14 Reasons Why Little Compton is the Best Place on the Planet for Laser Sailing

On both Monday and Tuesday afternoons, a friend and I sailed Lasers at the mouth of the Sakonnet River launching from Little Compton. I can't remember enjoying two training sessions quite so much. It was as if the fates had conspired to deliver two perfect afternoons of sailing. I'm sure the aforementioned fates will make me pay for it later.

Fates conspiring against Tillerman

Here are the 14 reasons why Little Compton is the best place on the planet for Laser sailing...


1. The drive to the launch site in Sakonnet Harbor in Little Compton is delightful. Farms, road stands, stone walls, beautiful houses, distant views of the river. Perfect for forgetting about the outstanding chores and maintenance tasks at home and getting in the mood for sailing.

2. Ample parking for cars and trailers just across the road from the boat ramp.

3. Short walk to beach in a harbor protected from the winds and waves.

4. If Sakonnet Harbor is not the most picturesque harbor in Rhode Island then I don't know what is.

Possibly the most picturesque harbor in Rhode Island

or I don't know what is

5. Short sail until you are out on the Sakonnet River in the real wind and waves.

6. Did I mention waves? They were just what we were looking for on Monday and Tuesday. Perfect for practicing our downwind wave skills but not so crazy that we spent all our energy desperately trying to keep the long pointy thing pointing at the sky instead of the bottom of the river.

Laser sailor having some problems

with his long pointy thing

7. Ditto for the winds. Enough wind to have us hiking hard upwind and having fun downwind without putting us in survival mode.

8. Warm sunny days. Probably the best days of summer so far. Call me a wimp but, I prefer warm to cold.

9. Quiet. We hardly saw another boat on the river all the time we were sailing. Miles and miles of open water all to ourselves.

Miles and miles and miles of open water

Actually not the same miles and miles that we sailed on Monday and Tuesday

10. Learning. I wrote a post Training Partners a couple of weeks ago asking whether you learn more from training with someone a lot better than you or someone of a similar standard. I still don't know the answer. I think both have their merits. But my companion this week was of a similar ability to me so it made us both push hard on all points of sail to see who would be fastest. And then, when it was clear who had the temporary advantage, we would stop and debrief and discuss what we were doing differently and why one of us had the edge. I think we both learned a lot.

11. Scenery. On Tuesday when we came off the water we were met by a fine looking young lady wearing a bikini who wanted to talk about Laser sailing with us. At my age, that doesn't happen to me every day.

12. Shopping opportunity. As we were derigging on Tuesday a man in a truck stopped and asked if we were interested in buying an awesome surround sound system and a 72-inch flat-screen TV at a very good price. As it happens we weren't in the market for such fripperies but how kind of him to stop and make us the offer.

72 inch flat screen TV available from random man in truck

13. Did I mention the drive down to Little Compton was gorgeous? Ditto for the way back. Perfect for chilling out and relaxing after sailing.

14. Evelyn's. We stopped for dinner both nights at Evelyn's Drive-In in Tiverton. If sitting on Evelyn's patio with a beer and some stuffies, watching the sun set over Nanaquaket Pond, is not the perfect way to end a perfect day, then I don't know what is.

A beer and some stuffies at Evelyn's