What's a legal upgrade?

snipeguy

snipeguy

New Member
I've just got back into Lasers after quite some time being focused on another class. I raced avidly as a teenager. I owned 12561 out of the box. I want to retrofit my current Laser 66*** and have no money. I couldn't finance a cheeseburger at the moment. I do have tons of bits of gear that I could cobble together to make a new syle boomvang, outhaul and downhaul setup. My question is would it be legal or do I have to buy the upgrade kits.
 
snipeguy said:
I've just got back into Lasers after quite some time being focused on another class. I raced avidly as a teenager. I owned 12561 out of the box. I want to retrofit my current Laser 66*** and have no money. I couldn't finance a cheeseburger at the moment. I do have tons of bits of gear that I could cobble together to make a new syle boomvang, outhaul and downhaul setup. My question is would it be legal or do I have to buy the upgrade kits.
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I believe it's legal, but there are still rules. I tried looking for Fred's Legal and Illegal Rigging, but the page is gone. Fred? Anybody?

Merrily
 
Here is Fred's page.

http://cerebus.winsite.com/fred/RiggingforLaser.htm

This has good info on the original rigging, and the new rigging, but it doesn't have the modern mods than can be used now. This has been discussed before but you need to search back a year or so.

We've done a lot of our club boats for less than 100. and if you have old stuff in a gear box you'll do even better. The basic interpretation of the rules could be summarised as:

You can do anything you want, AS LONG AS you use the old cleats, including the vang cleat block. As well, the control lines must pass thru the c-ham cringle, c-ham deck fairlead, and the outhaul fairlead eye just like they used to.

Any other block can be added to cascade things to your liking. So look at Fred's new rigging to get ideas. And 6:1 outhaul and cunningham are enough to get you going, as is 9:1 on the vang.

Al Russell 182797
 
I'd start with reading the class rules http://www.laser.org/c/cnt/down/classrules.pdf

That will give you a good idea of what you can and can't do.

Next I'd use the Search function on this forum, I'm pretty sure we've covered it.

The simple answers are, yes you can add additional blocks to the old vang to increase purchase, and blocks to the cunn/outhaul, but you have to use the existing clam cleats.
 
Thanks everyone. Looks like I'm screwed for being legal unless I buy the kits.

I think I'll do it anyway. I plan to use two Harken mini cleats for the outhaul and downhaul deck controls. Also two mini blocks attached with pad eyes just behind the mast. The boomvang will be a homemade copy of the legal ones.

If someone actually protests me I will gladly retire....from the race.:D
 
snipeguy said:
If someone actually protests me I will gladly retire....from the race.:D
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Assuming you are club racing, I think that it would be proper to get the OK from the others beforehand. If you are racing at a higher level, and you are using an 'illegal' setup, you would be in conflict with one or more of the fundamental rules of the ILCA, whether you are protested or not. Sorry to be so fussy....
 
You're starting down a slippery slope if you deliberately choose to race with a boat you know is illegal. Your buddies at the club probably won't protest you but some of them won't be happy about it. And if you use illegal rigging what's to stop the next guy decide he will make a better daggerboard or use some illegal kinetics?

The beauty of Laser sailing is fair racing using identical boats and everybody playing by the same rules. Please help keep it this way.
 
Just get out sailing. Legal or illegal, then refine your boat with time. Get your firends to help. If you have been out of the Laser for a while you will find that your boat handling will influence your speed more than any other factor. The upgrades will help you fine tune once you have stopped capsizing on runs and during gybes.

Merrily - The whole "Help Section" seems to have vanished since the last upgrade?
 
rock steady said:
Just get out sailing. Legal or illegal, then refine your boat with time. Get your firends to help. If you have been out of the Laser for a while you will find that your boat handling will influence your speed more than any other factor. The upgrades will help you fine tune once you have stopped capsizing on runs and during gybes.

Merrily - The whole "Help Section" seems to have vanished since the last upgrade?
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Yes, but Bradley said we'd be able to find the articles with the search feature. This is not so. I'm putting on a regatta today (see Laserlips! announcement) but after that I'll ask him about it.

Merrily
 
Speaking from experience, I would STRONGLY advise you to save your money for the upgrade KITS. My laser is a '76 with slightly-modified and legal rigging, and i can give 5 reasons right off the bat why you should get the kits as opposed to doing it yourself.

1. Vang-the difference between 16-1 and 3-1 is HUGE!
2. vang-the new cam-cleat on it makes it so you are now physically capable of adjusting the vang downwind, and it makes it easer in general
3. Outhaul-You can actually adjust the outhaul off the wind.
4. Cunningham-again, the power of purchase- the difference between 1-1 and 6-1 or 8-1 is huge. I have a 4-1 that i made with 3 thimbles, and without pulleys it doesn't do much.
5. everything is right in one place- right now, i have to reach to literally 5 (i just counted) different places to make all the adjustments I may need.

I could come up with more if you gave me a couple more minutes, but the kits are so overwhelmingly better that they have a higher priority than a new sail on my list.
Plus, there's a mental edge that you think you can do better.
 
computeroman2 said:
I could come up with more if you gave me a couple more minutes, but the kits are so overwhelmingly better that they have a higher priority than a new sail on my list. Plus, there's a mental edge that you think you can do better.
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Ian, call or e-mail me. We have a slightly used new style system (ended up with it when someone bought a new boat and traded in a used one that had it on it) that includes the new vang and new cunningam but not the deck pieces that I will sell to you cheap...Scott
 
rock steady said:
The upgrades will help you fine tune once you have stopped capsizing on runs and during gybes.
Click to expand...
computeroman2 said:
Speaking from experience, I would STRONGLY advise you to save your money for the upgrade KITS. My laser is a '76 with slightly-modified and legal rigging, and i can give 5 reasons right off the bat why you should get the kits as opposed to doing it yourself.

1. Vang-the difference between 16-1 and 3-1 is HUGE!
2. vang-the new cam-cleat on it makes it so you are now physically capable of adjusting the vang downwind, and it makes it easer in general
3. Outhaul-You can actually adjust the outhaul off the wind.
4. Cunningham-again, the power of purchase- the difference between 1-1 and 6-1 or 8-1 is huge. I have a 4-1 that i made with 3 thimbles, and without pulleys it doesn't do much.
5. everything is right in one place- right now, i have to reach to literally 5 (i just counted) different places to make all the adjustments I may need.
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the feedback. First of all, I'm not exactly a newbie. I went to the Ottawa Valley Masters in August and won my age category(masters) It blew like stink all weekend and I didn't go over once. Best finish was a third out of 34. Just to prove that I am indeed a Master, I forgot to put the plug in my boat for the first race. Doh!

Computeroman2, the boat I used in Ottawa was a borrowed upgraded boat with a new sail and rig, so I am familiar with how important a good rig is. The reason I started this thread was because I had such a good time at the Ottawa Valley regatta. Except for one idiot yelling at me and telling me how to sail on the first reach, everyone there was first class. It was a blast.

I want to upgrade my old boat so I can go back and race some more Masters next year. You've all (especially old geezer) got me thinking about legal changes and I think I can legally do all the changes except the block pad eyes near the mast and the base for the control cleats. I'll break down and buy those parts. I just finished making my own carbon tiller and extension from scratch.

I also have to say that from what I have seen so far, this is a great forum and an invaluable resource for anyone into Lasers.
 
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