49208 said:This thread is meant to stimulate some thinking - What if the class decided to change the sail design/cloth to fix the current sail's issues. (loose leech, inconsistant sails, short competitive life span are just a few)
Would you be in favor of such a change ?
Merrily said:Surely "inconsistant sails" is a quality control problem, not a design problem. Maybe we need a letter writing campaign?
Is the Laser sail's life span shorter than other classes? People at my club who sail Thistles and Interlakes buy new sails every year for racing.
That brings us to loose leech, which I haven't noticed on my sail (quality control?). But conceding that I just haven't noticed that with my sailing inexperience, are there good reasons to have a loose leech, or is it all bad?
Merrily
styluscentral said:The problem is bigger than all of this let's on. The sail cloth is not as standard as in the past so it does not get made in the volumes that it used to be made. Thus the increase in price. Alot of what makes a Laser sail a laser sail is in the finishing of the cloth. This is not the perfect and consistent process many would like it to be.
The old adage was that the best cloth went to Finn Sails then to Lasers and if it would not pass muster for Lasers it was Sunfish cloth.
The other issue is that the sail and the soft cloth used are pretty well matched to the spars we use. So if we were to say make a 3DL sail it would not behave like a Laser Sail on the Spars. I agree that a longer lasting sail and a lower cost sail would be great for the class and even for the suppliers. More people may consider replacing their sails if they were not $480!!!
SFBayLaser said:..., but I believe the WC was not convinced at the time that the cost/benefit ratio made it worth changing. Certainly I know that people continue to look at what can be done to make improvements in the existing sail without causing the price (that some already consider high) to get out of control.
Merrily said:...Surely "inconsistant sails" is a quality control problem, not a design problem...
Hi 'Centurio'Cenutrio said:Thanks for the info LooserLu,
I've been googling and couldn't find, so far, the italian web site. Can you help and give me some more feedback?...