Steve Cockerill joins the RS Aero class

RS Aero Class Facebook posted last week news that Steve and Sarah Cockerel have joined the RS Aero Class.

Steve has notched up some 50 odd singe handed championship titles over a variety of classes. 

Follow Aero news from around the world   facebook.com/groups/rsaeroclass/

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Laser vs Aero Rig

The RS Aero is easier to sail, faster upwind and more stable downwind than the Laser. It is not just the Aero's hull shape and light weight, the modern rig is simply superior.

The RS Aero has a distinctive squatter sail shape compared to Laser's tall pin head rig, or roached sail.

Read more about it in the tab above 'Square Top Rig' and the Tillerman's 'Fatheads and Pinheads' post.

The Aero's skinny and light carbon composite top section

 



























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Comparing Downwind Stability - Laser and RS Aero

The fear of capsizing in fresh winds and high seas takes the fun out of dinghy sailing and for club sailors limits the range of winds that we prepared to sail in. Even if we are not that competitive it is better to be going around the course in one piece than watching from the shore.

The Laser dinghy is notoriously unstable downwind in more than 15 knots and terrifying in 25. The death roll is the most common way to wipe out caused by gusts pushing too much sail in front of the mast.  It also happens when sailors loose their balance on an unstable hull.

Last week I competed in the RS Aero Australian Nationals at the Black Rock Yacht Club. The venue is renown for creating some of the best sailors in Australia due to the tough conditions on Port Philip Bay.  And it stayed in character all weekend with winds up to 20 knots kicking up big seas.

In a Laser I would have come back to the club after the first race and a number of out of control death rolls. But on my new RS Aero I managed to finish all six races and win two, made possible because I could choose to sail conservatively down wind, stay upright and finish.

Sitting back, flat and stable in 20 knots

It proved to me that he Aero is simply a far more stable platform in strong wind which I put down to these factors.

1. The Aero hull shape adds stability being wide and flat at the back of the boat.

2. The Aero rig can take more vang downwind than a Laser,  keeping the sail behind the mast.

3. The Aero rudder is deeper in the water and actually works to steer the boat, allowing more control to keep the boat under the rig.

4. Being light weight, the Aero gets up on a plane in the gusts, goes faster, reducing the apparent wind pressure on the rig. The extra speed also gives more stability.

With a second place in the Aero 7 Aus Nationals, the take away for me is I can sail now in 'fresh to frightening' conditions and I can work on being less conservative down wind with confidence in the stability of the boat.

Brian Close Australian National Champion pushing the limits, me ultra conservative

Aero v Laser - wide and flat, the Aero has stability down wind and a fast planning hull on reaches.

Laser Dinghy And The One Design Dilemma

The dilemma for all sailing classes is how to stay relevant with new modern materials and design. One design classes are particularly caught in a bind.

This is ILCA Executive Secretary, Eric Faust explaining the International Laser Class Association policy.

“ILCA’s policy regarding the introduction of new equipment is that it should always have the same characteristics as the existing equipment and that the new equipment should not give a performance advantage when raced alongside existing equipment,”

In reality this is impossible to achieve. It is a pretence and indeed an absurd idea that one can use new materials and design and make them perform the same (as badly) as the old materials and design. One can only imagine the internal politics at the ILCA and the process to resolve this impossible situation and this is reflected in the time taken, around 10 years, for the ILCA to introduce a better full rig sail.

The old full rig sail was made from a 1970's cloth that distorted out of shape after one regatta and a dozen or so practice sessions. The sails short life span was made worse by contemporary super vang/cunningham techniques. So in the real world we have had a classic arms race. The one design principle gone with cashed up sailors gaining the advantage as only they could afford the necessary supply of new sails. 

With new sail cloth and new design, the new sail was always going to be better than the old sail. Straight out of the bag better, and as a more durable sail it was going to stay better for longer. So it was impossible for it to "have the same characteristics as the existing equipment and ..... not give a performance advantage when raced alongside existing equipment,”

Nonetheless the ILCA stuck to its policy. Clive Humphris, the ILCA Technical Officer.

"The main objective of the design project for the Mark II was to create a sail with equal performance to the existing sail, but with better durability. We worked very hard to ensure that the Mark II was not a faster sail and wouldn't make all the existing sails obsolete overnight.'

Notwithstanding their efforts to make a slower sail, the new MK II sail turned out to be noticeable better than the old sail, upwind faster and higher. Boats with the old sail were simply pinched off in the first 100 metres. At my Laser club, we all converted to the new sail within three months of its introduction. There was no point even using the old sail as a training sail, it felt and performed differently.

Single handed dinghy sailing is a close competition, loosing just a half a dozen boat lengths on the first beat can be the difference to being in to the leading group or the last group for the rest of the race. It would have been better for the ILCA to design the best MK II sail it could, because we were all going to buy it anyway.

The introduction of the composite carbon top section is a similar story. Years in development, delayed by internal ILCA politics and legal cases, the new top section has just become available. The old aluminium top section was ok in 1970 but it bent easily and broke after a few seasons. The new top section has again been designed to have the same characteristics as the old aluminium sections, but hopefully it won't break or bend. So for just for safety reasons alone everyone should buy one. Of course they are not really comparable because if they don't have permanent bends like the old one, if they are as stiff as the good aluminium sections, they are not, for most sailors, the same.

For me there was inevitable conclusion, observing the introduction of the new MK II sail and carbon top section, the process, the delays and design compromises. It simply demonstrated that the Laser would always be stuck in the past, there were too many issues to fix and even the simple ones would not be fixed properly. It was time to take the big leap solve all the design and materials issues in one hit and go to a new modern class. Laser dinghy farewell.

Read more about Laser rake variations Steve Cockerill.

Laser and RS Aero decks

Aero self draining cockpit

The Aero and the Laser deck and cockpit are completely different experiences.  On the Laser you put your feet into a narrow cockpit and sit, knees up, as on a stool.

The Aero is flatter and more like a dish making the Aero  comfortable in light to moderate breeze. There is more room to move, its feels like lounging in a bean bag or sliding around the floor.

In light conditions the Laser is cramped, knees tucked, butt perched on the hard edge of the cockpit.

Hiking in strong winds the boats are similar, and while the Aero deck is nicely shaped, I still need hiking pads to make it comfortable.

Downwind, it has taken some time to get used to having to kneel on the Aero and I initially missed the seated position of the Laser.  As I gain experience the Aero kneeling position is becoming more familiar and allows a more active approach to downwind carving. Knee pads have made a difference.

Self draining cockpits like the Aero were a common feature of Moths in the 1960's when the Laser was invented and Moths also had centre sheeting.  This is a superior setup.

When the Laser designer chose the block to block sail plan, with a low boom it also required the lowest and smallest possible cockpit and venturi system to drain it.

The Aero's self draining cockpit simply does not fill up in waves.  In a Laser you have to shift back and heel the boat to stop water coming over the bow and filling the cockpit.  Ten litres of water in a Laser cockpit is very slow and slow to clear. 

The Aero in a strong breeze and waves can sail  flatter, have better fore and aft trim and use its fine bow to cut through waves. The occasional green wave over the bow passes out the back in a few seconds.

Laser cockpit needs a venturi to drain