My Viewpoint: Cartoons on the 2019 ILCA vote and rule change

[LooserLu]

Greetings from the country (GER) + continent (EU) of "one way"-information! This is my only way to reach you ->
For You: One cartoon for the next few days to think about! Yeah! This is just my way to say to the authorized class members around this globe who are undecided, what to vote for: V O T E: Y E S !
Yours!
LooserLu

 

[LooserLu]

Here is another cartoon, that I have modified. This one here and the one above already have been posted at another sailing related forum, during the past 22 hours. This is no coincidence: I posted 3 cartoons, that I modified for a friend who lives and sails in Istanbul. He is a well known TLF member of the early days of TLF. Also as of today, at other social media channels of the www, he donates a lot of time to Laserites like me to make it easier to understand what actually is going on in this rule change issue. He has birthday anniversary, very soon. So, from my side, the 3 cartoons (I posted yesterday to him) are a sort of present to him. He made it possible to already edit these 2 cartoons on the other sailing related forum. Always: Fair winds, to you, drLaser! With this 2nd cartoon, below, again I try to make you think - think about to vote: "YES". "Laser-Land" not only consists of Europe...

 

[Wavedancer]

Nice work, LooserLu; and good to see you back on this forum!

 

[LooserLu]

Nice work, LooserLu; and good to see you back on this forum!

Thanks. Wave, during the past years, I frequently read at TLF. There was no need to post, because other good members here are able to answer in better English more sufficient, than me in my English “for runaways” can do it. Also, I was away from sailing for a while, because of my job as civil engineer. Too much to do there. So, if I am not active much here, it does not mean TLF is out of my mind.

Tonight, over the sky of West-GER, one can view many "shooting stars". Each one looks a bit like the sunburst-logo in our Laser sails! Or in other, my, words: Each one could be a dummy for a "YES"-voter ))

Here is another cartoon to joke about. You know, humor helps, especially in times like now, I guess.

 

[LooserLu]

There is still about 24 hrs (from the time this is published) to vote for the class-rule change, if one is permitted to vote. Because I am not a Facebook member, I couldn't view what Mr. Rastegar, owner of one of the "out of the box"-boat builders of the Laser, announced about the actual situation. However, the World Sailing agreement for the Laser to stay at the Olympic Games has to be signed by August 1 by the three Laser trademark owners (Mr. Rastegar is one of them who has to sign that contract) and if the class-rule change vote fails: The Laser will be not sail in the Olympic Games in Paris/France (2024) and Los Angels /USA (2028), World Sailing says. So, vote YES, as insurance to keep the Laser in the 2024/2028 Olympic Games.

 

[LooserLu]

OK. today I was able to view yesterday's sailing-illustrated.com-video interview with Mr. Rastegar. He is a typical "ex-Iranian". I know those very well from my times I studied at RWTH Aachen University, 35 years (very long) ago. Some ex-Iranian are still good friends with me. We meet each year and have a big BBQ, with a lot of fun and jokes and GER-beer! One has to understand their way of thinking, if one has to negotiate with them. They are very intelligent and mostly calm (but inside: hot bloods). But, it is really difficult to convince them if they have a strong opinion on an aspect. This is the same here, in our actual class rule issue. "Excuse me" / "with all respect" to you, class officers (ILCA/EurILCA), substitutes of the boatbuilders, TM-Holders (= altogether: "ILCA World Council"), but I highly advise you all to go back to the "green table". In my view, there IS a way to shut-down the issues, but I am not chancellor Andrea Merkel, do you understand? She would advise => Go into a hotel, 72 hours, closed room with all parties. At hour 71 the solution to all is written down to the papers, not before! Just my 2 €-Cents...

Because Mr. Rastegar opened the "Pandora's box" by mention North Korea... I have two final cartoons! The first one (4), the "EurILCA"-Version I made on Monday July 29th! So, Mr. Rastegar and me have had the same thought, but both in the opposite direction, of course : ) He said, ILCA is behaving like North Korea. Okay, today I decided to modify the cartoon, another time. This special US businessman of the northeast coast of the USA wants to get a sort of "North Korean Style" into his new "independent" LaserPerformance-Laserclass-Association, that he will found (he mentioned that in the interview), if the ILCA class rule vote fails. You can stop that: Vote YES!

Last word: Born in West Germany, formerly known as BRD (FRG), and now living in peace and sailing in peace together with friends, born at the formerly known DDR (GDR), it is one of my best wishes for the future, that North Korea and South Korea find ways to become good friends again. This, I say in the same way to my good friends, that live on the Cyprus-Greece area and on the Turkish-controlled area of the island Cyprus in the Mediterranian. This is a serious opinion I have.
Having Laser sailing also at the Olympic Games in 2024 and 2028 is a good way to step forward to bring people together in peace! The Laser has to stay at the Games, also after 2020! She is made for that!

