pez said:I was about to hijack the intensity sail thread with this but decided not to. I Just want to put some thoughts out there in terms of wether or not the laser is really a one-design class.
The vang, outhaul and cunnigham upgrades became legal in 2001. Having finally grokked the fullness of same, I have to say that I feel the ILCA's implementation of these upgrades goes against the concept of one-design.
As I see it, there's two designs. The Laser and the Laser Pro. The ILCA has made two very large mistakes that were either within or without their control... First, the 2001 class-legal upgrades should be required. Second, ILCA should have taken a better approach to making these upgrades more affordable.
pez said:$435 makes a Laser into a Laser Pro. Maybe the right thing to do is to call me a cheap bas****, and that's fine... you're entitled to your opinion, especially if it's one I share. But a 15-20% price difference in one boat to another doesnt suggest one-design.
pez said:A good sailor in a pre-2001 boat will be beaten by an average sailor in a post 2001 boat. That's not what my understanding of the one design concept...
pez said:A good sailor in a pre-2001 boat will be beaten by an average sailor in a post 2001 boat. That's not what my understanding of the one design concept...
The thought that the new vang was required to sail at the highest level was pretty surely killed when Robert Scheidt won the Laser Gold medal in 2004 with an upgraded vang using the "old style" blocks: Robert after the Final race (kind of hard to see, but there's no shiny chrome fitting on the mast tang!)pez said:Merrily, I dont claim to have the experience to know for certain, and maybe the right phrase to use was that the controls make a below-average sailor competitive with an average sailor?
pez said:Hmm... as long as the inside is dry... that's important?
49208 said:The old rigging doesn't make you any faster then the new rigging so what's the big deal in offering it ?
The phrase "It makes us faster" seems to be being thrown around alot. but the fact is is that it only makes us faster if we know how to use them. It can have the oppisite effect if we don't know how to use them.Rob B said:I agree with 76489. To the average weekend warrior the upgrades do make us faster. We can depower faster, power back up faster, get better leach tension w/out having to luff the sail, the smaller person can now actually manage sail shape in a breeze, this makes them faster than with the old style rigging. It does not improve your ability to go in the correct direction, but if you're going the wrong way you can get there faster with the better/easier sail controls.
sailor327 said:I wonder when SFbayLaser and the Gouv are goin to chime in on this one.
gouvernail said:
49208 said:... not to give anyone an advantage, but to make it easier ...
Deimos said:
Pre the changes you had to be fit, strong and motivated (to some degree anyway). After the changes, those not as fit, strong nor motivated were able to spend a bit more money and get better performance and do better.