ISAF Youth Worlds is about to start. Four manufacturers have supplied the boats for the event. LPE/MacLaren is one of the suppliers. Note the addition of 'MacLaren'. Pic form the ISAF Youth Worlds FB-page.
Yesterday I was talking with a parent of one of the sailors attending the event and she told me that her kid was chuffed. Brand-new boat, gear, sail. "Better than at home!" After the event, the boats will be rented out / chartered out and ultimately sold off, I suppose.
What strikes me, is the fact that ISAF says thanks to the manufacturers, for Laser: 'LaserPerformance/MacLaren'. Is that a new move on the chess-board? FB-page ISAF Youth Worlds
Probably not. Maclaren has been an official WS/ISAF sponsor for some time (at least nominally independent from LP), and there have been Maclaren ads on Youth Worlds boats before, at least when the regatta was held in Cyprus. I guess this is just a way for Farzad Rastegar to maximize visibility for his businesses.
But hey, the Youth Worlds! It's one of the greatest sailing events on the planet. I was a coach in '93 - '95 and a race officer in '99. Good memories. Damn, might even drive down to Poland to see what it's like now
And they all have plaques, I presume...
Note that LP has stated (on Facebook) that they loose millions on these affairs where they supply the boats, which is wholly untrue.
Yes, I know this is off-topic; I hope all will have a great time and plenty of wind!
About having a 'great time': the Dutch sailors are raving on social media about the perfect organisation, the atmosphere and the gear they are provided with. So yeah, they're having a great time! Winds will be 'slow': around 7 or 8 knots during this week. Perhaps around 15 kn on Wednesday.