Brighton and SeaCliff; Payne Mortlock Canoe, 12M Sharpie, Rainbow scow

This is the last video I extracted from the Vintage sailing footage from Brighton and Seacliff YC in the 1960's.

Roll tacking a Laser

We seem to be stuck on Laser sailing at the moment.

Over at Tillerman's blog he had a piece about roll tacking a Laser. Tillerman goes to a lot of clinics and I appreciate his passing on the coaching tips free of charge. I do know in watching some collegiate hot shots in the Trux Umsted regatta that they were very active in using a physical outboard lean/ hip bounce to maximize their roll tack in light to moderate air.

Last year, I borrowed a Laser for the weekday Tuesday night series. Typical very light air and in my first tack over to the starting line, I got stuck on the leeward side in attempting a roll tack, and capsized. Once the Laser rolled up, either my stomach muscles, or my quadriceps refused to work and I got stuck. I was glued to the side deck and the Laser came over on me. Needless to say, I was very hesitant to roll tack very hard the rest of the night .... more like a slight rock tack.

Let's go to YouTube.... This guy makes it look easy though it must be emphasized that the more weight you carry, the less movement you need to get a roll going. For the shrimps, you need to attack a roll tack more aggressively.



In the Robert Scheidt video posted earlier, you can see him giving a hip push to finish off his roll tack.

I must admit, this is all easier on a Gen 2 Classic Moth.

Music for Fridays: The English Beat

From the second wave of Ska, or was it the third wave?...... "The English Beat" with "Save it for Later"

Opening Day; Australia Early 60's

Opening Day for Severn Sailing Association is this Saturday. There is a brunch and then a meeting for members. No sailboat racing to speak of.

Contrast our 2009 version to this Opening Day for Brighton and Seacliff YC, Adelaide Australia in the early 1960's. They have a sail by of the Commodore's yacht where they acknowledge the Commodore with three cheers. And then an all hands race.

From the VHS tape that I deconstructed;

Laser Upwind Technique; The Good and Not So Good

I've been on somewhat of a Laser sailing kick with my recent posts. Video on Laser sailing on YouTube pops up on almost a daily basis, Laser videos are proportional to Laser's popularity. One can hear my audible groan when, another one of what must be a thousand onboard cam or headcam videos on Laser sailing, gets posted . Conversely, out of the chaff, there are some video nuggets that are excellent and enlightening Laser videos.

Sailing a Laser upwind, particularly in wind and waves, is a horse of a different color. Because of it's flat hull, large daggerboard and smallish rudder, there is no groove to speak of. The Laser rewards a very physical, attacking style of sailing upwind. It's not just good enough to hike the boat very hard, there is fore and aft torquing of body through waves coupled with a precise and rapid, almost sculling, rudder movement.

Through the unrelenting eye of YouTube one can see how a Laser World and Olympic Champion does it and then an average Master sailor subjecting himself to a coaches video at the Cabarete, Dominican Republic Master Laser clinic.

First, Brazilian Robert Scheidt, 7 time World Laser champion, 2 Olympic Golds, 1 Olympic Silver;



Next, a Master sailor, who despite a good effort looks like a lardy lump compared to Robert.



I had grasped some of the torquing and sculling techniques of Laser sailing when I was in my 20's. Unfortunately in my 50's, my brain may be saying one thing but my upper thighs are screaming, my upper arms are trembling and I too, after a short energetic spurt, revert back to being a less energy intensive lardy lump on a Laser gunwhale (well not too lardy yet).

Laser Carving Downwind.

Music for Fridays; Mashup, Rhythms del Mundo does Coldplay

For those oldster hipsters who want to be in the know; one of the latest crazes in techno music is a "mashup", wherein technically savvy and creative maestro's use the computers ability to mash two songs or song styles together to create something recognizable yet different. Here, someone under the moniker "Rhythms del Mundo" takes the song "Clocks" by Coldplay and mashes it to the Cuban beat of Buena Vista Social Club. Not much of a video but I like the music.

Brighton and SeaCliff, Rainbow Scow, early 60's

Part 2 in my deconstruction of a VHS video of classic Australian small boat sailng into YouTube chunks. Part 2 features a local Adelaide class of the early 1960's, the 12' Rainbow scow. It is now a defunct class but from the footage, it looks to be a superb sailing dinghy and as I've said before, I've always had a soft spot for scows.

Australians of that era employed "shikes" (shy kites) on long poles that were particularly effective close reaching.