Those conditions (racing, puffy, shifty) are meaningless as far as sail testing to compare one sail against another due to the fact that there are too many variables.
Real testing needs to be done in very controlled conditions, eliminating as many variables as possible (equal hulls, blades and spars, skippers of the same weight, and hiking ability when the wind is up, similar skill level and obviously steady breeze to name a few)
I think they give an unfair advantage in such conditions because they are cut differently and made of different sail material. ...But that's only my opinion
What next? OEM masts? ...
Honestly, if its not the Olympics, Worlds, NA's, district champs, it doesent really matter, go ahead and use the other sails
That's your opinion, based on your program.
For the majority of others, local sailing, either at the club or district level, is their "Olympic campaign" and as Old Geezer points out above, it has the potential to change the game and that does matter to them.
Has this not been done to death? For god's sake lets move on and let this issue die. For those who have not heard all the arguments use the search function.
Part of me says YES! YES! YES! The rest of me (the good twin) says what better place to vent than TLF?
Who knows if your sail gave you an advantage or not? But by allowing illegal equipment in your club racing you are opening the door to your fellow competitors blaming their losses to you on the fact that you have that illegal equipment. This goes against the whole spirit of Laser sailing. We are all supposed to have the same equipment so that we know who sailed the best on any given day.Stop the rot now. What next? OEM masts? Clone foils?
- although I would be interested in someone setting up a test to really figure it out.
M
I think they give an unfair advantage in such conditions because they are cut differently and made of different sail material. ...But that's only my opinion
http://www.laserforum.org/search.php?searchid=96930
Here are a few hundred more opinions on the same topic (again and again)
Now, can we get back to the reason this thread was started?
This is not correct. While our material has a firmer finish, the cut is identical.
---snip---
I think folks would get a sense of the time and effort required to maintain and develope a level playing field - meaning - people are upset about the cost of laser sails - I think that there is more to it than simply the cost of making the sails.
If Intensity were to pony up the cash, the boats, the time and the effort to prove that their sails are the same as a class sail (in other words, pay someone independant were to do the testing), then I doubt that the price of the sail would stay low.
I guess I have no issue with a sailing school using the cheaper sails to help get people into the class. I do get nervous when clubs start racing with them as it may drive some folks away - and I think if we were all a bit more aware of how hard it is to make two things the same and to prove it, maybe this debate would die down a bit. That's all really.
M
You make some very good points. I would like to point out that if clubs use them because of price (good reason if you have to buy 10-20 sails) then don't allow them in races that you now don't allow your JR. club boats to be raced with the rest of the fleet in my area this would cut the fleet in half.
By the same token if I say then the JR club boats can use them how can I expect others not to be allowed to use them.
If I remember back a year or so ago the guy from Intensity mentioned that he tried approaching the class about becoming legal but was shot down. I will let him comment on that if he feels the need.
I have found that the mix is not a problem and the more boats that we can get on the line the better.
I would like to point out that I do know that we all want the same thing we just have a different opinion on what would happen to fleets if the sails were allowed to be used in racing even at the club level.