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
Solo is all about balance, and keeping the helm light. Sail flat upwind and trim the centre plate to keep the helm light. You should be aiming to have the end of the boom somewhere over the side deck at the transom, if it is very windy even further out. North guide is pretty spot on, but probably worth talking to your sailmaker how they recommend setting up. It is possible to over kicker some sails when it is windy, you can usually tell if the bottom batten inverts behind the mast.