Intensity Sails

Rob B

Rob B

Well-Known Member
I have to give a plug for these guys. After reading a thred here at the TLF regrding their sail and my comments on how to trim the sail Intensity contacted me and informed me there was not trim issue with the their sail, but that my sail had come from one of the early lots where some thread along the foot had been a little tight causing the crease and foot luff I was experiencing in breeze.

Upon return of the existing sail Intensity sent to me a brand new sail! Not just the sail, but the complete package. Battens, (with the new hooked batten tips) sail numbers, tell tails, velcro clew strap, one square sail bag and one sail sock!

C'mon, are you kidding me!!!! Needless to say I'm impressed.

This is the current "sail package" they are offering for under $ 200.00 US. It's quite the deal. If you are practicing with your $ 600.00 class sail when this is available you either have money to burn or more money than sense.

If some people think that practicing with a non-class sail is against the class then I'm guilty of having no class.
 
I have one of their Radial sails and am really impressed. Intensity also offers great prices on hardware and gear as well and offering truly "above and beyond" service. I would strongly recommend them.
 
I have to 2nd that "above and beyond" they are great to deal with and have answered
questions that I have had. I have bought alot of stuff from them and service is prompt
as with the shipping.
 
I definitely have to agree on the topic of intensity not only being a great deal but having amazing customer service. the picture on the left is a intensity sail in 15-20 knots of breeze.
 
I think that some of Intensity's hardware should be made legal. Really what is the difference in performance from Intensity's fitting for the two turning blocks at the mast and auto bailer?
Only that the Intensity products are a reasonable price for a piece of steel and a piece of plastic while the others are absurdly priced.
 
If they were made legal the price of the parts would go up anyway because intensity would need to pay the class part of the profit they make. Its not only the suppliers that are making profit the class takes a portion of every "official" laser part sold and between the manufacturers, the suppliers and the class association everything gets ridiculously expensive and beyond what it should cost.
 
dougreynolds10 said:
If they were made legal the price of the parts would go up anyway because intensity would need to pay the class part of the profit they make. Its not only the suppliers that are making profit the class takes a portion of every "official" laser part sold and between the manufacturers, the suppliers and the class association everything gets ridiculously expensive and beyond what it should cost.
Click to expand...

http://www.laserforum.org/showpost.php?p=38898&postcount=148

The class only gets $12 a sail, which isn't that much.
 
Have to agree with everyone here, Intensity is right down the street from me so I went to check it out. I met Jim who was more than willing to help and their stuff is always the best price around, not to mention I hear their sails are equal if not better than the class legal stuff.
It's frustrating about the Laser copyrighting stuff, the prices are unbelievable sometimes. I mean I'm all for supporting the class, but come on, you have to wonder how the turnouts would be different at class sponsored events if more people (esp. young kids) could afford to outfit their boat. Is it helping the class or hurting it?
 
Well i think our class is doing well. Our district always has nearly 30 or more boats on the line for any of our district level events. Shown me any other OD class with that kind of participation at a district level. While I agree many items are overpriced I do like the one source thing. i just wish the class sails had better durability. Having sailed in the J22, J24, flying scott classes I would not like to see the class sails for the laser opened up to multiple lofts as it does create an arms race or at least puts the thought in your head, "Hmm, i think that UK main is a little faster than mine."
 
Different sail choices is part of the beauty of sailing, what works for me may not work for you. Its all about the choice, plus wouldn't you rather pay $200-300 for a new sail instead of $600.
I agree that the class is doing well, but how many more competitors/events would there be if things were more affordable.
Call me socialistic, but monopolies on products never benefit anyone but the company doing the monopolizing. I'm not bitter, as a matter of fact I'm grateful for what we do have, I'm just saying, the worst part about the sport of sailing, maybe the sole reason for its lack of mainstream popularity (in the US at least) is its exclusivity.

Minor Hijack here, sorry guys.:rolleyes:
Go Intensity!
 
Super Delegate said:
Different sail choices is part of the beauty of sailing, what works for me may not work for you. Its all about the choice, plus wouldn't you rather pay $200-300 for a new sail instead of $600.
I agree that the class is doing well, but how many more competitors/events would there be if things were more affordable.
Call me socialistic, but monopolies on products never benefit anyone but the company doing the monopolizing. I'm not bitter, as a matter of fact I'm grateful for what we do have, I'm just saying, the worst part about the sport of sailing, maybe the sole reason for its lack of mainstream popularity (in the US at least) is its exclusivity.

Minor Hijack here, sorry guys.:rolleyes:
Go Intensity!
Click to expand...

As you say it is exclusive because of the cost associated with it. Expense is the main barrier to entry in sailing not to mention finding a venue, (accessable body of water). Some cities that do offer public sailing programs, but that only goes so far. It's a lot like golf. Expensive gear, greens fees and club fees, but at least you just need land to build a golf course. To the untrained eye it's about as exciting as watching grass grow so forget sponsor dollars. I find it amazing that a sport which used to be the only form of transportation across a body of water has eroded so much.
 
Laser sailing is VERY cheap if you aren't worried about being super super competitive. Those who can't afford a new sail each year would just buy one every second year etc and not worry about fancy carbon tillers and extensions. It is great with Intensity because it means that if you don't have as much money you can still buy more new sails so that you at least feel like you are competitive with a new sail.
 
