old school rig to pro rig

S

softshuffle

Member
Hi,

I am thinking of upgrading my rigging to the pro rig.

Where do I start as I would like to do it stage by stage (financial reasons).
 
Personally I would go for the new vang first as it makes the biggest difference.

The rest of the control you can buy piecemeal, the most expensive part is the deck plate and cleats that sit near the daggerboard. The stainless plate that goes near the mast is pretty cheap (and would allow you to do a new style cunningham for the cost of a couple of small blocks).

Not sure where you are but get the Harken kicker rather than the Holt kicker. It does cost a little more but is worth very penny!

Just MHO of course.
 
Softshuffle,

Please don't take this the wrong way, but based on the fact that you're a beginner, (as stated in your other posts) and that coming up with the money for the upgrades is an issue (stated above) my best recommendation is to hold off on these upgrades.

You can get a LOT of sailing and learning in on "set it and forget it" at the dock of the vang, outhaul and cunningham, then concentrate purely on your three major controls for the boat:

weight placement,
mainsheet,
tiller

More controls just means more of a tendecy to have "head in the cockpit" syndrome when what you really need is to be watching the course, the conditions, the wind, the other boats.

My 2cents.
 
You can add two tiny blocks to the old Cunningham, and get a nice deck-led 6-1 steup. And you can add 2 blocks to the old vang and get 8-1. Both are worth it. Spiffy new blocks would be less than 40. US$ if done here, but any old dinghy size blocks would be fine.

Then set the outhaul, and forget it.

Al
 
I'd like to second the suggestion to hold off on the big upgrade if the cost is an issue.

If you don't already have the boat rigged using the standard pre-PRO race rigging (thimbles for purchase, etc.) I would suggest trying to find a copy of Dick Tillman's Laser books (ex. " Laser Sailing for the 1990's" or "The Complete Book of Laser Sailing" and start by rigging your outhaul, cunningham, and vang that way (using blocks as available/allowed instead of thimbles). That rigging is fairly cheap and will get you a decently adjustable set of controls.

Cheers,

Geoff S.
 
I am also looking to get the new style vang, I experimented a bit as GeoffS suggested, but imho the old style vang still sucks badly!

New style vang is very expensive in SA though, I was quoted last year I think around R2500, much more than the deck plates/cleats/etc [which were fitted as an extra to my boat when I bought it].

softsuffle, where are you located? I am going to get some quotes in the next few weeks, so if you are in the Pta/Jhb region I will forward them to you if you are interested.
 
I did this in the last six months and the difference is amazing. I went from being in the bottom third to the top third of regattas against the same guys over the winter. Practice? Maybe, but the go-fast rigging didn't hurt at all. I just coughed up the extra money for the upgrades, and I personally think it was worth it, especially when it gets windy
 
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