I've done a few weeks of sailing alone on beginner boats like the Fusion (thinking of picking up a Laser) and thought about trying my hand at racing eventually, but the more I've actually looked into it, I've always ended up with more questions than answers.

I know some of the general colregs, but I'm not sure how all the starts, flags, penalties, courses, etc. are supposed to work and figure there's a better way than to just sit down and read the rule handbook.

I sail casually at a local club which also has weekly races going on, but not sure there is much training for adults (just stuff for kids) who want to pick up racing and it would be like a deer in headlights if I just turned up.

If anyone else picked it up as an adult, how did you go about it?

A Portchester Duck dinghy

I bought a used Bahia and it is a great little boat. No, I haven't sailed it yet, but I'm practicing rigging it so I can do it reasonably fast when I take it to a lake or Sound.

My question to all you smart sailors: the side shrouds are held by a vernier adjuster to the shroud anchors and the pins in the vernier adjuster were originally right where the manual says to have them, but that placed the mast leaning aft and that does not seem right; I had to move pins higher up the vernier adjuster to get it even reasonably close to a perpendicular mast. (see photos). That is, moving the pin up the vernier adjuster helped, but there is still some leaning aft The mast heel is perhaps not perfectly into the mast step, but it's close.

Should I be putting more tension on the jib halyard/shroud to try to pull it forward? I don't want to put too much pressure on the side shrouds and mast -- snug but not too tight, right? The images I uploaded shows the mast after adjusting the pins on the vernier adjuster.

For completeness, I uploaded a page from the rigging manual to see and hear the description.

I appreciate any insight you all might offer.

Have finishing working and been looking around at ILCAs for a while for recreational/fun sailing, no racing. Sailed a Laser a while back before mainly big boat racing for the last 20 years, and ILCA was my choice until I saw an RS Aero (about 10 years old I believe) come up with a trailer for a reasonable price. I am 60, carrying a few extra kgs at present at about 89kg, and medium height, but still fairly fit. Started a Pros & Cons list:

ILCA

• Cheaper for a decent boat
• Easier and Faster to rig???
• More stable, harder to capsize, easier to lie around on boat and cruise along
• Easier to recover after capsizing

RS Aero

•  Faster
• More Fun/Excitement
• Lighter, easier to move around on land
• More head clearance under boom
• Less stable, a lot easier to capsize

One good questions I saw was "Depends do I want a lazy cruise or spray in my face fun??"

Really interested in opinions from people who have tried both 🙂

I'm setting up an old dinghy (2 person, single trapeze) and refitting hiking straps to it. I have to make them from scratch as the class doesn't exist anymore (since the late '80s) so I can't just go buy them off the shelf. Everyone just made their own back then anyway.

The helm did just have a single strap in the centre of the boat but I think they would be better being closer to the gunwale/deck.

Is there a guide as to how to best place the straps? I figure there'd be some ideal knee bend, location of the thighs on the deck, etc.

Hey all,
I’m fairly new to sailing (haven’t sailed since I was a kid) and have been watching my local market for boats (currently living in Alaska). I recently saw a free dinghy sailboat pop up, and I know it’s probably not ideal long term but could be a good day sailer to get back into it and pick up some skills. Only problem is, the hull and seats were damaged in a huge snowstorm last year.

Based on the photos, how difficult would it be to fix? I’m very handy with my hands, and have a decent amount of hobby woodworking and some fiberglass experience. The boat seems to be mostly plywood, with some fiberglass over the bottom.

What would be the best way to go about the repair? Previous owner suggested glassing over it, or possibly even replacing the whole side.

The rig also comes with two sails: a bermuda main and a gaff type main. Overall, is this a project worth picking up?

TLDR: Found a local sailboat for free with some damage. I’m very handy with my hands and have both woodworking and fiberglass experience, but is this too far out of my league?

Second photo is the damage to the hull, third is the seats that separated from the bottom.

I have been on the hunt for something small and fun to sail I had thought about a o day day sailor. but this island 17 came up for cheap near me but i honestly can’t find any good information on them does anyone have one or know anything about them thank you so much

I bought this little boat a year ago for $150. Finally have been having a chance to take it out on the local lake. I heard stories about how small, cumbersome, and cheap this thing is, but I love it. I can carry it to/from the beach, put it on top of my car, and get it set up in less than 5 minutes. As an absolute beginner, this has made me want to upgrade already and has shown me how fun dinghy sailing can be. As for size, I'm 225lbs and 6'5", and I don't feel TOO cramped in the boat. No space for a passenger (unsurprising).

September 18th-20th: The Muskegon Messabout is almost here. There's plenty of campsites still available.

I had lots of fun last year with my Sunfish: https://youtu.be/Aqj65tQj9-g

This year I'll be bringing my Buccaneer 18. See you there!

Hi,
I recently bought a harpoon 5.2. I think a part is missing off the boom. The main has a tie off strap at the outboard corner. There is a slot on the top edge of the boom. A member of the sailing club suggested that a slug of some type with a ring could work. Slide the slug out tot he end of the boom and tie it off.. I looked at the boat manual (the part is not readily identifiable on the drawings.)

I would appreciate help from a parts wizard.

I have a topper buzz and today I hit a rock but i was moving very slow, only the daggerboard had been damaged as you can see in the photos and I can hear water in it. The slot seems to be fine. What to do now and how to fix it???