P.S.: Could the Staff of the Sailings-Forum.com Team manage to archive this complete Thread into posts/reply's in into the "Dockhouse Joke? Section", after a while? Thanks!

Yours!
LooserLu

 

[LooserLu]

(...).This special US businessman of the northeast coast of the USA wants to get a sort of "North Corean Style" into his new "independent" LaserPerformance-Laserclass-Association, that he in future will found (he mentioned that in the interview), if the ILCA class rule votation failures. You can stop that: Vote YES!
(...)

I have to explain a logical misunderstanding in my words.
My opinion is:
If the NO vote wins, it does not mean that Mr. Rastegar would stop to get more influence over the ILCA as he apparently already/obviously has at the EurILCA. At the 2019 Men's Senior Worlds in Japan, Mr. Michon clearly said that the EurILCA board he represented is against the rule change. He would not express his own opinion in that meeting. There is clear evidence that the EurILCA Board appears to strongly represent the interests of LaserPerformance Europe (i.e. ultimately Mr. Rastegar), even though the majority of the ILCA Council (this includes the EurILCA substitutes there) voted in favour of a rule change. If the vote for the rule change fails, Mr. Rastegar will sooner or later "govern" the ILCA; this of course, only with other (weaker) class officers than today. In Mr. Rastegar’s opinion, the ILCA is sort of controlled by the Performance Sailing Australia (PSA). So I have to modify my cartoons "4"+"5" again into a version “6” ( view below). In his July 30th interview, Mr. Rastegar said, that as an Olympic Laser-Class (not: Olympic ILCA Class), in the future, he would have to have a professionally managed Laser Class Association, where all class officers would have to work professionally and pay in this way, and no more volunteers would be class officers (f.e.: Mr. Usher). In his opinion, however, there should be also a time limit for the execution of office in the future, similar to the US-Presidential chair, so that the fees for the class officers of the ILCA do not become a kind of life annuity and the class is governed by old Masters-Laserites. In the summer 1972, with IRYU recognition of the ILCA, it was one of the basic ideas of the IRYU (today: World Sailing): The One-Design Laser sailboat requires a class association for sailors that stays independent of the boat builders and TM holders to be an IRYU-recognized sailing class. This is now up for debate by World Sailing itself. Mr. Rastegar, as boat builder owner of LPE, wants more influence on the class association ILCA. With his own new LPE-ILCA, Mr. Rastegar can do whatever he wants, as he is doing it in his own boat factories. If YES wins at the class rule change vote, the ILCA will remain protected, independent as it is now, regardless of the boat builders and TM holders etc. Confusing, isn't it?

Ciao

LooserLu

 

[LaLi]

Hi Lu, nice to see a forum legend make a comeback!

But it's not that confusing, really. The largest builder of a sailboat class is owned and run by a non-sailor who doesn't like the fact that sailboat classes are governed by the sailors themselves and not the trademark owners. The ultimate expression of that was the attempt to take over another class by means of a fake class association. That failed, and now when faced with de facto losing the monopoly, it's time to resort to manipulating the membership of existing organizations.

I hope that fails as well.

_

 

[LooserLu]

LaLi calls me‚ “legend“, how nice. Until now, no one said this to me here at SailingsForums.com. Really much honor to me, thanks for that!

BTW: To me, Peter Seidenberg is a legend. Rob Scheidt, Sir Ben are legends as well, but in a different way to Peter, not because all three have been World Champions in the Laser. But Peter, I guess, never won an Olympic medal (correct?).
Because of the so called Laser policy*, if a Laserite is age 75 or more, he/she belong in the Legend fleet. I am age56+, so, I already sail in the Grand Master fleet.

Source for that one find at the “2019 Laser Handbook”, page 7. But online, at laserinternational.org, at the Masters Policy page, nothing is mentioned about the over 75 aged Laserites.
It is a funny coincidence, but Mr. Rastegar actually did sign contracts, but he modified the original contract text. So, in one contract-text is additionally written something, which in the same but original contract-text (of WS) not is written…

Yes, in the July 30 interview Mr. Rastegar mentioned he isn’t a sailor, but his daughter sails. However, that does not stop him from harming us, common Laserites; correct LaLi? He didn’t give the full information, neither ILCA nor EurILCA, nor PSA, nor PSJ did. Reason for that I guess is, that lawsuits are still running or will come up in the future. No one want to earn a 'OCS/BFD/ZFP/DNE' penalty at the starting line to be black flagged by judges, later on, right? Mr. Rastegar was not sitting alone in the room in his office for the Skype-interview with sailing-illustrated.com. He talked, gesticulated and questioned to 1 (or more?) person that obviously was/were behind the camera, this could clearly be seen by the viewer. Perhaps also his lawyer was in the room. You never know...

