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| The weekly competition against my nemesis David Crawley on beautiful Duxbury Bay in equally beautiful Duxbury ,MA. Photo courtesy of Deb O'Day. |
After a summer of sailing the new Laser MK2 sail in a
variety of conditions, reading about and watching instructional videos, and participating
in numerous discussions about the differences in set-up between the old
standard and the new I finally feel comfortable putting my observations and
trim ideas out there into the Laser world.
MKII features
For starters there are some of the obvious differences between
the two sails:
Using MKII Control Lines
Overview
The laser sail has “five strings” as I like to call them.
The mainsheet and traveler both affect sail angle while vang, cunningham and
outhaul affect sail trim—specifically whether the sail is adjusted for max
pressure (more draft) or less pressure (less draft). Increased pressure equals
more power and decreased the converse. That said your goal is to go for a balanced
rig. The point of differentiation is specific to each sailor’s skill level,
size, weight, and the conditions being sailed. A sailor who weighs 150 lbs.
will have a different threshold than one who weighs 180 lbs.
Draft
There are two ways to change the draft of the sail. To
increase pressure increase the depth of the sail. To decrease pressure flatten
the sail. Your outhaul is the main adjuster of sail depth. By adjusting the Cunningham the draft can also
be moved forward (pull on cunningham) and back (cunningham released).
When comparing the old vs. new, trim controls remain the
same however I find that they work much better with the new cut MKII.
Outhaul: Affects
mostly the bottom third of the sail. The MKII sail is rounder and deeper and
the depth/draft has more integrity so outhaul can be adjusted tighter. Instead
of a full hand width start at one-half a hand for upwind sailing. For the
reach go slightly eased and for downwind ease to two handlengths.
Vang: The vang
affects primarily the middle third of the sail and works in two ways. Vang ON
bends the mast and also creates more distance between the luff and the leech of
the sail, affectively flattening the middle section. Secondly, use the vang to
keep the sail at a 90 degree angle to the mast. To prevent the boom from
bouncing make sure to take the slack out of the vang.
Cunningham: Controls
primarily the top third of the sail. When used it flattens the top and also
brings the draft more forward. With the new stiffer sail the cunningham
adjustment is more precise.
Baseline trimming for maximum pressure upwind:
Max Pressure setting:
When you have full-control of your Laser—it’s not
heeling and you aren’t overpowered—set up your boat for max pressure. The Cunningham
should be slightly pulled so there aren’t any creases in the front of the sail.
Adjust your outhaul to half a hand’s width depth, and trim the vang
enough to take the slack out (so the boom stays parallel to the water). Mainsheets blocks are B-to-B and traveler is tight.
Depowering for close-hauled sailing:
An overpowered boat is a slow boat. If you are hiking hard but having
trouble keeping the boat flat and you’re feeling weather helm, it’s
time to depower. Remember you won’t be losing speed but will be putting the
boat back under control. As the wind increases and the boat becomes harder to
control, start to put on cunningham and vang to depower. The sail will flatten (Cunningham
and vang) and the draft will move forward (cunningham). You can also use the
outhaul to flatten but remember you still want a little curve in the sail.
It’s hard to see trim changes in the sail when it’s upright
so I recommend you rig up and turn your boat on it’s side. Try out the trim
controls mentioned here and you’ll see what effect they have on the sail. And
remember when setting up your new MKII it’s always a good idea to mark your
boom and control lines for close-hauled, reaching, and downwind settings.
Have fun and keep sailing! And don't forget I'll be back in Cabarete coaching from Dec. 24 - Jan. 27. I'll be running individual training as well as a Master clinic from January 23rd - 26th.
Info is below with a link to the Laser Training Cabarete. Hope to see you there.
Coach Judith Master’s clinic. January 23rd-26th, 2018
Judith has coached here before and always got praise for offering highly personalized analysis and goal setting applied to all aspects of Laser sailing. Her strength is her ability to communicate boat handling in comprehensible steps in order to target areas of improvement and enhance each sailor’s understanding of the sailor-boat relationship. To help sailors improve understanding and get practice she employs highly focused skills-drills for effective practice and increased knowledge of critical connections between boat-handling manoeuvres.
Fees: $790.00 and includes Laser charter and coaching. For more information.
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