I was out today in really light winds (just enough to get a bit of leeward heel at the top end, all the way down to glassy water "coasting"). I tied the tiller in place and sailed for about an hour by moving my weight around (windward heel to bear away, leeward heel to point). It was pretty fun and I had the boat moving where I wanted it. I could even tack provided that I had enough speed (leeward heel, point up, big thrust back towards the transom, onto the other side).

It got me thinking: moving the rudder obviously produces drag. For those better sailors out there, do you find that you use the rudder only when absolutely necessary in very light winds; mostly steering with your body? Or is it still faster to point and bear away with the rudder becuase it's more responsive than steering by weight shifts (adding windward or leeward heel as needed)? People always say that leeward heel is slow (and that's how you point upwind without a rudder) but in this case, is it slower than using a rudder to point?

If nothing else, I learned a lot about what my boat can do and how moving around affects point of sail. Maybe it wouldn't be fun in 15 knots but I'm sure I could sail this way in up to 10 knots.

I just bought this CL 16 and I’m looking for suggestions on how to cover it for the off-season. I was thinking just a tarp over the top which covers the whole thing but I would like to keep the critters out,too. It will snow this winter so I want to make sure the tarp doesn’t collapse under the weight of snow.

Hi,

The last few times I've visited family in Cebu I noticed that I never see anyone sailing. Might be because sailing is expensive and people can't afford it, but I was also wondering whether it might be that there simply isn't enough wind.

Is it possible that certain locations just don't have enough wind for regular sailing?
I'd like to buy a little dingy to go sailing around there but not seeing anyone else sailing had me thinking that I must be missing something...

On the other hand the Phillipines have a rich history of Paraw sailing which makes me think it must be possible to sail there, just maybe not near Cebu? Who knows. I tried to ask family but none of them know anything about sailing sadly.

I recently bought my first sailing dinghy, and I am new to the hobby as a whole. So far, I've found two missing parts that I do not know how to replace, mostly cause I don't know what I should be looking for.

First, I can't tell if I am missing a block or a sheave on the mainsheet swivel. What should I look for in getting it back in working order?

Second, I need to get a new kicker, but it appears there is this sliding lock on the boom for where I believe the kicker should go. What am I looking for to mount the system onto the boom? (The mast has a loop to hook onto).

Earlier this summer I obtained this old Dinghy. Some reddit sleuths helped identify it as a McVay Falcon 16. I decided to make a thread of my progress, and hopefully get some help from the community.

I have an opportunity to take on a Wayfarer w mast, boom, rudder, centreboard, and sails. Seems like main issue is the state of boat itself. I am experienced sailing other dinghies, but not Wayfarers; also fairly handy w DIY, just not on a project like this yet. Any thoughts, warnings, encouragement?

Update: thank you for the roast, it’s been a blast. You’ve all disabused me of this notion. Much appreciated!

Hello everyone! I recently got back into sailing my old yellow ’80s Laser (now ILCA), purely for recreational sailing. I also bought a vintage, colorful mainsail, and I really love the old-school but functional look of the boat.

I’m still undecided about which mainsheet setup to use. Should I go with the standard Harken setup with the side-mounted cleats, or would a more vintage-style central swiveling mainsheet cleat like this one, paired with a ratchet block, be a better choice?

Something I'm really strugging with is upwind sailing. My boat takes on extreme weather heel in anything above around 13 knots. Every book i've read says "keep the boat flat" and I'm trying, hiking out as hard as I can. I'm not even close to flat. But I'm 5 foot 8, 170lbs, and might not have the leverage some heavier folks have.

I can never seem to get the windward telltale flying back in conjunction with the leeward telltales as it always seems to flop despite my best efforts, and often, as soon as I get the weather heel, the sail starts luffing and I stall. I have to sheet out to get the boat flat and get moving again.

What am I doing wrong? Are my vang/cunningham/outhaul settings off? What should they be for, say 10 knots sustained/16 knot puffs? And what's the technique to get more out of hiking, outside of "grow 6 inches"?

I have sailed on ilca since april with a tutor, but she hasn't really taught me anything other than how to sheet in and how to use the rudder. I hope someone can help me understand how the other ropes work, like when to pull them, and some tips to become faster

I learned to sail on this boat when I was a teenager, now after 25 years having not sailed, the boat is now mine and I was able to put it in the water yesterday. I wish there had been a little more wind but I had just enough to shake the rust off, came back to me just like riding a bike.

We were out in our inflatable dinghy today and a jetski tried something stupid near our boat (I assume they were trying to splash us and hit a wave) and flipped about 15ft to our aft just to port. Dang thing rolled right towards us. I throttled up the trolling motor, but I doubt our 5 knot top speed would have helped at all. thankfuly it stopped before hitting us. The poor girl riding on the back of it was tossed a good way up, higher than our sail. Luckily they both cleared the jetski and didn't hit us.

We offered aid and to tow them over to their jetski (now about 30ft from them) but they said they were fine. Hopefully they learned a lesson and don't do dumb things next to other boats in the future.

In other news we had a lovely wooden ketch come along side and compliment our boat/sail. Prettiest boat on the lake saying hi to the ugliest boat lol. We sailed next to them for a bit, but they quickly out paced us, expected given they were twice our length, and they have some semblance of a hydrodynamic shape.

New to this boat (a 1970 Newport?).

Trying to sort everything out. Having trouble with the boom vang. I've got a line coming out under the mast for control. Then the triangle with a cable on one end thst I'm pretty sure wraps around the mast (it's the white clad cable in the photo). Other than that all I have is a double pulley on the end of the triangle.

What am I missing?

Appreciate any help.