Windy, Wet and Painful
Yesterday, it was quite windy and I was hoping that today would be the same. It was! “This is what I need” I thought, but I was wrong. Let’s start from the beginning.
I woke up nice and early, made my coffee, packed my gear and drove to the club. I decided to rig the blue Laser and I would use my new cunningham and clew strap. In the meantime other people came, Victor, Peter, Ben, so it seemed we would have 7-8 Lasers in the water. It was cloudy and windy so I thought I should wear my wetsuit instead of shorts and t-shirt. It proved a good idea.
I went out, made my way towards the committee boat and I was getting ready for the start sequence. I knew my timing was not accurate and because my watch doesn’t have a “Sync” button, I thought I would stop and reset my watch and start it with the Merlin Rockets’ gun. Big mistake. It was so noisy from the wind and the surf, that I didn’t hear the horn. I went towards the line knowing that I cannot have a good start. I started late anyway, and I was trying to keep the boat flat and under control. The upwind leg was manageable but I knew I wasn’t taking full advantage of the wind. I was pinching too much, trying to prevent a capsize. On the reach things were better. I was going at full speed and I was enjoying it.
On the downwind leg, things were quite shaky. Exciting but shaky. The wind was strong. There were loads of gusts and you were struggling to hold a straight course. The boat was very unstable and I was trying to position my body as low as possible. On the one hand you need a flat sail to de-power it, but on the other hand you need your boom up so it won’t touch the water. If the boom touches the water the boat capsizes. A gust came that pushed the boat, violently to starboard, I corrected quickly so I wouldn’t get into an involuntary gybe but this made the boat wobble and the boom touched a little wave and that was it! As I fell in the water the boat continued forward and I hit my arm on the gunwale. At that moment it didn’t really hurt but by the end of the day it got bruised.
I swam to the boat, turned it side to wind, got hold of the centreboard, pulled it down and it brought the boat upright. I pulled myself inside and I was off. I completed one lap and I was on the second lap when I decided I had enough. By that time I had capsized twice more, I managed to get the transom mainsheet tangled over the boom (I didn’t know this could happen but later, I was told that it is quite common in a Laser) and I got hit by the boom quite badly. I turned back to go in. I pulled the boat on the shore and I went to clubhouse. By that time the hit by the boom had developed into a strong throbbing headache. No pain-killers on site, so strong coffee instead!
I thought I would reef the sail but I was told that it doesn’t work very well on the Lasers and I should better rig a Radial sail. It was a bit late, so I was in a bit of a hurry. I went to the garage, got the Radial bottom mast section, got the Radial sail and I started swapping them. Then I realised that the Radial bottom mast didn’t have the block for the outhaul. It was too late to find a proper solution, so I just turned the outhaul around the mast, just over the boom and then down towards the deck block. The whole thing was not working. I didn’t have any outhaul control. Anyway I ran to the committee box to change the race-sheet, put the new sail number, and I went out in a hurry. Soon I realised that somehow I had managed to get the transom part of the mainsheet twisted. So I had no control of the outhaul to tighten the sail and I could not bring the boom block-to-block because the mainsheet had a twist between the two blocks.
Things were getting worse and worse. The second race was a repeat of the first. I almost capsized a few more times, but I would let the sail out very quickly and the boat would come up-right. On the downwind leg of the first lap, I was heading straight for the mark while I had to sail between two capsized Merlins. That was a quite scary moment. I was really worried that a gust would come and I would capsize too, possibly hitting one of them. Fortunately I zoomed past them.
On one of my capsizes, the mast got stuck in the mud at the bottom of the Harp. I asked from the safety boat to throw me a line so we could pull the boat towards the opposite direction so it would pull the mast out of the mud. The safety boat came too much forward and the guy who was standing in front, decided to put his hand on my capsized boat to stop the safety boat colliding with mine! “You are supposed to help me pull the boat! What are you doing? Pushing it further in? You should have control of the situation and reverse!” I really wanted to say it, but I didn’t. Some people say I am too patient. Maybe I am.
On my last capsize of the day when I was pulling the centreboard down to bring the boat upright a part of the centre boar broke off! There was already a crack there, but now it needs fixing. We’ll have to fill the gap because the broken piece is at the bottom of the Harp.
I have to admit that I am not ready, yet, for strong winds. My body is already aching from the battering of the waves. Tomorrow I will not be able to move, most probably.