tail resting in the cockpit. For instance, with 8:1 purchase you have to pull eight inches of control line through the system to move the sail one inch.

After the recent Laser regatta at QYC, a large group of us came broad reaching into the little sandy beach where we launch our trailered and dollied boats. With twenty boats and a beach that can funnel out about three boats at a time there was a back-up to get out of the water. Each new arrival had to slide into the hip-high water and control his boat until he made it to the front row and the dolly selection process.

One of the questions we sometimes throw around the beach as we rig our Lasers is, “What piece of gear is your favorite?” Or, as I think of it, what is the piece of replacement or optional gear that I’d give up last? One strong contender for a piece that makes the biggest difference in how easily and well I sail my Laser, is the replacement line I use for my controls; I’m talking about my outhaul and cunningham lines that I grab hold of to adjust settings.

Before you set out for your first practice sail with an Intensity Mainsail on your Laser, check to be sure that the clew cringle fits into the new stainless outhaul hook. A number of us inaugurated our new practice sails and found that the clew cringle was too fat to fit into the hook without a real struggle and at the end of our sail it wouldn’t come out without a struggle. A bit of flattening seemed to help.