Let's say you buy a new Laser now, without the Kirby sticker. If LPE/ILCA/ISAF lose the court case the boat becomes counterfeit..? Can you then go to the dealer and get a refund? Clearly, what you bought was not fit for purpose i.e. sail in regattas? So perhaps dealers will become the bunnies in the middle? Getting money out of LPE in such a situation will not be easy.
It would appear that the "intent" behind publishing pictures of the new class are having the intended effect. We are moving toward asking feasibility questions.
What happens if PSA announces tomorrow that they will no longer build Lasers and are moving to Torch production? If you had to choose between an LP Laser or a PSA Torch, which would you choose? Sort of depends on why you sail. Mr P will go where the competition goes. I'll make a more practical choice.
I hope the ILCA will at least speak to Kirby before this goes any further.
Looks like we possibly have been speaking with him both here and on SA. He appears to maybe have "outted" himself on SA if a post there is to be believed. ---snip---.
1. The Oz boat will also be without Kirby sticker since the ones without Kirby will be the only ones issued by ILCA.
I pretty certain that these photos of the Torch were taken in Australia of boats produced by PSA.Here's another shot that appears to have the exisitng sail design, but that's not the interesting part.
I think the construction manual is very critical. Surely this must have been given under non disclosure and has numerous statements such as "this CM may not be shared ...etc. " This means that LPE, even though they know HOW to build a laser, they cannot use this information without formal access to the construction manual. When the text say reinforce with cloth xyz, size 10x15 they have to achieve the same reinforcement some other way... which means the boat would not measure in as a laser/Torch.
In my estimation, having spent a considerable amount of time reviewing the available information, something just doesn't add up about the ILCA's position. ILCA said back in 2011 "In addition, a builder also needs a building agreement from Bruce Kirby or Bruce Kirby Inc. This provision is mostly historical. The rule was instituted at a time when Bruce Kirby held certain design rights. The ILCA is not a party to any of these “Kirby” agreements."
Rob Kothe in his article for Sail-World said "It's noteworthy that the ILCA Executive Secretary Jeff Martin, is also the Classes Committee Chair within ISAF. His initials JM appear on many of the documents in the list of Exhibits presented to the court." (source = http://www.sail-worl....cfm?nid=107549)
The crystal clear implication is that Jeff Martin knew a lot of the details that the ILCA apparently claimed not to know. At least that's what it seems. It just doesn't add up in my mind. Of course Jeff has done an enormous amount of work for the Laser class over the years. Surely I have it wrong. I would appreciate if someone could explain this to me.
Kirby today asked the Connecticut Federal Court to issue a prejudgment remedy ("PJR") against Rastegar and the LP Defendants. If granted in its totality, the PJR would prevent Rastegar and LP from use, disposal, and/or transfer of all production tooling, molds, and plugs for producing Kirby Sailboats, copies of the Construction Manual, ISAF Plaques, and New ISAF Plaques.
https://sites.google.com/site/kirbytorch/news/kirbyseekscourtorderagainstlaserproduction
Nearly a month has passed since those statements and there have been several developments. I not only hope that these statements of acting good faith are still true, and hope that behind the scenes our representatives are working hard for a resolution.
"Our representatives"?
If you are not even a Laser class member, who are your representatives in this discussion?
If you want to be represented, join the Laser class and vote when they ask for your opinion on these issues (as they did back in 2011.)
By the way, based on two confidential emails received in the last couple of days, I am confident that my representatives are working hard for a resolution.
Gantt, on your duck story, nobody's said anything about changing the duck itself. Only the name. Nobody suggested the Laser should now be called a Beneteau 44 (aka sailing pig).