Laser Sailing Basics Review: Which Rig?

Which rig is right for you? If you’re thinking of Olympic glory in the Laser you’d best be around six foot tall or better and 180 lbs or so for the standard rig, and 150 lbs seems to be about right for the Radial rig. For the rest of us, the need to match our physical attributes to the boat is probably secondary to developing great boat handling and solid strategy and tactics.

Some serious sailors will try to gain or lose pounds to hit an ideal weight for the boat, but I feel the risk of increasing my weight to make the standard rig easier to hold down, seems counter to my reasons for sailing a Laser in the first place, which is to encourage my fitness and health. I know that if I ever get a chance to sail a world class regatta, the radial will be my rig. I might need to lose 5 to 10 pounds for very light-air venues, but that would still encourage me in the right direction for my health.

Having both rigs gives me lots of options at regattas, but having both rigs means needing to choose which to use. If you are getting into a Laser for the first time, you will need to decide whether to buy both rigs. (It’s an extra $800 to $900 for the additional lower mast section and sail.) Here are a few of my thoughts and experiences.

The venues you sail at will be key to how happy you are with a particular Laser rig. Most sailors who are underweight for the Laser, will find that they can hold down a standard rig on smaller lakes during the summer, but may struggle some days in the spring and fall. If you weigh in the 140 or lower range the standard rig will make you work hard in any breeze over 9 mph or so. This means that sea breezes may well push you out of the rig and ocean sailors may, therefore, need to opt for smaller rigs.

If you’re a Master sailor, average seasonal wind speed may not matter as much since you will be allowed to change rigs, but if you’re in a series that doesn’t have a separate Master’s class you may eliminate yourself from any chance at a series place if you have to stick with one rig and the wind strength dramatically changes.  Also, if there aren’t many radial rigs you face racing against yourself – lots of first places, but no fun.

When I’m in reasonable condition, I can hold down a standard rig into wind speeds in the mid teens, if I practice good hiking technique. Add major waves or gusts to that and I am beginning to replace effective racing mode with survival mode. For best boat handling I like to switch to a radial rig before there are white caps. If I’m forced to choose and stick with one rig, and the wind is borderline, I’ll consider who’s in the radial fleet. If there is some good competition I’ll go that direction. On the other hand, if everyone else is sailing a standard rig, I’ll try to flatten and ease the sail, hike hard and hang in there.

Occasionally I’ll be the lone radial sailor in a standard fleet. If it’s a Master’s fleet my strategy is to make up in boat handling what I give away in sail area. In a non-master’s standard fleet where I can’t place, I know I’m just going to practice fleet starts, or sail the venue.

The choice of rigs may seem easier if you’re a female Laser sailor, but there are a few wrinkles to consider. If you are in an area with mostly male sailors who use the standard rig, you may want to get a second rig, a standard, so you can play with the whole fleet on an even basis on light days – most summer days in much of the US. I’ve seen women sailors in the 120 lb range be super competitive with a standard rig on light air days. You may also find that sailing the standard rig occasionally, encourages better conditioning.

My experience is that many lighter sailors don’t flatten their sails enough, rarely tweak their sail controls, hike ineffectively and don’t practice enough to know what wind strength they can sail a standard rig in. Of course this is also true of most new sailors in all weight ranges.

Some days the Laser fleet at QYC decides as a group to use Radial rigs so that we’re all competing on an equal basis. The competition is just as good and we all get more experienced with the slightly different approach to trimming the Radial rig.

For those sailors with the resources to buy both rigs, I encourage new sailors to use the radial until they feel comfortable righting the boat and handling it in breezier conditions. They get more experiences of success and learn faster with less anxiety. If they feel a bit bored with the Radial rig in light air they are really ready for the bigger rig.

I also choose my Radial when I’m aware that I’m feeling resistant to sailing because of my anxiety around cold water, physically tiredness, or I’m just wanting to focus on my boat handling or fine tuning my choreography in a breeze.

Please share with us your thoughts on rig size.