Hello Klaus,
If you are doing everything you should be doing going down wind such as releasing your back stay, letting out your out haul to give you good draft in the main, and not over trimming your sails, you should probably take a close look at the bottom of your boat. I have never had a problem being competitive down wind, but the bottom of my boat is kept clean and is almost as smooth as a baby’s bottom. With 300 kilograms (approximately 660+ lbs) of additional weight in the keel if you are sailing with five people you may have too much weight onboard for a light air day. If your crew averages 180 lbs and there are five of you that is 900 lbs of crew and 660 lbs in the keel for a total of 1560 lbs (709 kilograms) of weight where a Laser 28 racing one design can not have a crew weight more than 455 kilograms (1001 lbs in crew). That says you have 1.56 times the weight of in crew and addition keel ballast as a standard Laser 28. An additional 560 lbs of weight is a lot of weight and could be the cause of your down wind problem. The Laser 28 is a light displacement boat and like all light displacement boats is very sensitive to weight.
Regarding sails and a new No. 1 (153), there are a number of very good sail makers over here. I would suggest you try Bill Layton who is with, I believe, Quantum Sails in Canada. He oversees this web site and is apparently an excellent Laser 28 sailor. His e-mail address is: mailto:bilden@sympatico.ca"> color=#0000ffbilden@sympatico.ca. I bought a 3DL 153 from North Sails and it looks to be the finest headsail I have ever owned. This year is the third year for the sail and it still looks great. My contact is Perry Lewis at the North Sails Chicago loft and you can mention my name. His e-mail is: mailto:perry.lewis@northsails.com"> color=#0000ffperry.lewis@northsails.com. If you are going to order now is the time. He will quote you a standard price, but ask what discount is going on now. This is the slow time of year for sailmakers. You will probably be looking at $1800 to $2000 for a 3DL, but this is just a guess on my part. With sailmaking you really do get what you pay for, so if you think you are getting ahead by buying a less expensive sail, I would suggest you reconsider.
Hope this helps,
Bill
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