When you take care of your equipment, your equipment takes care of you. Laser Radial sailor Paige Railey from the US Sailing Team is headed to the Olympics for the third time this summer. Come on along for a tour of the vang system coming with her to Tokyo.
The Blockheads team visited Sarasota Youth Sailing‘s 32nd Annual SailFest regatta to spread the good word of rigging and repair self-reliance.
Tucked away along the mountainous coast of British Columbia is the West Vancouver Yacht Club, host of the Pumpkin Bowl Regatta presented by Harken and Pro-Tech. A must-attend on the annual BC sailing circuit, the Pumpkin Bowl prioritizes a fun and festive environment for kids and adults alike, along with running a great on the water regatta. The 2018 edition attracted more than 200 competitors across five classes and was supported by a legion of adult volunteers.
For a full report on the 2018 Pumpkin Bowl, check out Kurt Hoehne’s article on sailfish.com, and check out photos in the gallery below.
Browse all photos on the West Vancouver Yacht Club Facebook page.
Photos: Jill Amery | West Vancouver Yacht Club
Carrying the right spare parts is essential for making quick fixes when you’re on the water. Learn what to bring along in your life jacket or dry bag that can help avoid day-ending breakages, featuring Taylor Martin, director of Pewaukee Lake Sailing School.
To prevent breakages aboard your boat, you need to know what to look for. In this series of in-depth walkthroughs of the Club 420, Laser, and Opti, learn what can go wrong and how to prevent it, featuring Taylor Martin, director of Pewaukee Lake Sailing School.
Follow along as John Pearce, US Sailing Youth Director, applies the Harken Blockheads tuning decal on a Laser to create fast, repeatable settings.
Laser sailors know that active control line adjustment is crucial to fast sailing. As a result, it’s important to identify and address potential friction points in the control systems that can lead to reduced efficiency and performance. In this video, learn where these friction points are and why applying a dry lubricant such as McLube® Sailkote can be a lifesaver when you’re out on the race course.
Learn how to ease and tension your hiking strap to adapt to changing conditions quickly. Move just one knot and you can go from loose and a full hike, to tight and in-touch with the boat.
This summer, five local Chicago yacht clubs teamed up for the first ever Chicago Junior Race Week. The event brought together teams from across the country for three days of close racing. Unique to the regatta was a distance race dubbed the “Mini Mac,” inspired by the iconic Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac. Having sailors race 8 miles down the Chicago coastline, this youth distance race offered a fresh new challenge from going around the buoys. It was a great experience for young sailors to learn the importance of patience and managing the conditions they are delivered, regardless of how light they may be!
Few sailors have enjoyed such a long and successful career as Robert Scheidt. Claiming 12 world championships and five Olympic medals, he is one of the most successful small-boat sailors ever. In twenty five years however, Scheidt has only changed classes once. After dominating the Laser for over a decade, and with the impending removal of the Star from Olympic competition, he opted to campaign in the Star class for Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Winning silver and bronze respectively in those two games, Scheidt returned to familiar ground in the Laser for Rio 2016. After finishing fourth and just barely missing out on a medal in Rio, Scheidt had set his mind on a totally new experience and challenge in the 49er.
UPDATE: Shortly after beginning this next campaign, Robert made the decision to retire from Olympic sailing after one of the most successful careers ever in the sport.
Harken Blockheads was fortunate to catch-up with Robert and gain valuable advice for intrepid youth sailors looking for success in their own sailing careers.
In this video, Brian Swingly, Head Coach at the US Coast Guard Academy, John Pearce, former Head Coach at George Washington University and now Youth Director at US Sailing, and Krysta Rohde, the 2007 ICSA Singlehanded National Champion, offer a comprehensive walk through of many tips and tricks for rigging your Laser.
The more attention you can pay to these settings will put you closer in tune with the boat. It’s very important to know exactly how your boat moves and reacts in racing situations, and you can only know this with a ton of time and practice. Constantly be tweaking until you find the right balance. The sailor who puts in the most time rigging and tuning their boat will always have the extra edge!
