Hi -
Got a basic question on rigging an outhaul from a novice recreational sailor. I have my in-laws Laser from probably the late '70's and have enjoyed sailing it at a lake in NorCal, purely recreational with no desire to race. I'm a decent sailor but know little about the subtleties of how to rig the boat and really don't want to learn much... I'm happy to just have it set in a "close enough" condition. Apologies in advance for using the wrong words for much that follows...
I'm looking for advice on how to rig my outhaul. As is, there's simply a pulley that's tied to the "U" shaped anchor at the end of the boom. There's a short rope that's tied to the clew, I've been running this thru the pulley and then to a cleat that's mounted about 18" in from the end of the boom. See photo.
There are at least a couple of problems with this. First, I now understand that the clew should be held very close to the boom rather than be free to extend out. I see that I can fix this by buying a clew strap. Second, I've had problems with the rope pulling out of the cleat and thus releasing the sail (with predictably unpleasant results). This makes sense as due to the single pulley the full force of the sail goes thru the short rope and it's cleat.
I've looked on line and see a lot of information about how the outhaul can be rigged to allow the sailor to adjust it while sailing. As noted above, I'd be happy without this. Any recommendations about how I can alter the rigging to meet my needs? Thanks!
Got a basic question on rigging an outhaul from a novice recreational sailor. I have my in-laws Laser from probably the late '70's and have enjoyed sailing it at a lake in NorCal, purely recreational with no desire to race. I'm a decent sailor but know little about the subtleties of how to rig the boat and really don't want to learn much... I'm happy to just have it set in a "close enough" condition. Apologies in advance for using the wrong words for much that follows...
I'm looking for advice on how to rig my outhaul. As is, there's simply a pulley that's tied to the "U" shaped anchor at the end of the boom. There's a short rope that's tied to the clew, I've been running this thru the pulley and then to a cleat that's mounted about 18" in from the end of the boom. See photo.
There are at least a couple of problems with this. First, I now understand that the clew should be held very close to the boom rather than be free to extend out. I see that I can fix this by buying a clew strap. Second, I've had problems with the rope pulling out of the cleat and thus releasing the sail (with predictably unpleasant results). This makes sense as due to the single pulley the full force of the sail goes thru the short rope and it's cleat.
I've looked on line and see a lot of information about how the outhaul can be rigged to allow the sailor to adjust it while sailing. As noted above, I'd be happy without this. Any recommendations about how I can alter the rigging to meet my needs? Thanks!