Laser Sailor wins America's Cup

Dennis

Dennis

Member
Ed Baird was driving Alinghi. Cheers to him, and all of us who appreciate this little machine that teaches so much!

Dennis Olson
Tomales Bay, CA
 
With that info, we are all going to practice a bit harder from now on...

PS: There's big money at the end of the rainbow :D.
 
Dennis, there is more to say.

Ed Baird won the Laser worlds 1980 at Kingston. This is a year, perhaps some of the actual 190000+ Laserites not even have been born.

Ben Ainslie, now helmsman at the second ship of ETNZL, already waits to let us see how perfect Laserites are able in future to rule the waves at big boating. Also Rob Scheidt and Michael Blackburn surely, sooner or later, do find their way to the AC....
Whow, I say, what a really ecxiting time do wait for us spectators, isn't it?

Russel Coutts sometimes sails Laser at Lake Geneve (or has done this during the past) and Hamish Pepper, also a not unknown sailor at the AC, is a Laserite etc. etc.

For me all above, is a motive to continuos make perfect more my ablility to control the small dinghy I proudly own, although my hairs already turn into a light-grey colour and get less.

I hope, the sailing youth do more take Ed as an idol, than f.e "P. Diddy" or "50cent" ;)

Ciao
LooserLu
 
Overall, I though Ed Baird's handling of SUI100 was more fluid and purposeful than anything displayed by ETNZ. There was no hesitation once he chose a manoeuvre. He knew exactly where the boat could go and hit those limits everytime. The last race emphasised this the best. Whether this was a reflection of his age (a mature outlook) or experience or both is hard to say. Boats certainly seem to take on the personality of the helmsman. However, watching him being sailed over on the second downwind leg of the last race would have been amusing for spectators. Perhaps he knew he couldn't do anything so held his course perfectly, regardless. But it gave the impression of a man either stunned into inaction or under orders to do nothing. Not until the last few minutes of the final upwind leg do we see just how good the Alinghi aftergaurd was. You see that if Baird was responsible for creating those tactical decisions, at least in some part, he was at least a leg and a half ahead in his thinking.
 
Of course this thread could easily have had the subject "Laser Sailors Lose the America's Cup". How many Laser sailors were on ETNZ?

I do know that Dean Barker, Kevin Hall, Ben Ainslie and Mark Mendelblatt have been spotted in Lasers occasionally... Like Ed Baird, all great sailors and not coincidentally because of their experience in Lasers.
 
Old Geezer said:
Of course this thread could easily have had the subject "Laser Sailors Lose the America's Cup". How many Laser sailors were on ETNZ?

I do know that Dean Barker, Kevin Hall, Ben Ainslie and Mark Mendelblatt have been spotted in Lasers occasionally... Like Ed Baird, all great sailors and not coincidentally because of their experience in Lasers.
Click to expand...

yeah but, but, but, what about.. yeah but, what if and what about..
 
On the America's Cup site today they released initial news of shifting the ACC design a bit. They want faster and more difficult to sail boats. Think they'll move towards the VO 70 class? Those have been called over-sized Lasers. :p
 
Don't forget that most of these past Laser sailors, are also now currently Finn and Star sailors
 
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