Ready to Race - Dinghy Coaching & Tuning

25/07/2025

If you are struggling to keep your Laser moving upwind in the light stuff there are a few things you can do:-

#1 Keep the boatspeed up. Don't pinch (don't sail too close to the wind). Try to steer the boat by feel rather than relying on the telltales, often (and especially if the wind is coming over a dam wall or other obstruction) the wind is doing something different high up that your telltales don't even know about. Look up the course for where the wind is and try to get there even if it looks a little further to sail. If you are moving at 0.5mph and find a patch of wind that can move you at 1mph it's doubling your boatspeed so you can affort to sail twice as far to find it.

2 # Get as far forward as possible. This reduces the surface area in the water and also means the boat is balancing on the rounded, forward section of the hull rather than the flat draggy aft sections. Keep all movements slow and gentle to avoid shaking the wind out of the rig.

#3 Never sheet the boom closer than the corner of the transom. This will stall the boat and you'll stop or go sideways. Wind with little energy can't stay attached to the sail if it's too deep. You will still need the same amount of kicker as a 12mph breeze and if the wind really dies you'll need even more to keep a streamlined sail. In light wind, the boom also tends to come into the centreline, keeping the traveler as tight as possible will help but sheet to the corner only. Having more kicker on will also help this. My top tip is to get a decent dyneema traveler and bang it on tight, if it's stretchy you'll never be able to get the boom on the corner as it will want to come in to the centre so you'll end up with the boom also pointing at the sky.

To recap:-
• Keep the boat moving. Try to find the breeze rather than worrying too much about pointing angle.
• Get forwards and use smooth movements.
• Keep the boom on the corner. Pull your kicker and traveler on and replace traveler if stretchy.

If you want a 5 min demo of this last one or to buy a new traveler, let me know.

18/07/2025

Following on from sailing downwind in light wind conditions is this tip (inspired by Wayne's post on the Scaling Dam group). This is Paul Allen a frequent botherer of the Birkett podium in a 400 showing great trim in light wind. Note in this picture, where the shroud is in relation to helm and crew position and how close the pole is to the waterline.

In light wind the crew sits on the foredeck (without disturbing the airflow between main and jib) while the helm moves forward into the crew hiking strap. In a gust the helm can still hike to hold the boat flat but in bigger gusts the helm slides back, allowing the crew to come back and hike as well. As the gust subsides the crew (who may need an elbow in the ribs) moves back onto the foredeck. A well drilled team can make this seemless, which is good as you need to be smooth as silk to avoid shaking the air out of the rig.

Why? The RS400 has a wide rear end and dragging this is slow, so ideally you want the water to release smoothly from the transom without curling back. Helms, try to get in tune with the boat, listen for water noise and if you're hearing it from the back end then move forward. No-one needs a noisy back end.

How far is too far forward? We don't want the transom in the air as waterline length is important for boat speed but a little leeward heel will help keep shape in the sails and also reduce wetted surface area.
Bear in mind though (especially Laser sailors) the 400 rudder is tucked under the boat slightly (have a look next time you launch) to give a neutral feel on the tiller, so too much heel will create drag on the rudder but you may not be able to feel it. Flat is (usually) fast.

(Sorry, I don't know who the owner of the picture rights is. If it's you, please let me know and I'll give you a credit)

14/07/2025

My first RS400 tip and, considering the wind condition lately, the most important one. That inviting flat bit in the middle of the boat is not for the crew to sit on!
The RS400 has rather a generous rear end to help it plane early. However, as with any backside, dragging it through the water is going to be slow. Getting weight forward and the transom out of the water is critical for boatspeed in light wind, upwind and down.

14/07/2025

Most recently I've been known as 'the Laser guy' and have been coaching Lasers for a few years.
However I have raced RS400s off-and-on since the class was born (I owned my first one a year after the boat started production).
With the growth in the class at Scaling Dam I'll be adding some 400 content from now on.

23/06/2025

Everyone knows they need tell-tales but do you know where you need them? These packs of 4 tell-tales are specifically created for Laser/ILCA sails and come with an information page to tell you the best place for them. Sure you can ignore the guide and put them anywhere (I'm happy to sell multiple packs), they will tell you something be aware they may just be a distraction.

4 Black wool tell-tales with black dacron sticky patches: £3 per pack

2 green/2 red silicone coated wool tell-tales with matching coloured dacron sticky patches: £5 per pack

19/06/2025

If you're numbering a new sail, don't forget tell-tales. See placement guide.

Available to buy - see separate post.

Shared with Dropbox

18/06/2025

Anyone needing to number a new Laser or ILCA sail may find these instructions useful.

Shared with Dropbox

10/06/2025

Making gains during boat-on-boat interactions. AKA The Unwitting 'teammate'.
If you find yourself losing out in boat-on-boat or mark rounding situations, it’s important to think about how to navigate the situation better in the future. Part of this could be to put yourself in the other sailor’s positions and work out why they weren’t held up by slow traffic etc? If you can identify this then you can avoid it or better still, develop strategies that exploit it to your advantage.

One example is when a chasing competitor is going the same way as you up the beat. If you can get another boat (ideally slower like a lapped boat) between you and the chasing boat, they will be slowed, especially during a mark rounding. Obviously, you don’t want to hinder the lapped boat in any way.

Another is on a reach where you’re trying to catch a boat in front who is too far away to cover. If there is a 3rd boat between you and your target, going high to fake-cover them may in turn tempt them to go high and slow your actual target.

The last one is when you’re going down the run with a hard-won lead but being caught by a boat leading a pack. The leader will want to cover you to catch up, so as long as you’re clear enough, draw them into sailing into the lee of the chasing pack so they get swallowed up by them. Then go for clear air.

This idea of an unwitting ‘team-mate’ is a strategy I’ve been thinking about and using for some time and even if the gains a small, if you can make it work (without anyone realising) it can make all the difference. Thanks to Henry for sparking the idea for this post with a tactical question.