Impact of a new sail for recreational use? With a PS on daggerboards

T

Tinger

New Member
Hi all. I have a 70's-era Sunfish that gets used on lakes, and if I'm lucky, coastal waters 6-10 times/summer. Strictly recreational sailing, and I generally go out whenever there's a pretty good chance I can plane continuously. This is a boat I used to race with my father on Lake Ontario, so I'm used to sailing it in rough conditions - the windier the better.

The sail is the original, and I assume from the way it fills under load that it's just stretched out. But otherwise, it's just showing it's age and works OK.

I'm thinking about getting one of the Intensity Sails practice sails for $150 as a replacement. Would I notice the difference?

Thanks!
 
I don't think you will notice any difference just sailing by yourself. But for $150, why not treat yourself? BB
 
There might also be a difffernce in that the Intensity sail is cut like a race sail, fuller and better shape, stainless grommets,
 
I agree about the features of the Intensity sail, but the speed gain you will see will not be noticeable just recreationally sailing around. You would only notice it in comparison to other boats. If you are looking for increased performance, the change that will have more impact would be to get a new plastic racing board - Intensity makes one of those as well, although you can't use it in a race. You will not sideslide after tacking, and you will point higher. The board has more impact than the sail. BB
 
Tinger said:
I'm thinking about getting one of the Intensity Sails practice sails for $150 as a replacement. Would I notice the difference?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If you haven't purchased the sail already, you might note that the price has been reduced a bit. I'll say unequivocally that you won't regret it. Especially if you are out reaching on windy days. Even in a straight up comparison ignoring price, I'd take the Intensity over the North, I think. (Unless we're talking a North-made Buffalo Worlds sail). At one-third the price of the North it's a no-brainer. You will certainly notice the difference immediately vs your recreational sail. It will be dramatic.

I'm a convert - and that can't be good for dealers. I don't use mine for club racing yet, because we are pretty far into the season and it's close, and I don't want to give the wrong impression; I don't want to be the only long-timer doing this. But a new member who had been racing in a recreational sail got an Intensity for racing with us and it looks good. I'd guess in a year or two that a good chunk of the fleet will be converted. The top sailors don't worry about the marginal ones getting more competitive (and at a good price) because it's good for the fleet, and once a third or so convert it will quickly become the new standard.

As to legality, 'our club, our rules'. But the real encouragement came from the Cedar Point Lasers - one of the more serious clubs in this part of the world, in one of the more serious one-design classes. For them to sart using Intensity sails really sends a one-design message about 'class legality'.

Anyway, go ahead and get one -you'll be glad you did. And when you want to take up club racing in a few years, there's a fair chance the sail will be welcome.
 
what is a plastic racing board? Are we talking about a plastic centerboard? Where do I get one?
 
Yes, it is a centerboard. Laser Performance has class legal ones, and Intensity has not-class-legal knockoffs for a much lower price.
 
To expand a little, Vanguard introduced a polyurethane foam daggerboard around 1993. This board is reinforced with metal rods. The initial version had a big space at the upper end to pull it up with your hand. Pretty handy, but this hole was discontinued a few years later for 'safety' reasons. The racing community agreed that these 'plastic fantastic' boards improved performance substantially.

More recently (2010), LaserPerformance introduced the GRP daggerboard because the producer of the foam ones (Crompton) discontinued them. GRP stands for Glass Reinforced Plastic, I believe. This one looks a bit different on top, but the underwater shape is (supposed to be) the same as the Crompton board. One person posted on this Forum claiming that the GRP board performs better upwind, but I doubt that this is the consensus among the racing community.
http://sailingforums.com/threads/2010-laser-performance-sunfish.20331/#post-99645

;) Are we all confused now?

If so, here is a link to a picture of the GRP board:
http://coliesail.com/blog/sunfish-daggerboardsGRP/

PS: 'Technically', these are all daggerboards, not centerboards. The latter can be 'pulled' into a trunk with a rope.
 
on that same issue, does the curved bottom face forward or backwards on the plastic daggerboard?
 
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