Launching and landing a Laser with a lee shore (e.g., ACSC this weekend)

[Al Sargent]

Hi everyone,

This is relevant to those racing out of ACSC this weekend, but I thought I'd share it widely for future reference.

Given the southerly winds forecast for this weekend, we might find ourselves launching out of ACSC with a lee shore, i.e., wind blowing straight onto the land. Here are some tips for managing that.

This is admittedly a long list, but some advance prep will help everything run smoothly.

LAUNCHING

Pre-ramp checklist:

• Follow these tips: https://alsargent.medium.com/laser-ramp-ready-checklist-efe4c79409c2
• The main point: do everything you can to get your Laser ready at ACSC itself, where the wind is lighter, BEFORE you get to the ramp, where it'll be windier.

On the ramp:

• Walk boats out far enough so that the daggerboard and rudder don't hit in the wave troughs.
• One person holds bows of two boats, as far apart as possible so they don't bang into each other; the other takes dollies up the ramp and onto shore.
• While one person holds both bows, the other person puts daggerboards and rudders into BOTH boats. Teamwork.
• Push out and sail off. 

LANDING

Before heading out to sail:

• Replace your rig retainer rope with shockcord. That way, you won't pull a "Spevak", which is when your mast rotates 360 degrees or more, convert your bottom section into a winch that pulls out your deck plate for your cunningham and outhaul blocks. This happened to Walt in the 2021 North Americans when his mast rotated 720 degrees while pulling his boat out of St. Francis Yacht Club. The fix involved five-minute epoxy, chopsticks, and a drill, all used within minutes of launching to race. (Thanks, Walt, for being a good sport about this and lending your name to this effect.)
• A shockcord will break off if your mast rotates 1-2 turns before pulling out your deck plate.
• The Vang stopper knot is tied so that it eases just before the vang goes slack. Letting it go any more slack could lead the boom to pop off the mast, turning the boom into a javelin on the ramp and leading your fellow sailors to justifiably curse you out for putting them at risk.
• Cunningham stopper knot tied so that it eases so that the sleeve goes up 1 inch past hand tight. If you go more than one inch, the mast can pop up in the waves, putting the mast socket at risk for breaking.

Before your final approach:

• Find a spot several boatlengths directly to windward of your landing zone. Call this "position x".
• If the wind isn't blowing directly onto the ACSC ramp, pick a spot that's directly to windward of the windward side of the ramp; that way, when holding your boat, you have a bit of a gap with the dock to leeward of you.
• Vang eased to stopper knot.
• Cunningham eased to stopper knot.
• Outhaul to a 3-4 inches of camber. You want to depower, but you also want some slack so that the outhaul doesn't become a Spevak.
• Daggerboard unclipped
• Traveler eased
• Mainsheet knot-free

Your final approach:

Summary: point boat at landing spot and drift in; here's how:

• Sail to position X on a slow reach, mainsail luffing to kill speed.
• Fully luff at position X.
• Untie mainsheet stopper knot.
• Pull mainsheet through ratchet block.
• Point boat directly downwind to your landing spot. Your boom will go forward so that your sail is blowing like a flag. 
• The mainsheet will run through all the blocks, attached only at the aft boom block.
• Drift to your landing spot. If windy, this will be pretty quick, maybe 3-4 knots.
• Pull up daggerboard and place in cockpit before you jump out. As always, front top corner in the cockpit, with aft bottom corner pointed up, so that you protect your foil. 
• If in doubt, jump out sooner rather than later so your rudder doesn't hit in the wave troughs; if your feet don't reach the bottom, just hold on and drift in the boat.
• One your feet hit bottom, keep boat pointed straight downwind, move to transom and remove rudder.
• Slide rudder under traveler, put bolt forward of traveler, tighten traveler so rudder stays in. 
• Ensure that tiller extension is on boat and not over the side; otherwise it can break.
• Hopefully, a friend can get your dolly. If not, tie your boat at dock and get dolly.
• Bring dolly far enough out so that it's in plenty of water in the wave troughs.
• Pull boat out.
• Mainseheet will be dirty; toss it in the washing machine once you get home.

Tip: visualize these steps so they're easier to remember.

Yes, there are a lot of steps, but if you follow them, you turn a stressful event into no big deal. 

Any questions/comments, let me know.

Best regards,
 
Al

asar...@stanfordalumni.org | +1 650 269 2176

[Michael Bishop]

You can also launch off the beach. PRO Ryan will address this in the morning.

Regards,

Mike

--
Discussion forum for International Laser Class Association District 24, covering northern California and Nevada. Topics should include all things Laser (ILCA) and not idle chit chat which should be taken offline from this forum. This site is rated PG.
--
To join this group, email:
international-laser-class-ass...@googlegroups.com
--
To email this group:
international-laser-clas...@googlegroups.com
--
To mute this conversation:
On web Gmail: press m
On the Gmail mobile app, select ... > Mute
--
District 24 Google calendar:
bit.ly/d24-calendar
--
District 24 website:
bit.ly/d24-home
--
View past discussions here:
bit.ly/d24-group
--
Get 10% off West Coast Sailing https://westcoastsailing.net/d24
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ILCA District 24" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to international-laser-class-asso...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/international-laser-class-association-district-24/CAP8fJnyQ4xmfE9sYUmj2x%2BJD622ETgPxWHVtpYFn9BwXhfybpA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Al Sargent]

Good call to launch off the beach where it's more protected.

My tips below are now in a post for easier reference:

https://alsargent.substack.com/p/launching-and-landing-an-ilca-laser

Best regards,
 
Al

asar...@stanfordalumni.org | +1 650 269 2176