Seen this? New Kid in Town. Laser with 29'er-ish sail

thieuster

Active Member
I found this on Southeast Sailboats UK's facebook page.











(One man band Max' Southeastsailboats UK makes great, class-legal stuff for the laser. No ties to the seller and Caveat Emptor of course)
 
This was talked about some time ago: New design Standard Sail

I have to say Julian Bethwaite sounds very self-contradictory when he says "this has nothing to do with the Laser", and now it says "ILCA" on the sail.

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So we have a "monopoly " with Laser, BUT they have several very active manufacturing plants around the world still producing several thousand Lasers a year! Is that a fact or fiction , I don't Know. If there is only one manfacture of Areo, M14, or Devoti is that a Monopoly?

Let replace a class with 200K boats with a single manufacturer in , Italy, or France or GB do they have other manufacturing sites? These classes cost 33-50% more than a new Laser and have built fewer that 3000 units, and have many field issues. Yes. I get the enthusiast for the Laser Loser.
And I, as One, Wish I could sail faster or get better parts .
A Laser Solution would be to certify new boat builders, who were certified and labeled for boats and parts and allow easy access of generic parts.
I would buy a Julian product in a minute,
 
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I would buy a Julian product in a minute,
So would I, as soon as I knew what exactly he's selling, if it's for sale to begin with (there's nothing "Laser" on his, and nothing "Julian" on PSA's websites), and what the legal status and ILCA position might be.

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A quick search for "Julian Bethwaite Laser" brings up this:
http://bethwaite360.com/category/design/

CTRL+F "Laser" and the first result that comes up is the C5/C8 rigs...
Search "C5 Laser" and This comes up: the Australian Class Association testing the C5 rig...
This has this video: an extended "New kid in town" cut with interviews...


Julian Bethwaite as Chief designer and ILCA President Tracey Usher in on it...
Very interesting...
 
Thanks for the links, Gryphon. If anything, it's getting even more cryptic with none other than Tracy himself saying "no white sails in the future"! On the other hand, they're developing a new lower mast for the existing (white!) Radial rig... I really, really don't like the mixed messages and secrecy.

Anybody want to bet on what ILCA will bring to the Olympic equipment trials in a few months?

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Given that the class international president is in that video, I take it the class is behind this project. As this is the first we hear of it? You'd think they class would have learned something about transparency the last few years.
 
Without the president's appearance, I would say 'they're testing the waters'. But with his contribution, this goes further, I suppose. Lali's suggestion is an interesting one.

Dutch built dinghy 'Splash' has quite some followers in NZ. Over here in NED we're still using an alloy mast for the Splash, but on the other side of the world, they use a carbon spar; more or less the same as the Europe's. One Splash sailor's father is a merchant marine captain and he took a few of these spars to the Netherlands. Just saying that I think that in those sailing-loving countries (AUS and NZ) the development of parts is part of the 'sailing experience'.

Personally, I like the evolution of the Laser. But at the same time, I suppose that there's a hefty price tag on an all-carbon mast...
 
As this is the first we hear of it?
Well, I reread Julian's Improper Course interview (can't link to it now because of technical problems), and it was posted earlier than I remembered, in late May. The video was uploaded to Vimeo four months ago, so it was recorded in early August at the latest. No word since.

You'd think they class would have learned something about transparency the last few years.
Yes. But obviously no.

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Anybody want to bet on what ILCA will bring to the Olympic equipment trials in a few months?

The video was uploaded to Vimeo four months ago, so it was recorded in early August at the latest. No word since.

Fair chance that ILCA will comment with something like: "Given the fact that the Olympic Status of the Laser was in danger, we had to move quickly with the introduction of modern equipment to ensure the continuing of that Status."
'The future has no white sails' (paraphrasing here) gives it away: willing to change the boat/equipment to keep the 20th-century design up-to-date in the 21st century.

I came late to the (Laser) party, so I have no first-hand knowledge of the things that have happened in the past. Perhaps best to keep it that way.

Menno
 
Well, I reread Julian's Improper Course interview (can't link to it now because of technical problems), and it was posted earlier than I remembered, in late May. The video was uploaded to Vimeo four months ago, so it was recorded in early August at the latest. No word since.

Yes. But obviously no.

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Until recently I thought this was just another better mousetrap/Laser rig. These come along all the time. This is the first confirmation I've seen that the class is in cahoots with updating the rig.
 
It is also mentioned in the minutes of the ILCA - NA for their October meeting, here at point 2:

2018 October ExCom minutes

It would be nice to have some proper commentary from ILCA as to what the actual plan is and a proposed timescale, and ideally allow the ILCA members to vote on such a radical change if the proposal is to make the full rig and radial rig redundant in the future, which is the implication I get from the video.
 
I found this on Southeast Sailboats UK's facebook page.











(One man band Max' Southeastsailboats UK makes great, class-legal stuff for the laser. No ties to the seller and Caveat Emptor of course)
Thanks for the post. Your videos are always so cool. I was out at Tomales Bay yesterday and I'm a bit better with my boat and realized the benefit of my hiking strap. Almost capsized a couple of times and got thrown overboard by a newbie move- grabbed the boat on my way over but got dunked. The vids show me what's possible... LOL...
 
This was talked about some time ago: New design Standard Sail

I have to say Julian Bethwaite sounds very self-contradictory when he says "this has nothing to do with the Laser", and now it says "ILCA" on the sail.

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Absolutely, Julian is speaking with forked tongue...
And the minutes from the meeting and the involvement of Tracy Usher say otherwise.

But I do like the looks of the new rig. Whether we will see this become 'legal' any time soon remains speculative for now, I guess.
 

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