Laser sailing

Robert and Jen stopped by on Friday around dinner time. They had started partying early being Veterans Day. After a little 3D TV demo we headed over to Steven and Yuko’s house to check out their new deck Steven built. Scott, Jen, and Scully were there already. The kids were up asking for entertainment or entertaining us. Steven and Yuko prepared dinner which was good. Robert and Steven were talking about sailing Lasers on Saturday being that it was supposed to be warm and windy. Robert was trying to convince me it would be a good day to go out.

So while I was watching Forumla One qualifying the next morning Robert and Steven called me. The thought of the cold Potomac water was not a fun feeling as I sat on my comfortable couch but I decided to go out and join them. Robert hooked me up with a dry suit and I was good to go. There were about 7 or 8 Laser sailors out for the preseason run. They took out the motorboat to set up a practice race course. Steven took out the motorboat first so he let me sail his try out is boat. I’ve never sailed in a dingy before. It is a whole different world. Steven's Laser was nice and new. It was going to be interesting.

A Laser is a one person boat that is very light weight and maneuverable if you know what you are doing. You can also end up on the water quite easily. You can go really fast but it is easy to go over the edge and end up in the water. My plan was to play it conservative, try to stay out of the water, and try to keep the boat in one piece. It took a little bit to figure out how to keep the boat going consistently and to work out the mechanics of tacking. I never did get comfortable with the tiller extension. Robert sailed next to me for a few minutes and gave me one of the best tips which is to turn with speed. I kept out of the water at first. Then after I was starting to think I’d stay dry it went over. I went over three times and I think each time was in heavy or shifting wind while jibing. Not having the mechanics down I’d either have my weight in the wrong place or some other basic mistake while I’m trying to deal with all these new factors at the same time. The first time I was able to roll over the high side, stand on the center board, and roll it back over. The second time I ended up in the water. I was scared going in but I quickly realized I didn’t feel a thing. The dry suit worked well. The last time I went over was a bit of an issue. When you flip the boat back over the trick is to land in the boat. Otherwise you can’t get back in without flipping it again. So it took me a bit to get it that time. I wasn't hiking out and healing over far so the most fun was surfing down wind at full speed. I could feel the hull vibrating.

The other guys did practice races. I’d follow along sometimes in the back but mostly tried to stay out of the way. Robert took Steven’s place on the motorboat so I switched places with Steven to give him his boat back. I was about done after the third time flipping the boat. After a couple more races everyone headed in. It was an interesting first experience. I’d be more comfortable the next time going out and maybe a little more methodical at learning how to handle that type of boat. I was trying not to break anything this first time. Not sure how much I want to get in to dingy sailing in the winter. I have no plans on purchasing a sailboat anytime soon. It is fun though and if the weather is nice I wouldn’t mind going out on occasion.

pic by Nabeel Alsalam during last season