I come across this short movie after not sailing for almost 20 years... all sorts of excuses led me to not get back, work, family, day to day problems ... laziness...next morning ("pushed " by my brother)i called the place and bought second hand laser, picking up in the end of the week.....its been a while i was so exited, alive, cant wait... Thank You for putting the clip together, abd inspire me to do it, its never too late. who ever reads it might have same thought=dont overthink it = go for IT. Thank You
My PE class senior year of high school in 1977 was sailing at San Rafael high school in northern California, and they had about 15 lasers which were manufactured locally. Once I learned the basics I bought one for myself and my friends and I got pretty good at sailing our lasers on San Francisco bay. I have a lot of great memories flying across the bay, and a number of scary memories as well, but that's just part of the ride.
20+ years since I raced a Laser, or any dinghy. I just bought one, and wow, it is great fun! Took some acclimatisation, well worth it. Sure, I'm towards the back end of the fleet (unfit & excess weight), so much to share and look forward to. Perhaps a bit of a midlife crisis, but a great one. So, as long as it's safe get back out there, I would recommend prioritising your time to do so. I've encountered old friends doing the same. They have appreciated the performance and simplicity, after sailing larger boats and crews, locally and offshore. 15 minutes to rig and launch and off you go.
@@stuffzoom Not long after I bought my laser (1977) a couple friends and I launched our boats in Marin County just north or the Golden Gate Bridge on SF bay. We were just inside of the gate on the east side of the bridge and there was about a 2 ft wind chop and it was cold and foggy. I was coming up the rear and the others made a run directly under the bridge toward San Francisco. The wind was around 25 knots and coming out of the north, so it was directly behind me, so I let out on the main sheet and was on my first flat run. The laser was just flying, but incredibly unstable and I had to balance in the middle of the well as the strong wind pushed me from behind. Somehow I managed to capsize and the laser turtled with the mast pointing straight down. I happened to look at my rudder just as it came unhooked and started to sink, and I managed to grab it by the end of the tiller extender and slapped it back on. My next problem was that I was in 55 degree water without a wet suit. Yeah, stupid I know but I was 17 and new to sailing. Within a couple minutes my limbs were so cold and weak, I could barely lift them to climb on the bottom of the laser to flip it upright. It probably took around 15 minutes, but I finally managed to get it over, but had drifted about a mile into the ocean past the bridge. I got everything in order and headed straight back to the bridge where my friends were in full panic mode looking for me. After that, we stuck to more hospitable water for fun.
Reason one: You don't like sailing with a crew Reason two: You're far, far too old to sail an opti Reason three: The only other single handed boats are embarrassing
Lasers are great, but there are many other singlehanders that are NOT embarrassing; try a Contender, Moth, International Canoe, Streaker, Impulse......the list goes on and on.
