Today is the day that we would test-sail the two new club Lasers. I started rigging one of them and when Brent came later to take one of the old ones, I told him to take the other new one in order to test them both. I knew they were missing some control lines etc. but we managed. Initially I didn’t have my little bag with the outhaul and clew strap but I found it in the garage were we keep the sails and foils. I forgot it there last Wednesday! I was lucky to find it intact.<\/p>\n
The new Lasers don’t have the XD controls, so we would have to use the old ones. We even used the old kickers. Mine had a bight with a thimble, but the other one had two blocks, so it was better. Brent has his own cunningham and outhaul and I have my own cunningham. It has a short-ish outhaul but it was OK. I knew that my mainsheet is too short. It is about 11 meters and you need at least 12. Eventually we managed to rig them in time and launch.<\/p>\n
There was a strong breeze with gusts and shifts. I was quite nervous because I was in a boat that I hadn’t sailed before, with old style controls (including kicker), short mainsheet and God knows what else could be wrong. On my way to the start line, I was running but I could not push the boom all the way because of the short mainsheet. A gust came at a moment where I was sorting out the tiller and since the mainsheet was too short, instead of running I was reaching. I ended up in the water. I brought the boat upright got into it and continued sailing towards the start line. At some point the sheet seemed to be stuck at the back end of the boom. I was trying to figure out what was wrong, because it didn’t make sense. I was letting the sheet out, it was loose from the ratchet block to the boom rear block, but it was tight between the boom rear block and the traveler block. I pushed the boom out but it wouldn’t go. I pulled the mainsheet and it started moving freely again. Thirty seconds later, the sail went all the way out and it was flapping. I pulled the mainsheet and although it was coming towards me it wasn’t running freely.<\/p>\n
The eye that holds the mainsheet block at the back of the boom had come off. Beating would be impossible and I would get in the way of the race. So, I called the safety boat to tow me in. That was it. That was all the sailing I did for the day. As soon as I pulled the boat in I helped some new members go out. I told them what to do with the centreboard, rudder, etc. I unrigged the boat, made some small changes to my outhaul and watched the race from the shore. Steve won the race by a mile. It was a really good performance.<\/p>\n
It was decided that on Sunday we will replace the faulty boom with one from the garage. Most probably I will race the boat that Brent had to see how it sails. Hopefully, I’ll be luckier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today is the day that we would test-sail the two new club Lasers. I started rigging one of them and when Brent came later to take one of the old ones, I told him to take the other new one in order to test them both. I knew they were missing some control lines etc…. <\/p>\n