Two aspects of the Rastegar interview I would put out here as advice for a debate:

1.) Mr. Rastegar claims, ILCA for the future plans to collect out of the buyers pocket $600 (US?) additionally for each newly sold Laser. I don’t know, if this is “old News” that already has been discussed or new News to all.

2.) Mr. Rastegar agrees that there are delivery problems because of suppliers to LPE. He agrees, “a sort of forum”, for instance at the ILCA(-NA?) homepage, would be fine, to locate actual delivery problems and solve those. Immediately, when I heard him saying this, I thought of that at the SailingsForum.com \ TLF section is perfect to do that!
I would highly advise to the managing-team of SailingForums.com, as they ever have been an independent source of sailing information to negotiate with the ILCA / ILCA-NA a way to make an offer (I don’t know which one to contact, in this case), to get the “the place to be” for to collect this delivery issues / requests (probably not only for NA, but also for South America and more areas?).
Hope, Bradley G. could get that job for the SailingsForum.com, good luck on that!

Ciao

LooserLu

 

[LooserLu]

To round off these posts here, I have a last cartoon.

One week ago the pre-results of the voting on the class rule change of July 2019 were made public. And yesterday, the district/federal court made an interim judgement on the lawsuit of the out-of-the-box boat builders, ILCA, World Sailing and Kirby. In reply #9 here I already explained my version of why no one of those openly say something and it is okay for me, in the moment.



I claim/bet (without proof), compared to the TV rating, for instance, of the Olympic basketball or the Olympic 100/400 m sprint finals, the TV ratings of the Olympic sailing competitions are probably rather in the second basement. Personally, I believe that the years of disputes between the manufacturers, Kirby, WS and ILCA have left deep divisions and divided the sailing community in part (see the relationship of EurILCA vs. ILCA). In any case, all this was and is certainly not a particularly good advertisement for our sailing sport -and certainly not to catapult sailing TV ratings out of the deep. While at the Games in Weymouth 2012 on OBS.TV many of the sailing competitions that were filmed live, were transmitted very well as a basic TV signal via Flash-Player (but without commenting, but with the original sound of waves and winds and racing signals) as a stream could be watched freely. In Rio 2016 this was only possible to view to, with the indication of username and password at the new barrier at the homepage OBS.TV. In future, only those viewers (e.g., in North America), who have access to NBC-Olympics or other regionally licensed TV broadcast-providers (in Germany: Discovery) will not be excluded. In future all other interested sailing enthusiasts will only see small summaries, excerpts of occasional races on official TV broadcasting local channels (f.e. at Germany ARD + ZDF and 2020: also Eurosport TV), but mostly not from the Laser-Standard/Laser-Radial racing fleets. An enthusiastic Laserite would rather turn the TV off immediately. In any case, to promote sailing to the viewer on TV/notepad, it is unlikely that the upcoming Olympic Games 2020 to 2028 will generate new sailing enthusiasts. So, in my view, the current voting result on the change of the class rules is more of a Pyrrhic victory for ILCA or World Sailing. That is a great pity. Already Robert Scheidt mentioned on his Facebook blog on May 6th 2019, that it is time for some mediation. It would really be better now, that the divided parties would return to the table for dialogue. This cannot go on forever. It is my experience that new sailing enthusiasts are the easiest to get by letting new interested people try out a (test-)sail. Also, with my little help and boat care in 2007-2013 in advance, a new young Laser fleet in 2015 could be built in my club, which now has many new and happy Laserites, instead of selling in 2011 the old club hulls on Ebay or scrapping them.

All the best to all. You will occasionally see me on the water here again, but in the moment I can’t say, when this will be.

LooserLu

 

[Wavedancer]

Let's stay in touch across the waters. The forum has had some great input from European (Finnish and Dutch, I think) sailors of late.

 

[Bradley]

@LooserLu, so happy to see you back on the site! I enjoy reading the opinions of those across the pond. The cartoons definitely made me chuckle!

 

[Rob B]

I can't believe I'm just now seeing this thread! LooserLu where did you go off to? Have you left again now that the fun is over?

