Laser at Killington

I had a great introduction to sailing the KSA club laser this weekend. I was encouraged when I arrived on Saturday morning to find another club member had been sailing it, so it must be all present and correct. I was discouraged that the lake was largely flat and he was bringing it in because there was not enough wind. But I saw how the mast fit together and noticed the spare boom which would have confused me otherwise. When, after looking at the map to plan a walk and chatting to the people doing a power boat lesson... the wind seemed to be picking up a little, I gave it a go.
I was confused at first looking for a halyard, until I realised the sail slides onto the mast. The boat has a very long main sheet, and a very long out haul, all tied up neatly round the boom. I used this to hook the dagger board onto, because I could not find anywhere better.
It was a very gentle wind, and a nice gentle introduction to boat. It moved along quit nicely in the light wind, though it did not feel like it when sailing with the wind, the stream of water at the stern showed it was so. Later the wind grew a little stronger and there was a reassuring splash of water from the bows as well.  I found the tiller very low over the stern, so that it caught against the cleat on the deck.  Altogether the boat felt very secure, probably slightly less tippy than the RS Feva always feels after the Wayfarer.
There was some sunshine, and there were dark clouds, and the lake looked very beautiful at points.
I brought the boat in gently enough, with the sail gently flapping, then I took the gooseneck off, which was a mistake. The sail curved nicely, and started pulling the boat away from me. I started untying the long end of the out hall, till I realised that all that was needed was to unclip the hook at the clew.  Packing up the boat was OK, except that several of the ties are missing from the cover.

The next day was quite a different experience, with a force 4 or 5 wind. The sea scouts were out in force, John the rower was there a younger realtive, and there was a club member sailing a Pico with his daughter. Later the strong winds brought out a couple of windsurfers as well.
The laser certainly zipped across the lake at an impressive speed, which was very exhilarating. The boat was responsive, and felt very reassuring. I could understand why it is a popular boat for racing.
I capsized twice, and it was easy enough to right, and to climb back on board. The second time I noticed the rudder was out of its catch, (not sure whether that caused the capsize?) and I was unwilling to right the boat until I had fixed it securely. It was a bit a a struggle locating it above the water, and I was impressed that the boat had not turned turtle in the delay. By the time I was back on the boat the sea scout safety boat had arrived, which was good of them.
The scariest moment was during a gust while sailing with the wind. I felt out of control of the boat, none of the normal instincts kicked in. I have never needed to do more than avoid a jibe when sailing downwind before. The boat started swaying from side to side which was disconcerting, so I turned from a broad reach to a beam reach and it felt much better.
The sheet had just one pulley, which I found not much in the strong wind. The centre main was fitted with ratchet block, but even set as tight as possible I still found holding the sheet quite heavy. So I found my self using the cleats, despite the risk.  I found there are two ways of getting wet using cleats. I avoided the obvious one, not being able to let the sheet out in a gust, but when you tighten the sheet, but fail to get the cleat to grip properly before you let go, the boom swings out, and the boat tips back, and that was my third dip of the day.
I never quite found how to avoid the sheet getting caught occasionally round the stern of the boat. It was easy enough to turn to wind and release it, but you would not want to be doing that in a race or in a more crowded lake.
All of which makes the boat sound quite a handful to control, which was not the impression I had at all. It felt very secure, impressively sporty and a lot of fun.  A great couple of hours sailing.