Hello all, I have recently started sailing a solo at club level racing (Southshields). There is quite a strong laser dinghy presence and some solos which is great. The last race I did was very challenging - I could not get the solo to point to windward as high as the other racers and trying to figure out why. It seemed I could only get power heading 10-20 degrees further down wind than the rest of the fleet.
I suspect that my settings were not correct. It was a good breeze 15-18 knots with gusts of 25-30 (probably the strongest I have sailed in yet). I had the kicker on as hard as I could, the same with the outhaul and the cunningham too. The one factor I did not try (as I was too busy enjoying all the rolling and spilling caused by wind over tide) was the center board which was fully down the while time. Off the wind I had tons of power, but as soon as I headed a bit upwind it was like someone flicked a switch and boat stopped moving.
Many thanks,
Robin
Best thing to do is get a copy of the north sails tuning manual online and set up the rake and tension from this as a baseline
The board is too big for the boat in practice. Bringing it up 1/3 when going upwind stops the boat tripping over and allows it to sail more freely, whilst also reducing the tendency to heel up and go slow.
So ease the board forward and get the bow down. Height is a function of power. Get it into as much of a ‘low mode’ as the solo is able to manage and then once you’re up to best hull speed on a shallow beat bring the pointing on and it’ll go quite high as the foils will be working optimally.
Working the inhaul can also bring on pointing through changing the shape of the lower sail.
Inhaul, kicker, outhaul used together form the gears of the boat and worked properly allow you to get up to speed fast.
Coming off the start aim for a space to leeward and get the bow down to accelerate away. Bit more board to hold your lane.
There are lots of info on this site. I am with you watching the fast guys storm away.
If you look at the centreboard position of all the Superstars in breeze upwind, they all have the board up significantly. Better to be flat and fast