I am a master and no, I do not nag about the colored tape - that is for scoring purposes, not to differentiate me from other age groups on the course while racing.
When I start a race, I'm racing against everybody who started with me, not just the people who are the same age, or same sex as me. I paid the regatta entry fee to race with the whole fleet. If there are certain sailors in the fleet that I want to especially look for, I know their sail numbers.
Maybe Masters on up should have to replace their sail window with a new, bi-focal sail window.
Why pick on people based on sex??
Let's give all the people who weigh under 200 lbs pink sails!!
I don't believe the class should allow male members to vote on this issue.
The scoring program we use tells us any sail numbers that are missing from a given class.
Women racing for rankings etc. are fully capable of recognizing their competition by sail number, hull color, clothing or other means, the same as the men do.
I can be easily recognized by a big floppy red ponytail sticking out of the back of my hat. And my big mouth.
Miss Dizzy makes a strong point....Gouv's idea for all the lightweight pikers is a great start; -- all the newbies should be required to have "student driver" on their sails
RC's do not need any special designation to tell when, for example, a Masters category fleet have all finished. A quick count of the sail numbers they have recorded will tell them this. At big events, the RC routinely has a computer on board, and entry of any given sail number will put it into its class and tell you everything about the person sailing. The scoring program we use tells us any sail numbers that are missing from a given class.
Women racing for rankings etc. are fully capable of recognizing their competition by sail number, hull color, clothing or other means, the same as the men do.
I can be easily recognized by a big floppy red ponytail sticking out of the back of my hat. And my big mouth.
Still, I thought it was a scandalous policy as previously noted, and I'm sure if there were a female member on the World Council this proposal would never have made it to a vote.
Now, with less than 10% of members who usually vote, and class membership probably over 85% male, what are chances that those voting will even THINK about this rule change?
I wonder if the issues are being confused (certainly seems to be from SFBayLaser's post). The two separate questions that are being merged into one are:
1st question: should the girls and boys be allowed to race together and compete against each other
2nd question: should the girls have badges clearly visible so everybody can see who they are
They are definitely separate issues and to resolve the problems need to be treated as such.
To deal with the two issues separately:
1st Question: Should boys and girls compete against each other
Personally I can see little reason why not. Bigger fleets, better competition, etc. However, this question does not require action by the class. If somebody organises a regatta where the boys and girls are to be kept apart (sounds like some extreme religious group !), then people will vote with their feet. Maybe they will get loads more entries, maybe far fewer - but all without any voting or actions by the Class. Sort of self regulating. Personally I would rather attend regattas where there are more people to compete against so would be less likely to attend a sexually segregated event. However, this is more likely to affect the girls as they would probably suffer from smaller fleets to a greater extent so the actual effect of the "you can't play together" would be to discourage the girls.
2nd Question: Should girls wear clear badges so we can all identify them
Well, nobody has really given any justification for this. Of course people know who they are competing against. And as SFBayLaser says, separate fleets rarely get mixed-up. Nobody has said who this is intended for. There were some comments about race committees needing to know but these have been countered (and are weak justifications anyway). Then its the girls who need to know which boats have other girls in (but they say they don't). So it comes back down to SFBayLasers comment "The proposed rule change is something that has been ILCA policy for a number of years". To be honest the more I find out about the Laser Class Associations the less impressed I am and less inclined I am to join. If I was a girl and was forced to buy my "rhombus" (expected retail price $250 - as the Laser Class Association will be taking its cut in return for a red button to show the rhombus is class legal) I would use the clenched fist with middle finger pointing skywards (maybe an appropriate alternative symbol which maybe somebody should propose as a change to the class rules !!).
If I sound cynical then yes, I am becoming increasingly cynical
Ian
How much does it cost the Class to have a vote on things like this. I ask as there seem only two things; taping the mast together (hardly major) and this daft idea. If it costs more than $10 to run a vote, I would suggest the Class are wasting their (or rather the members) money.
Ian
So why bother with rhombuses (and why was the issue of helping race committees stated as a justification for a permanent fixture to the sail) ?but fleets are not split by gender.
I have no idea but a lot of Laser sailors in the US seem quite disappointed with the cost of Class approved sails. I suppose I am becoming more and more cynical about the Laser Class Association. Great boats, but the Class Association seems to have "issues". Its off topic but I feel I should justify some of my previously expressed frustrations. In my own country (of residence) after 5 months I have been unable to establish contact with the Class Association (or rather to get any response from them). True I could download the membership application, send it in with a cheque and they would cash it - but I thought Class Associations were about more than being a "money pit". In many areas of life people seem to think they have to keep tweaking things, even when there is nothing wrong with it. Maybe people should do a bit more "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Take something working fine and tinker with it - and normally you wont improve it.This is off topic but I'm curious... just exactly how much of a "cut" do you think the Laser Class gets for "the red button"?
So why bother with rhombuses (and why was the issue of helping race committees stated as a justification for a permanent fixture to the sail) ?
I have no idea but a lot of Laser sailors in the US seem quite disappointed with the cost of Class approved sails.
I suppose I am becoming more and more cynical about the Laser Class Association. Great boats, but the Class Association seems to have "issues". Its off topic but I feel I should justify some of my previously expressed frustrations. In my own country (of residence) after 5 months I have been unable to establish contact with the Class Association (or rather to get any response from them). True I could download the membership application, send it in with a cheque and they would cash it - but I thought Class Associations were about more than being a "money pit". In many areas of life people seem to think they have to keep tweaking things, even when there is nothing wrong with it. Maybe people should do a bit more "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Take something working fine and tinker with it - and normally you wont improve it.
Sorry if I'm going off topic above but some things really do get frustrating (not this proposed rule change specifically but dealing (or failing to deal with) Class Associations. You try and it can be like knocking your head against a brick wall. However, in truth, not being a member of a Class Association I really have little or no right to express opinions of rules.
Ian
This is getting off topic but...
I would really encourage you to join the class....