Hope you don't mind my making a suggestion: your traveler line is way too loose. The boat sails much better upwind with the traveler as tight as you can get it.
Thanks Tillerman! I've heard keeping the traveler block down on the leeward corner is fast even in the light stuff. Back in the days .... you know those days, we would keep a reasonable tight traveler on a Laser but not so tight as to completely saw through the wood tiller (most of us still had pretty deep groves). Not a problem today with the low profile carbon jobs. Why on the Laser do you need to park the boom over the leeward edge of the transom ... even in light air? Europe dinghy, Finn, Classic Moth etc. are keeping the booms more centered in light air.
What's different about the Laser?
Things that make you go hmmm?
I have no idea. I just do what the experts tell me to do.
ReplyDeleteAnd some years ago (when Sailing World used to have interesting stuff for dinghy sailors) Ed Adams wrote an article in SW saying that when sailing a Laser in light winds if you want to sail high it actually helps to let the traveler block come in a few inches from the leeward corner.
Whatever it is, if you notice people chugging past you to windward in flat water, there's a good chance your traveller block has snuck up away from the corner. If the traveller is already as tight as you dare (i.e block getting stuck on the tiller when tacking), more vang helps keep it down in the corner.
ReplyDeleteI assume the same holds for lumpy water but I can't sail for squat in that so wouldn't know. - JZ