AlanD many thanks for taking the time to elaborate on your views, it was not time wasted but time invested for the record. So much better than some of the other posts which seem to ignore any correct assertions and simply claim some of the facts are wrong but do not take the time to explain why. Many of the points presented by Gilles perfectly seem logical to those of us who do not profess to be sailing gurus and leaves the less well informed sailor wondering who is correct. I believe Gilles referred to this as presenting facts like a papal address. You do wonder about the strength of their case when they have to resort to unnecessary comments about peoples ages and their views which will alienate about 40% of the active fleet at my club who are older than Gilles and are the group who have nearly all of the new boats, mostly bought ex-charter, as Gilles observed.
It would be much better if contributors refrained from inflammatory remarks and kept this forum professional and constructive. I found this useful definition of an internet troll.
What Is an Internet Troll? (and How to Handle Trolls)
Some interesting observations from the substantive comments so far.
When manufacturers had regional monopolies it did not matter if the boats were slightly different because everyone in the region had the same boat and a single manufacturer supplied boats for major championships. ILCA have therefore weakened the one design by allowing boats to cross regions.
I simply do not understand the rational of saying if two competitors arrive at a regatta with boats built to exactly the same construction manual but one cost 30% more and has two silver stickers only the expensive boat can compete.
AlanD illustrates the problem extremely well, the Australians are building boats to tighter tolerances, this takes more time and will have a higher reject ratio so tighter tolerances will be one of the reasons why Australian boats are more expensive. In his example he speculates by saying boats can be built to a 75% tighter tolerance today and as an ex ISAF measurer he should know. This illustrates the problem with the ILCA concept, unscrupulous builders can easily produce two boats, one at each end of the wider tolerance to keep their averages correct, and supply the bespoke boat (not necessarily weight but rake and probably many other things I do not know about as a club sailor) to the high level competitor who does not care if it will not last as he is only going to use it for a season and the other boat, a right dog, goes to an unsuspecting club sailor.
We had a similar problem 40 years ago with Solo's when Richard Lovett from Salcombe built wooden boats to the extreme limits of the specifications and all the other builders boats became obsolete. It took years before the class recovered as the new profile was slowly adopted by other builders who had to change expensive moulds and jigs.
Gilles, contrary to some comments, suggested a solution, higher levels of competition require tighter tolerances. I wonder why ILCA did not do this, I suspect it might be because they do not have the power to alter the specification without agreement from the builders and LPE, the largest builder, realised that tighter tolerances would increase prices which in turn would make the boat less attractive and reduce overall profits.
I have a different view from Gilles on some aspects and believe some of the previous changes introduced by ILCA have been very good, the XD controls, MK6 Radial and MK2 Standard sails being the best. My only concern is their introduction was too slow, in part because we only do it every 4 years because of the Olympics. Changes to date have made the Laser accessible to a wider range of sailors and if strong sailors break their equipment by overstressing it the solution lies in their own hands.
When I bought my last Laser I thought long and hard and sailed an Aero many times before making the decision. In the end I stayed with the Laser because it cost 30% less, replacement spars and sails were less than half the price, the MK2 standard is more controllable if you are a lightweight (but nowhere near as good as the Aero), life expectancy of the boat, durability, resale value and the size of the club fleet.
The price is increasing and is now approximately the same as an Aero, more Aero's are appearing at the club so there is now competitive sailing, the Aero rig is more controllable than the Laser so next time around the choice is not going to be so clear cut. For many cost and durability are not important as parents buy the boat and it will only be used for a few seasons before the youngsters move on either to other classes, other sports or other interests in life. The Laser is simply loosing it's appeal, competitive advantage and position in the market.
Having tried the ARC rig I liked it, although I have concerns about some aspects of the technical implementation, and cannot wait to try it in a race to see how it compares in competition, I'm not looking for something faster but more controllable and as enjoyable to sail as the other new classes.
19 pages was a long text and had it not been for lockdown I could never have translated a document of this length. I felt it had some useful insights into the past and our current problems. Although I have different views to Gilles on some points I think he is right: ILCA's strategy and pursuit of the Olympic dream is the end of the Laser as we know it and it is now a class with one foot in the grave.
Perhaps not being adopted for the 2024 Olympics was the best outcome for RS and the Aero.
There are plenty of inaccuracies, misunderstandings and errors (by the original writer, that is), but that doesn't hurt most of the historical parts of the writing. I can totally identify with Mr Gluck, remembering how super-modern a Laser looked when seeing one for the first time in 1973 or '74. (And I think it still does - the design has aged remarkably well.) Many "new" pieces of information are interesting, such as the technical problems of Irish-built boats back in the day.
(And take quite some time.) If you absolutely want it, of course I can still do it.
