Got a Lazer (sailboat)

[Hornet33]

It has 3 ropes.  One attaches to a little ring on the nose, another on the right side, and then another on the left side, which attach to the side of the boat. 

If your going to sail at least learn the correct terms.

"It has 3 lines (rope is anything larger than 1" in diameter and is used for towing and morring of larger vessels, anything smaller is a line). 1 attaches to a ring on the bow (that's the pointy end of the boat) and the other two tie off on the port and starboard beam (port is left, starboard is right).

Also there is no such thing a nautical paint, there is marine grade paint though.

Not trying to bust on you, just trying to help teach you the correct terms. I'm a retired Coastie and I've been sailing since I was 12 years old. You did get your hands on a nice little boat there. Have fun with it!!! I miss my old Hobie 16 Never should have sold her.

[Nilsen]

Not the best, but not a bad boat to learn in. Make sure you start learning when the wind and waves are on their best behaviour. As calm as possible is best with only small ripples and a gentle breeze is perfect for those small boats.

I hope you will enjoy it. I live and breathe sailing and have done so for almost 30 years.

[Oogly50]

I COULD have put things into those terms hornet, but I wouldn't want to *cough cough* "confuse" anybody here... 

Everything except line and marine paint, I completely understood. 

[lasersailor184]

Not the best, but not a bad boat to learn in. Make sure you start learning when the wind and waves are on their best behaviour. As calm as possible is best with only small ripples and a gentle breeze is perfect for those small boats.

I hope you will enjoy it. I live and breathe sailing and have done so for almost 30 years.

Nonsense.  The first time you take it out, it can be calm.  Purposefully capsize the boat (possibly a few times) so you can learn how to right it.

After that, anytime sub 20 knots wind just take it out and rip.  The Gods of Irony and the Gods of Sailing are the same thing.  The wind will always pick up from painfully slow when you're heading in.  The wind will always pick up when you're furthest downwind.  The wind will always be the highest when you're trying to learn.

[Nilsen]

Ignore that.

If you have never sailed before ignore lasers advice and take her out the first time in calm winds and seas and get a feel for how it handles

[68Wooley]

If you've never sailed before, leave it on the beach until you find someone to teach you.

That said, Oogly appears to have sailed Optimists so sounds like he knows at least the basics. You'll want at least a bit of a breeze - a laser 2 is pretty cramped unless there's enough wind to get hiked out or on the wire.

Oogly - have you sailed a center mainsheet boat before?

[Gunthr]

I'm still learning to sail.  I have a 19' Macgregor, which is pretty much laughed at by real sailors.  I think of it as my marine camper.  and my defeator of outrageous gas prices.

I've got the mainsail, a 150% genoa, a storm jib and a spinnaker and a home aid sea anchor.  I sail farther off shore than I probably should, but I pick and choose the weather. (AND Ive got a 40 horse Tahatsu hanging off the back )

Good luck with the Lazer!  I can tell that is a fun boat.  I do seriously recommend mild weather for learning, life jacket, preferably with a tether harness esp if you are alone, and a 30' floating polypropaline line trailing behind, cause if you go overboard  - the boat - she can keep on going without you. I'm sure that is not fun if you are far from shore...

[lasersailor184]

I'm still learning to sail.  I have a 19' Macgregor, which is pretty much laughed at by real sailors.  I think of it as my marine camper.  and my defeator of outrageous gas prices.

I've got the mainsail, a 150% genoa, a storm jib and a spinnaker and a home aid sea anchor.  I sail farther off shore than I probably should, but I pick and choose the weather. (AND Ive got a 40 horse Tahatsu hanging off the back )

Good luck with the Lazer!  I can tell that is a fun boat.  I do seriously recommend mild weather for learning, life jacket, preferably with a tether harness esp if you are alone, and a 30' floating polypropaline line trailing behind, cause if you go overboard  - the boat - she can keep on going without you. I'm sure that is not fun if you are far from shore...

