From the measurements' table in Athens (European Championship U19)...

thieuster

Active Member
Tomorrow, the first race of the European Championship U19 in Kalamaki (Athens) will start around noon. Measurement was yesterday and today. According to my son (who went through the measurement without any problem), the check was very, very strict this year. Standing next to him was a sailor who's boom was rejected because...

...the boom strap halfway down the boom (that guides the sheet from block to block) was too wide(!)

First, I didn't know that there was a rule for that. Second, why should you want to alter that strap? Third: when we buy a boom, we don't check the lenght/width of that boom strap!

Menno
 
Rules state
“18. BOOM
(a) A metal sleeve supplied by the builder of maximum
length 900 mm may be fixed inside the boom . The sleeve shall not extend aft of the point 1220 mm from the front end of the boom (including plug) .
(b) The stainless steel mainsheet eye strap between the two blocks on the boom may be replaced with a soft strap . The maximum width of the soft strap shall be 26mm . The soft strap shall only be fixed to the boom using the holes drilled by the builder as shown in the diagram below .”
Are LPEurope supplying illegal booms?
 
I have no idea. I'm currently trying to get in contact with parents 'on the ground' to tell me more.
 
I didn't remember either that there is a limit on that, but of course otherwise people would rig "straps" that are more like the pockets we have on some of the Lightnings, and popular on aft-sheeting 505s, too.

But yeah, very strict measurements indeed if they really pay attention to something like that.

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Tomorrow, the first race of the European Championship U19 in Kalamaki (Athens) will start around noon. Measurement was yesterday and today. According to my son (who went through the measurement without any problem), the check was very, very strict this year. Standing next to him was a sailor who's boom was rejected because...

...the boom strap halfway down the boom (that guides the sheet from block to block) was too wide(!)

First, I didn't know that there was a rule for that. Second, why should you want to alter that strap? Third: when we buy a boom, we don't check the lenght/width of that boom strap!

Menno
I know that's idiotism, but measurers from Greek side wanted to pass it because it was manufacturers fault. But 1 miss from Singapore, her name was Ailin (or something like that) wait that doesn't matter that it's manufacturer's fault and we're not able to pass it. I was measurer-volunteer and I didn't like it too. It was nonsense!
 
Thanks for that info.

BTW given the posts on Insta, FB and what we receive from the participants, it looks as if it's going to be a stunning event! Great job!

Menno
 
1 miss from Singapore, her name was Ailin (or something like that) wait that doesn't matter that it's manufacturer's fault and we're not able to pass it.
That would be ILCA chief measurer Aileen Loo :rolleyes: Of course this is about a very minor detail on the boat, but I think it's good that she's answering the old question "is everything that comes from a builder legal" with a clear "no".

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The boats left the boat builder with no sail numbers on the sail, so essentially no laser has ever been class legal when it left the factory. It is up the owner to make the boat legal.
 
I guess that in this case 'builder' reads as 'parts supplier'. Again, I didn't know there was a rule about - but that's something I could have known when reading the class rules. But what's more: when you're supplied with a brand-new boom with the loop attached, you think(...) that it's all correct.

Raise your hand if you've ever checked the width of the boom strap! Counting, counting... That's what I thought: no hands.

I know that one's responsible for all parts of his/her Laser. But this is nit-picking. What's the advantage for a sailor when the strap is wider than 26mm?

Menno
 
Raise your hand if you've ever checked the width of the boom strap!
Mine is legal :D

What's the advantage for a sailor when the strap is wider than 26mm?
Of course it's more advantageous to have the sheet supported over a longer distance - it doesn't hang as low when loose, and it runs smoother. As I said, a "pocket" that would be, say, 50 or 60 cm long would be really nice :rolleyes: It could be a tube-formed piece of sailcloth, held in place with the one legal rivet...

The specific measurement has probably been chosen to 1) be not too different from the original metal fairlead, and 2) accommodate certain standard-sized webbing. No one has said how much the strap in question was too wide, but I assume they used 30 mm instead of 25. Of course that makes no difference, but if you draw a line then you shouldn't cross it.

(Yet another point is that this is something that should be very easy to correct.)

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Mine meets rules, but then when I replaced metal strap that was designed to either catch on your life jacket when tacking obviously I checked rules to make sure it complied
 
Raise your hand if you've ever checked the width of the boom strap! Counting, counting... That's what I thought: no hands.
Raises hand on all 4 booms. Actually, I can say the same for 2 hulls, 4 rigs with spares, etc. Like what I've said previously, if something on a boat appears different you need to check whether it is legal.

I rejected 140 boats at the Terrigal Open Worlds that were later used for the Masters and then in Auckland for the Women's and Radial worlds, because I saw something small with the hiking strap a week before the start and the factory had to replace every hiking strap before the boats were dropped down to the venue. As a measurer, you don't initially check to see if something measures, you check to see if it's different or something new that you haven't seen before and then you measure, this should apply as owner or a measurer.
 
I know that's idiotism, but measurers from Greek side wanted to pass it because it was manufacturers fault. But 1 miss from Singapore, her name was Ailin (or something like that) wait that doesn't matter that it's manufacturer's fault and we're not able to pass it. I was measurer-volunteer and I didn't like it too. It was nonsense!
It's not up to you or the event measurer to permit illegal equipment or make an interpretation of the rules, it is either permanently legal or permanently illegal. The only person that can make an interpretation of the rules is the World Measurer. Making existing illegal equipment "legal" can only occur with rules change approved by the class members. Making something legal for an event runs into trouble at the next event.
 
It's not up to you or the event measurer to permit illegal equipment or make an interpretation of the rules, it is either permanently legal or permanently illegal. The only person that can make an interpretation of the rules is the World Measurer. Making existing illegal equipment "legal" can only occur with rules change approved by the class members. Making something legal for an event runs into trouble at the next event.
Absolutely right, Sir. Fully agree with you. But the measuring level was on good level. We were finding different things, f.e blocks and their cleats with scratches, too much stretched alloy tops, too long bottoms (for me it was something new). And 1 the most interesting and fun case happened seems on 2nd measuring day. That day I was checking foils ( rudder+centerboard), day was close to end and I was coming to last guys that we had on that court. There was 1 guy from Italy, I said him hi, how are you etc.. and took his foils. His rudder was perfect, but the centerboard... I found that it is too fat in a top of it, I told this to him, called his coach and told him same, they said like : well, give us 10 minutes, we have to do something. So, what they did : they found somewhere polishing paper and started to polish centerboard. In 10 minutes it was done... I couldn't believe to my eyes, they passed, but we all told him that better to change it, cuz now it's too easy to make some big scratches or broke it(probably) in that part of it
 

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