 

[LooserLu]

Thanks Wavedancer, Bradley, Bob B. I am not leaving, remind my words I told at reply #4:
"...during the past years, I frequently read at TLF. There was no need to post, because other good members here are able to answer in better English more sufficient, than me in my English “for runaways” can do it. Also, I was away from sailing for a while, because of my job as civil engineer...." Too much to do there here at GER' kaputt roads and bridges. "...So, if I am not active much here, it does not mean TLF is out of my mind. ..."
At my life at 1st world, I got new work, aft my summer vacation, with the return to my office, last Monday. Civil engineers are sort of crazy people: They work, work, work, .... So, me too. I just have to coordinate another 5.000.000. Euro volume of money into the new contracts with engineer-companies, that design roads for my district. You may imagine, this is a lot of to read and to correct all those contracts to commission successfull those engineers companies... So, my time for sailing or writing here is really short, actually. However, there is a lot new to discuss here in future. The (not at TV happen) Olympic venue to Laser 2020 is just a beginnig. Let the 'old farts' (those Laserites,those with the lost or long grey hair on the head, that seem to sit (to much) more behind the computer than to sail their Laser, f.e. Laserites like Easterbunny-Fred-Gouvernail or other, like Graantt or Tillerman, I'm just kidding to you 3, from my side nothing personal to you, Gouv, Tillerman, Bruce H) disscuss elswhere (I call it "the other internet forum", Wavedancer, Rob B, I guess you know what I mean) than here (would be better those do that here at TLF, I say! Correct, Bradley?).
Okay, do you, at NA, ever have heard of Greta Thumberg, from Sweden? She is THE new top youth-idol at Europe. Exact 1 year ago (and +5 days) she started to sit at Swedens's parliament building in Stockholm with a poster: ~ "I am on school-strike for our climatic future", each Friday. Gazillions of pupils of Eurpe follwed her, to go to "strike for future", each Friday, at continent Europe, during the past year. Now she comes to NA (and Middle-&South America, too)! With an IMOCA-Race-Yacht of GER's future Vendee Globe Race skipper Boris Hermann, the Mailizia!! Totally crazy that girl, but we here all like what she is doing, even our women chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel does! It reminds me to Laura Dekker from the Netherlands, she singlehanded did alone a sailing trip around the globe. I met Laura in January at the boot 2019 exhibition at Duesseldorf/GER. Also a fantastic young girl, like Greta. Young clever girls rule the sailing word, great! Laura is on the sea, sailing a differnet youth project, I guess. In January she did some promotion to her project. So, someone else made Greta an offer to get shipped to New York to the UN Council Meeting, soon in September. Greta already did anounced: "I do not waste my time for a meeting with the Donald (this other businessman of the northeast coast of the USA), because he doesn't believe that the actual climatic change is manmade". Perhaps, I thought, she meets another businessman of the northeast coast of the USA ?...
Online you are able to follow Greta, by online tracker! -> Boris Herrmann Racing | Malizia Ocean Challenge


Have all a great start into the upcoming weekend!

LooserLu

 

[thieuster]

A few notes:
Yes, roads in Germany are being 'ironed out' as we speak... Despite that, still long traffic jams near Bremen and Hannover. Good to read that someone is taking care of things when we drive up to Gdynia, Dziwnow, Kiel or Rostock!

We see more and more sailors and the sailing community shifting to a 'cleaner earth' attitude. Just to name a few: Ellen McArthur may be the first to mention here. Same goes for the sailing communities initiatives to try to develop awareness when it comes to cleaning the ocean. (We're now waiting for electric-powered RIBs... and more environmentally friendly ways of hauling sailing gear across the world for regattas...)

 

[LooserLu]

Okay, I have a few minutes, now:

A few notes:
Yes, roads in Germany are being 'ironed out' as we speak... Despite that, still long traffic jams near Bremen and Hannover. Good to read that someone is taking care of things when we drive up to Gdynia, Dziwnow, Kiel or Rostock! ....

German's autobahn (Am: freeways / Brit: motorways) are federal ways. I have worked for the federal transportation authority in the 1990ties, but actually I work for a county/district authority a the metroplitan region Ruhrgebiet. Also many roads and bridges at my county are ironed out, too. In future the autobahn will be maintained though a private company called Autobahn GmbH accompanied by a federal highway authority (Fernstraßenbundesamt). I doubt, the change (more bureaucracy) will bring better federal roads at GER quick, I'm so sorry to say that ...
At north Germany a new autobahn is unter constrution, the A 20. The part from A1 Luebck to Poland already is under traffic. The next parts will be build in the next ten years: from Bad Segeberg to river Elbe in the west of Hamburg. The part from the river Elbe to Bremen is in the design process. Perhaps your grand childs will be able to use it ...

...
We see more and more sailors and the sailing community shifting to a 'cleaner earth' attitude. Just to name a few: Ellen McArthur may be the first to mention here. Same goes for the sailing communities initiatives to try to develop awareness when it comes to cleaning the ocean. (We're now waiting for electric-powered RIBs... and more environmentally friendly ways of hauling sailing gear across the world for regattas...)

The inflatables, that were used for the Malizia 2 (1st: to carry Greta Thunberg from the peer of Plymouth/UK to the Malizia IMOCA Yacht and 2nd: at NY, bugging the Malizia 2 to the jetty of the Cove Marina at Manhattan), had electric outboard engines

Tot Ziens! (Ciao!)
Lu