Nice thing about local club sailing - nobody's going to grieve about "practice" sails. Those who choose to compete in class races pay a significant premium, but there's a lot of other sailing going on! Since I'm just learning, I love having cheap alternatives available - no barrier to entry for me!
 
I have had a great experience with Jim as well. I also had an 'early batch' sail, and he offered a great deal on replacing it. After we had extensive discussion about the problem (tension in the thread), I took it to my local sailmaker instead of shipping back to Jim. It is much better now and I continue to use it for practice and local non-sanctioned races. I have also purchased some covers from Jim too and have been impressed.
My 1980 hull likes all these fancy upgrades :)
 
We just voted in Intensity Sails for our beer can series. I can't wait to get my new sail. I think we'll be upgrading some of our club boats with Jim's parts too! Its a great option for boats which never leave our lake. Keep it up Jim, you are the Robin Hood of laser sailing.
 
I have to agree with everyone else about those guys up in RI. I have purchased a sail from them last spring and it is wonderful. Also purchased many other parts through them, seeing how I only do club racer, they keep the price down. As for Lasers being expensive to campgian, compare it with a melges 24 and you'll find it's all realitive.
 
Like I said earlier in this thread, I am very grateful for what we do have, and you're right when you compare it to other classes laser sailing is cheap. However comparing lasers to melges is apple to oranges. My only beef is (and correct me if I'm wrong) how does the class legal stuff justify the extreme markup? Who is the inside guy in the class association who keeps all the business going to only two sailmakers allowing them to monopolize and charge whatever they want. You can't blame the lofts, they know they have cornered the market. And the upgrades, why are they more expensive than Jim's stuff? The "laser" clew strap is the only class legal one? Why? Why are shops like Intensity getting cut out?
I know business is business and that's how it works sometimes especially in something as undeveloped as a small boat sailing class, but if we all agree (see all above posts) that Intensity's stuff kicks ass, what why and who is prohibiting them from selling their, on some occasions, higher quality products to people for class events? Besides just "the rules".

I saw someone mentioned the class gets about $12 dollars per sail sold North.
Lets do the math, North charges 600, so 600-12= $588 per sail.
Intensity sells a sail for 200. Matching Norths contribution would be $212.
HELLO! Hell, lets double Intensity's contribution to the class, no triple it, $36 per sail that's $236 total. Now the class benefits by getting 3 times more money per sail and the sailors benefit by paying substantially less for equipment, less than half! Is that not the definition of a win/win? Probably not for North, but we all know North's bread and butter is not coming from the laser class.
I'm still a noob so hopefully someone who has been around and seen some things can explain the complexity of this seemingly simple economic tragedy. Or is everyone here so numb to it that they just don't mind shelling out twice as much as they should for gear and seeing the class only reap 1/3 of the rewards? Keep in mind I'm technically not hijacking here, I'm going to bat for Intensity.
To whoever wants it, the floor is yours....

SD
 
SD, please do a search on this. This topic has been flogged around the fleets for a while now. That said, welcome to the forum. We are all glad to have more posters and fewer lurkers.

Mike
 
Opinion from a person who started sailing lasers in 1989.

Two words----Olympic Class

Ever since it has been mark-ups galore.
 
Sorry bout the comparison, super delegate. It is a little unafair. I was jsut trying to make the point that in the sailing world we are still at the inexpensive end of the spectrum.

As for everything else, we all know that intensity has a equal product if not better in some cases, and it is not class legal. But heres the question how would one go about petitioning to make them class legal. Can it even be done?
 
The official Lasersails are produced in strict order of the so called "Builders Manual". Any other sail that wants to get class legal, first has to follow the strict the clause's Builders Manual. The Builders Manual is a not "open view"-book. Only very few humans are allowed to look at. I guees, the sailmaker of Intensity does not belong to that "holy"-circle of viewers.
However, petitionings sure would find an ear at the TMC (= ILCA Technical and Measurement
Committee)

{Beginning of a Quote of the "LaserWorld" ILCA-Magazine, December 2008, page 8, right column}: "
...Sailors who have questions, comments, suggestions, etc. can contact the Technical Officer at [email protected]." {End of Quote}
BTW: The ILCA Technical Officer is Clive Humphris, he is also good and longtime member of TLF.

P.S.: A new folded Hyde Laser Standard sail at Europe does cost 575 Euro (incl VAT, but without shipping costs), that is in US-$: 800. I do not understand, why NA Laserites do permanently gripe about such bargain prices for an official Lasersail from Hyde at NA.

Ciao
LooserLu
 
Super Delegate said:
... what why and who is prohibiting them from selling their, on some occasions, higher quality products to people for class events? Besides just "the rules".
SD
Click to expand...

Keep on asking these questions. Because I don't understand it either. The ILCA should be our representative but seems to be deaf to our interests.
 
I'm getting an Intensity Sail for Christmas!
I think Replica sails is one of the greatest developments for the class. People with older boats who might not spring for a $600 new sail can have the same thing for $200. This means more and better competition for everyone. Anyone buying a new boat would be crazy to use their "official" sail except where it is required. From what I can see an official sail is required at sanctioned events which means districts and up. There has always been a need for a practice sail and a race sail. The only difference is now the practice sail does not have to be a beater.

Go Intensity, and Thanks Santa Clause..........................wherever you are!
 
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