Laser: bailing out

A week ago last Wednesday. It was another of those "don't know which sail to use" kind of days at the lake, with the wind forecast to gust into the 20's, but actually averaging in the low teens.

Despite my misjudgement of the previous week, in the end I elected to stick with the standard rig and threaded on a slightly heavier mainsheet. Boat rigged and readied on the shore, I then headed back to the clubhouse to get changed.

In the time it took me to get my sailing kit on, the heavens opened and rain bucketed down. The squall passed through quickly enough, but by the time I was back on the foreshore with the boat, the cockpit had all but half filled with rainwater.

So I did the sensible thing, undid the bung, drained the boat, then launched.

Forgetting, of course, to put the bung back in.

In a little boat without a bucket or a sponge you only have a couple of options with respect to bailing. You either put the bung out and hope you can get enough speed for the auto-bailer to work. Or you tip her onto her side and let her drain out.

It was a good race. With the cockpit once more dry, sticking with the standard rig proved the right choice in what turned out to be a very variable evening's wind. Twenty-three other boats on the start line with me, and by the end of the evening I'd managed to keep the Laser upright through the gusts and beat them all.