PHRF

It is because the one design configuration has an oversized pole and an over girth chute. We are very competitive with rating of 129 as long as it's not too choppy.

Lake Erie we rate 135 under PHRF-LE.  I'm told its due to the Lake Erie chop which can be short and steep.

It is more about similarly rated boats than the pure number.LMPHRF number is driven by a boat that sailed with empty tanks, just enough fuel, cleaned bare gloat bottom, virtually no extra year onboard. In other words, a well prepared PHRF boat. Didn't hurt that the skipper was dam good at racing the boat too. Look more at the number spread to an S2 9.1, aB25 or aJ30.

My largest headsail is the lapper and I rate 135 PHRF-LO(lake ontario) if I went with a 155 genoa my rating would be 126.

Thanks frfletch, we tried to keep her pretty nice and I bet Bill, the next owner did even better. Look at the table in her when you get a chance, you will like the extra room. Seawolf, add 2 bodies to the rail and the boat will really light up in those conditions, 3 bodies even better. Remind everybody to check the gusher pump installation. 109, 169 and one other in our olf fleet of 5 had the gusher pump plumbed backwards. Take a bucket of water below, put the pump intake hose in the water, go on deck, put the handle in the pump and pump up and down. If water exits the transom out let you are good to go. If the hose in the bucket blows bubbles crawl back in the transom and switch the hoses. Double check the clamps on everything while you are back there. These boats are 25 years old!

This is digressing from the post's original topic but to pick up on Frank's comments above, and perhaps I'm out to lunch here, but has anyone ever tried trapezing on the L28?

For non-racing, it would be an interesting experiment. Let us know how it works out! But for racing, some part of your body has to remain inside the lower life line. Granted when you are bent over the lower life line with your upper and lower body parts flapping in the wind, the only thing left is your but clenching onto the rails! Thanks for discussions, I am learning a little most of the time

Also, if somebody wanted to PM me their e-mail, I can send the 1997 MORC standard ratings. It's interesting to compare because it lists a MORC derived seconds/mile rating. Under MORC the S29.1 would owe us 6-sec a mile.

We have trouble with one S2 in winds from about 6-kts up to about 15. He out points us. Having sailed with them on that boat I can tell you it isn't because they are better sailors or because there boat is better maintained. (They are as good sailors as us, but not better and they don't take things as seriously as we do. For example, we hold off on the beer till the race is over.)

When it gets really light, we are usually faster. And once we switch to the lapper, we are usually faster. It's the medium air that hurts us. I assume it a combination of 1) a smallish keel 2) our wide sheeting angle on the genoa and 3) the S2's masthead rig.

Okay. I was pretty sure of the answer you were going to give me, because I, and every other Laser owner has had the same problem. The problem is indeed that the spreaders are too long such that you can't really sheet the #1 in. Here is what we did, and it absolutely changed the way we sail the boat, and the boats performance in all winds from 0-18 apparent.

We re-cut our #1 doing the following, and changing it into a code 4, which saves us 3 points phrf. Essentially we did the following: We raised the tack 8" from the bottom, and tied a strop of dyneema onto the tack that attaches to the boat's stem fitting where the sail would normally attach. This left us with the same luff hoist, but reduced our measured luff length. Next we shortened the length of the foot bringing the clew forward about 8"and up about 7" so that the sail trims properly to its sheet track. Finally the leach was hollowed out slightly such that it trims in front of the spreader. It now hits the spreader quite hard when trimmed to 5 or 6" inside the spreader tip, but misses it by about 1-1.5" when just at the spreader tip.

We lost very little sail area to achieve these gains:
1. Three degrees pointing advantage on each tack.
2. More speed throughout the entire range. It super light air, we are sailing to a much higher angle so our apparent wind is higher, giving us more power with which to get more speed.
3. At the upper end of the range, say 18 apparent, where no Laser #1 previously sailed efficiently, the sail is trimmed tight in, which flattens and depowers it and letting it become more of a blade, so it does not back-wind the main allowing for the main to be trimmed fully in as well. She can sail very efficiently at 6.6 knots with 6 people in apparent wind up to 18.5. The boat will be on-her-feet and trucking. We sailed her recently up into this range with 5 on board, and still kept pace with 115 raters that can seriously point, such as Peterson 35's customized by Don Martin with deeper keels and higher rigs.
4. With the extra speed, and less boat angle owing to the flattening of the sail (made possible by sheeting in much further) the keel will work much, much better and the boat will suffer much less leeway which will result in a very much improved VMG.
5. The modified sail will be easier and faster to tack.
6. The boats that now give you trouble to windward will be well behind you. In up-down races this change, gave us 4 minutes an hour, plus the roughly 16 seconds per hour phrf benefit.

The issue is that almost any boat can carry more sail when beating than when fetching. When beating one can also feather by coming slightly higher in the puffs to de-power which can't be done when fetching. Essentially, using the full #1 on a Laser, everyone is actually fetching because the sail is "let out" to accommodate the spreader. When you let it out it becomes a bag and the draft moves aft which creates more heel on the boat and back-winds the main, hence the sail does not work at all beyond 14 apparent, and does not point in all wind ranges. All bad! Meet with your sail maker, cut your #1 down, and you will smile when you look over your transom or down and to leeward to watch the same guys who currently beat you fade further and further away. It is like owning an entire new boat. Best of all, the entire fleet will hate you! But you will love me for this tip! :-)