Laser: winter sailing

One of the things I like about the weather forecast site WindGuru is that it keeps a record of what the weather actually did. So when I get home from the lake and think to myself "What just hit me?" it's easy to go check.

Fourteen boats crossed the start line for the first race at South Cerney on Sunday at 1100. The Laser and I hit 12.1 knots on one of the reaches, and frequently topped 10 knots. In a little 13' dinghy with a freeboard of, I guess, around 6" that's quite entertaining. Especially when you can see the leeward mark coming up at you fast (and the shore not so far beyond it) and know you're going to have to gybe.

Only seven boats finished. The safety boat was kept very busy.

Setting the boat up with the (reduced) radial rig was definitely the right idea. I'd brought both sails to the lake with me, as below 20 knots I really need the standard rig to keep the boat competitive, but the forecast had mentioned the possibility of 30 knot gusts, and once we're into the mid 20's my racing effectively stops and I'm just clinging on.

So it was just a question of how frequent we were expecting those 30 knot gusts to be. 

Only five boats stayed out for the second race. The conditions were still very blustery, but I only managed a top speed 10.8 knots out of the Laser. Which is still quite good fun. We also had our first capsize of the year when, a little under half way through the race, I messed up a gybe. I recovered quickly, more luck than judgement, and managed to stay out of the water by rolling straight over the side of the boat and onto the dagger-board.

Staying out of the water also meant I recovered quickly enough to catch back up by the end of the reach that followed. However, as we rounded the next mark and hardened up onto the beat, the cleat on my outhaul failed. Nothing serious, just the Laser punishing me for leaving her neglected under her covers since the late summer. But not being able to flatten the sail when you're beating through gusts that are pushing into the high twenties makes life a little uncomfortable.

I briefly entertained retiring; a "dry capsize" regardless, I was by then soaked through by rain and spray, so cold I couldn't feel my fingers or toes and was shivering uncontrollably. And, more to the point, the two boats I'd been trying to beat were now almost a whole leg away from me upwind.

But it felt too much like giving up. So I sheeted the sail in, hiked out hard and tried not to look at how baggy the main was with the outhaul completely off as I pushed on up the beat after the other two.

And although I couldn't have known it right then, the worst of the weather had just blown through. The gusts faded across the rest of the race, the rain stopped, and a very faint, watery sun almost managed to break through the cloud cover.

Back on shore I tried to derig my boat before retreating to get changed, but unable to feel my fingers, couldn't disassemble the rig. So I put the mast down to keep the sail safe, and retreated to the changing rooms. By that point I was shivering so uncontrollably that it took an embarrassing amount of time just to unlace my boots so that I could put my wetsuit off and get in the shower to warm up.

Winter sailing is fun.