It seems to me that one of the least talked about topics in sailing a Laser is what to do with the thirty odd feet of mainsheet that we have to store in our small cockpits on the way uphill. There are so many great publications that discuss sail trim, strategy, kinetics etc, but this all counts for nowt when I go for a tack and find that my ankles are tied together.
I had a race recently were I found myself in a good position on the start line. I horsed the sheet in with 5 seconds to go.
Good start. I’m in the front row and matching those around me for speed and height.
After thirty seconds I notice the mainsheet is in a bit of a mess, caught over one foot and wrapped around the toe strap. I have to put my head and one arm into the boat to untangle. Those around me are working the boat with both arms and have their heads out of the boat looking for the shifts/wind further up the track. I’ve lost a bit while tiding up the sheet and am beginning to fall into the bad air of the boats below and above me.
I throw in a quick tack to clear my air. It’s a good tack as I’ve already untangled the main.
Unfortunately I’ve managed to wrap the main around a foot during the tack and I’ve got starboard tackers coming at me.
I thrown in another, hasty, tack and everything goes wrong. I stand on the main and can’t get my @rse over the side of the boat on the new tack. I’m steering with my arm behind my back and the hand with the mainsheet in it can’t move far enough out board to grab the tiller. I end up dropping everything and start going again. I’m now in the dirt of all the boats in front of me so I press on and ignore trying to untangle the main. This keeps me in touch but it all goes wrong when I try to get around the windward mark and find a bundle of main that won’t move anywhere.
I’ve searched through this site and see that the topic has been bought up before. But the discussion basically goes “deal with it” before moving on to a debate about what kind of main to use. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Rooster, Bzzzz, or a shoelace – I need to find a way of sorting this problem.
I’m interested to know what everyone else does with their mainsheet, from the start, and then how they deal with each tack ie:
When you horse in the main at the start, do you dump it straight to the back of the cockpit, over the legs? Or do you drop it in front of the legs in to the front of the cockpit. Or do you drop it on top of yourself and then put it away?
When going up wind how do you store your main? Do you have it running from ratchet to front hand, and then over the body to the back of the boat, or running from ratchet to front hand to in front of the legs. If it’s in front of the legs do you leave it at the front of the cockpit, or kick it back. And how do you go about tacking. Is there a careful technique for stepping over the main, or do you just let it tangle and then deal with it?
Hope this isn’t too boring, but if I lose any more places due to my main I’ll have to consider something radical, like cutting off my feet. Cheers.
I had a race recently were I found myself in a good position on the start line. I horsed the sheet in with 5 seconds to go.
Good start. I’m in the front row and matching those around me for speed and height.
After thirty seconds I notice the mainsheet is in a bit of a mess, caught over one foot and wrapped around the toe strap. I have to put my head and one arm into the boat to untangle. Those around me are working the boat with both arms and have their heads out of the boat looking for the shifts/wind further up the track. I’ve lost a bit while tiding up the sheet and am beginning to fall into the bad air of the boats below and above me.
I throw in a quick tack to clear my air. It’s a good tack as I’ve already untangled the main.
Unfortunately I’ve managed to wrap the main around a foot during the tack and I’ve got starboard tackers coming at me.
I thrown in another, hasty, tack and everything goes wrong. I stand on the main and can’t get my @rse over the side of the boat on the new tack. I’m steering with my arm behind my back and the hand with the mainsheet in it can’t move far enough out board to grab the tiller. I end up dropping everything and start going again. I’m now in the dirt of all the boats in front of me so I press on and ignore trying to untangle the main. This keeps me in touch but it all goes wrong when I try to get around the windward mark and find a bundle of main that won’t move anywhere.
I’ve searched through this site and see that the topic has been bought up before. But the discussion basically goes “deal with it” before moving on to a debate about what kind of main to use. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Rooster, Bzzzz, or a shoelace – I need to find a way of sorting this problem.
I’m interested to know what everyone else does with their mainsheet, from the start, and then how they deal with each tack ie:
When you horse in the main at the start, do you dump it straight to the back of the cockpit, over the legs? Or do you drop it in front of the legs in to the front of the cockpit. Or do you drop it on top of yourself and then put it away?
When going up wind how do you store your main? Do you have it running from ratchet to front hand, and then over the body to the back of the boat, or running from ratchet to front hand to in front of the legs. If it’s in front of the legs do you leave it at the front of the cockpit, or kick it back. And how do you go about tacking. Is there a careful technique for stepping over the main, or do you just let it tangle and then deal with it?
Hope this isn’t too boring, but if I lose any more places due to my main I’ll have to consider something radical, like cutting off my feet. Cheers.