Don't wear a tether.  You'll most likely be sailing inland water ways.  A dinghy, unlike a regular keelboat will not keep going if something happens, like if you fall over board.  It will only serve to tie you to a rolling (capsizing) boat when it WILL capsize.


I thought it was understood to wear a lifejacket, but I shouldn't have thought that way.  To begin with, get yourself a USCG Approved lifejacket, and never EVER wear those rectangular orange things.  They'll make you look dorky.

The boom really really hurts.  Even to this day I occasionally get whacked in the head.  But I haven't really been in trouble from a hit since I was just starting out. 

[68Wooley]

Did he not say he's sailing on Lake Geneva? A USCG approved lifejacket might be hard to come by there.

Actually, what you want is really a buoyancy aid - not a lifejacket. A lifejacket will keep an unconscious person's head out of the water if fitted properly and inflated. A buoyancy aid will keep you afloat, but possibly face down. The thing is, its almost impossible to swim in a lifejacket and can really hamper getting up on to the daggerboard to right a capsize. A proper water sports buoyancy aid will allow you much more movement both in, and out of the water.

Lasersailor is right about the tether - bad idea in a dinghy. Ideally you should be sailing with safety boat cover - particularly as you're learning. Join a sailing club or go to a sailing school approved by your national sailing association. Also make sure you and your crew practice and can both carry out a figure-of-eight man overboard recovery maneuver. This is a primary requirement for the UK Royal Yachting Association level 2 certificate - the lowest level at which someone is certified to be able to sail a dinghy without supervision.

[lasersailor184]

Did he not say he's sailing on Lake Geneva? A USCG approved lifejacket might be hard to come by there.

Actually, what you want is really a buoyancy aid - not a lifejacket. A lifejacket will keep an unconscious person's head out of the water if fitted properly and inflated. A buoyancy aid will keep you afloat, but possibly face down. The thing is, its almost impossible to swim in a lifejacket and can really hamper getting up on to the daggerboard to right a capsize. A proper water sports buoyancy aid will allow you much more movement both in, and out of the water.

Lasersailor is right about the tether - bad idea in a dinghy. Ideally you should be sailing with safety boat cover - particularly as you're learning. Join a sailing club or go to a sailing school approved by your national sailing association. Also make sure you and your crew practice and can both carry out a figure-of-eight man overboard recovery maneuver. This is a primary requirement for the UK Royal Yachting Association level 2 certificate - the lowest level at which someone is certified to be able to sail a dinghy without supervision.

http://www.apsltd.com/Tree/d297000/e294573.asp

Lifejackets aren't like the generic orange things you keep stowed aboard a boat anymore.



The difference is that USCG Lifejackets are rated to provide at least a certain amount of buoyancy.  Buoyancy aids either can't pass the USCG tests, or have yet to be put up to the tests.

Anyway, should you choose to pick Buoyancy Aids to wear, you would have to store on your boat 1 USCG approved lifejacket per person using the boat.  Since wearing a USCG lifejacket is no longer a problem, and you need it aboard anyway, don't bother with Buoyancy Aids.

Not to mention that any outfit you race with will require a USCG approved jacket.


If you are worried about it, buy a brightly colored lifejacket and a rescue whistle.  Attach the one to the other and you suddenly become leagues easier to find should the absolute worst possible set of circumstances to ever happen does actually happen.

[68Wooley]

I think we're disagreeing over terminology here. In the UK, a personal flotation device can only be properly referred to as a lifejacket if it will keep an unconscious person face up. Most devices worn by dinghy sailors do not meet that criteria and are therefore buoyancy aids. Buoyancy aids go through a government approval process and are rated based on the weight of the person they can safely keep afloat - so essentially the same as a USCG 'lifejacket'.

Suffice to say, Oogly should have a personal flotation device approved by the appropriate body in his locale, rated for his body weight and suitable for active water sports.