That's a fun threadBest read this thread Difference between old Harken XD vang and new "race"version
Still waitingI will take a picture of a hooked kicker elastic when I am next at the club.
Interesting fact by the way: West Coast Sailing seems to sell the exact same Allen vang kit as a "practice" part, although it's actually completely legal. That's another common fallacy, that is, when you don't know the rules, you tend to think they are stricter than they are in reality. (This just came up the other week, concerning the clew tie-down.)
Alan, I am quite familiar with the text (and pictures) of the class rules, but one still runs into grey areas when people ask "is this piece of equipment legal?" Ideally, the rules should be formulated so that a boat owner doesn't need any extra information for rigging one's boat legally. You can't expect everybody to know how a given part is stamped or not, especially when these have changed over the years.
Concerning the vang (and staying on topic), I don't believe anyone has copied the legal "Builder Supplied" cleating fittings yet, so if it looks like a Harken or Allen fitting, it's very, very likely ok. The most widely available not legal alternative on the market is made by Holt/Nautos, and that one is simply so awful that you can't mistake it for the real thing.
I have no reason to doubt that you have done a great job as a measurer (and sometimes probably made more enemies than friends doing it). You've surely encountered the misconception that from passing the five-minute check at a championship it follows that a boat is 100 % legal. Any suggestions how to convincingly debunk that?
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Alan, I am quite familiar with the text (and pictures) of the class rules, but one still runs into grey areas when people ask "is this piece of equipment legal?" Ideally, the rules should be formulated so that a boat owner doesn't need any extra information for rigging one's boat legally. You can't expect everybody to know how a given part is stamped or not, especially when these have changed over the years.
Concerning the vang (and staying on topic), I don't believe anyone has copied the legal "Builder Supplied" cleating fittings yet, so if it looks like a Harken or Allen fitting, it's very, very likely ok. The most widely available not legal alternative on the market is made by Holt/Nautos, and that one is simply so awful that you can't mistake it for the real thing.
You've surely encountered the misconception that from passing the five-minute check at a championship it follows that a boat is 100 % legal. Any suggestions how to convincingly debunk that?