Hollowell Sailing Club – Laser Rigging Guide

Hollowell Sailing Club – Laser Rigging Guide
This guide describes how to rig the club Lasers – even of you are familiar with the Laser, please follow this guide as our boats are rigged
in a specific way.
Boat, including boom, dagger
board, rudder, tiller and bung
Stage 1: Check you have the right equipment.
2.1
Sail rig, suitable for crew
Stage 2: Selection of rig.
and wind conditions (see
At Hollowell we store the rig fully assembled
stage 2 for Rig selection)
in the Boat House. You will find the rigs stored
on racks suspended from the Boat House ceiling (2.1). You will need 2 people to safely handle your chosen
rig. This means the mast, sail, kicking strap and downhaul control line are kept together. The Laser has 3
rigs. You should select the rig based on your size, experience and wind conditions. Use this guide for
selecting which rig is best for you (Full, Radial and 4.7). There are 2 Lasers available H27 and H9. HSC have 4
fully assembled rigs in total, two Full, one Radial and one 4.7, which are interchangeable between the two
boats. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should these rigs be disassembled or used on your own boat. Should you
need spares for your own boat these are kept on the racking to the right in the brick boat shed.
Full Rig
Radial Rig
4.7 Rig
Size
> 75Kg
60 – 75Kg
<60Kg
Conditions
Light to Medium Breeze
Light to Strong Breeze
Light to Very Strong Breeze
Experience
Experienced Sailor
Some Experience
Beginner and Junior.
2.1
3.1
Stage 3: Erecting Mast and Attaching Boom.
Having pointed the boat into wind , first unroll the sail and insert the battens, remembering to ease each
batten into the pocket so that the batten doesn’t come out. Identify the ‘mast step’ – the hole at the front of
the boat (3.1) where the mast is inserted. Clear the base of the mast of any dirt or grit and clear the mast step
of any ropes etc(3.2). Placing one hand between kicker and gooseneck and the other a comfortable distance
up the mast, then hold the mast upright, and carefully position the mast above the mast step and gently lower
into position.
3.2
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Hollowell Sailing Club – Laser Rigging Guide
This guide describes how to rig the club Lasers – even of you are familiar with the Laser, please follow this guide as our boats are rigged
in a specific way.
3.3
Stage 3: Erecting Mast and Attaching Boom (cont).
Attach the boom to the mast: One end of the boom has a hole that is inserted onto the
‘gooseneck’ pin on the mast(3.3) make sure that the line from the sail is to the right
hand side of the boom. Ensure that the ‘kicking strap’ keyhole is facing downwards (3.4)
and that the blocks at the opposite end of the boom are also facing downwards.
3.4
Stage 4: Rigging the Sail.
Attaching the Clew: First make sure that the kicker is attached. Insert the kicking
strap key , first making sure that the vang assembly is not twisted and runs
smoothly (4.1).
Then identify the clew end of the sail (you will find a fixing eye in the free corner
of the sail) (4.2) and the hook attached to the line on top of the boom (4.3).
Make sure the boat is facing into the wind, make sure the mainsheet is free to
move and then attach the hook to the ‘clew’ eye (4.4).
4.1
4.2
4.4
4.3
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Hollowell Sailing Club – Laser Rigging Guide
This guide describes how to rig the club Lasers – even of you are familiar with the Laser, please follow this guide as our boats are rigged
in a specific way.
Stage 4: Rigging the Sail (cont).
Rigging the Outhaul: The outhaul is a control that runs from the boom to the mast and
then down onto the deck (4.5). It is attached to the clew hook by means of blocks and
line. Take the outhaul line, make sure it is free of the mainsheet, and feed it through the
block attached to the gooseneck (4.6) making sure it runs smoothly along the boom.
Then feed down to the port block (at the base of the mast) (4.7) and feed through bow
to stern and from there through the cleat assembly just in front of the daggerboard
housing (4.8). Pull the outhaul in and clamp tight .
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
Attaching the Clew Tie down. To maximise the performance of the sail, the clew eye needs to be as
close to the boom as possible, Take the string attached to the clew eye and secure to the boom with a
strong knot such as a reef knot (4.9). Then take the shock cord (elastic) attached to the boom cleat (4.10)
and tie the loose end to the clew tie down- this allows the sail to take shape when the outhaul is
released.
4.10
4.9
4.11
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Hollowell Sailing Club – Laser Rigging Guide
This guide describes how to rig the club Lasers – even of you are familiar with the Laser, please follow this guide as our boats are rigged
in a specific way.
Stage 4: Rigging the Sail (cont).
4.15
Securing the downhaul: Take the long line attached to the kicker block (4.12)and feed the
free end through the block just below the Cunningham eye (4.13). Then take the line down
the mast and through the deck block (as per the outhaul - bow to stern) (4.14) and then back
along the deck and through the cleat assembly(4.15).
4.12
4.13
Stage 5: Fixing the Foils
4.14
Rigging the Rudder and Tiller: Take the rudder
and drop the rudder into the pintels ensuring
that the metal spring is seated above the bottom
pintel to prevent the rudder falling off (5.1). Take
the tiller and feed it under the rear traveller
line (5.2) and insert into housing on top of the
rudder (5.3). You may need to position the rudder downhaul line in the centre to help insert the tiller. Make sure that the
mainsheet block attached to the traveller can easily slide across the tiller . If the tension is too much or too little then adjust the
traveller by tensioning or releasing the traveller line at the traveller cleat (5.4).Then pin the tiller to the rudder using the pin hole at
the rear of the top of the rudder. Feed the rudder downhaul line through the tiller cleat (5.3 circled) and make sure that the rudder
can be raised and lowered.
5.4
5.2
5.3
5.1
Rigging the Daggerboard: Make sure
that the elastic is connected through
the bow eye and the daggerboard eye
so that the daggerboard can be raised
and stay in place.
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Hollowell Sailing Club – Laser Rigging Guide
This guide describes how to rig the club Lasers – even of you are familiar with the Laser, please follow this guide as our boats are rigged
in a specific way.
Stage 6: Final Checks:
Control settings:
The outhaul and downhaul lines control the shape and power of the sail. So before tying handles to
help control the lines decide how much slack each line needs. As a guide, let the outhaul off until
there is one and a half hand lengths between the middle of the boom and the sail – this would be
the max off for the outhaul. Then tie a knot about 30cm from this point and create a handle to help
release and tension the outhaul. Do the same with the downhaul where max off is where there is
no tension on the sail.
Ropes run freely:
Check all lines and ropes to make sure they are not snagged and are free to operate the boat.
Check knots:
Make sure that any knots that you have tied are secure.
Handles:
Make a handle using he handle technique or simply make a loop from the remaining line. Finally
make a ‘handle’ from the remaining line so that you can tighten and release the outhaul (13)
Rear bung:
Check that the rear bung is inserted and secured.
Internal bung:
At launch make sure the bung is in to prevent ingress of water. Once up to speed then this can be
released to help drain the cockpit as required.
Knot in end of mainsheet:
Place a knot in the main sheet o prevent the mainsheet from being pulled through the blocks. As a
guide allow the boom to extend to 90 degrees and put a knot in the mainsheet where the
mainsheet exists the ratchet block.
Painter attached to trolley to aid launching:
Make sure the painter is attached to the trolley when presenting the boat for launcking this stops
the boat from slipping off the trailer whilst on the slip-way.
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