Design a better single-handed dinghy, or, the Anti-Laser

gouvernail

Super Opinionated and Always Correct
This post of Gouvernail's deserves its own new thread.
Merrily

This thread brings back memories of the little neighborhood kids who had 26 inch bikes while the rest of us still had 20 or 24 inch bikes.

Sometimes the families were dirt poor and Dad could only afford one bike and he had given his to the kid. We understood and were brought up well enough to wait respectfully for those kids at the top of every hill.

We generally mocked the others for stupidly begging for a bike that was too big.

Relating to today?? Giving a kid a 4.7 rig is a lot like giving a kid a big bike with the cross bar cut out. Sure the kid CAN reach the pedals, but the bike is heavier and will not perform for those little legs and tiny lungs.

A decent sailing community would invest and develop a kid sized hull with forces the kid can always handle. The designers of the Optimist Pram did that in the fifties and again in the seventies when the Opti was developed.

If the already well established Opti sailboat with its well established fleets and regattas is not good enough for our next generation we need to build a new kid boat just for the kids.

When the Opti was designed FOR LITTLE KIDS the designers could have chosen Laser hull with pathetic tiny underpowerd rigs. Those good people didn't buy the Laser buuilder's sales pitch and a couple generations of Opti sailors have already enjoyed learning and racing at the highest levels in boats actually designed for kids.

If you believe the Opti is an old design that should probably be replaced, you may also wish to look at the even older and more obsolete Laser hull design and construction.

At the very least, isn't it time to quit tolerating throw away boats made with 1960s technology?
Let's make 2007 the year we Laser sailors begin looking for a new supplier of durable toys for the game of singlehanded sailboat racing.

We could begin at the local level by inviting any new durable design that performs about the same as a new Laser to join our races. The designer would have a place to test his new design and eventually we might find a design which could be built for a much lower price while lasting many times as long as the throw away Laser hull and its pathetic excuse for a sail.

Stay in the Opti until you age out or become so big you cannot compete. You cannot go back and ..

most important!!!

Laser fleets are mostly made up of really old men with a few old spinsters and widows hanging on the shore.

All the chicks your age are in Optis.

Don't be like the dumb kid who thinks he is cool because he is using his big brother's athletic equipment. There are baseball gloves for kids your size and you can use any of them better than a glove you mooch from an adult.

Canadian translation:

A little guy with his own hockey stick can actually play hockey.

I will now go over to SA and post the part which does not fit this forum....
 
There is nothing in the above post which was intended to be either political or class related.
 
Well, it seems to be both political and class related to me, but your wish is my command. The post is now in Open Discussion.
 
Gouv, for me, during the 70ties in an Optimist dinghy grown up Laserite, "the Byte" and "the Flash" seem to be the "Anti-Lasers".... (Sorry to say that, Mr Bruce ;) )

Cheers
LooserLu
 

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