Laser vs RS Aero for 2024

No idea.

As I read the evaluation form, the Laser came second primarily because of supply problems and issues with consistency of manufacture, and not because of the boat itself, which scored well on many factors. If the ILCA and new manufacturers got their act together swiftly and sorted out supply and tightened up the tolerances in the construction manual then a rescore would probably put the Laser first.

So the results lead to a nasty dilemma: do you vote for the boat that had a better score excluding the supply side, and hope that the current shenanigans will have sorted themselves out by the time the next Olympic cycle starts, or do you vote for the boat that has the better score now, even though that advantage may have vanished by then?

Glad I don't have to make that decision!

Aero, with the reservation that could RS supply enough boats alongside the increased demand? 

Edited by Sam.Spoons - 14 May 19 at 1:57pm

Probably not immediately but I think the types who would give sailing/racing a serious try will research a little and be more attracted to the high tech nature of the boat than the 'different virtues' of the Laser.

Edited by Sam.Spoons - 14 May 19 at 2:20pm

It could still be any of the 4, WS has previous for ignoring the evaluation trials recommendations...

Regards production all 4 boats have the issue in terms of supply/builders and being FRAND compliant. RS and Devoti at least said they would comply with this and appoint builders to ensure supply was met. The current Laser debacle is going to roll on and on not least because WS/ILCA are no inspect the LP factory at the end of the month.

I expect the vote will likely be hurry up and wait.

As for the comments about build, I am not sure of the source but the D-Zero is pretty robust for a light boat. There were some early production niggles but you get that and the builder sorted them and made tweaks to the production method to mitigate them.

Originally posted by laser193713 Originally posted by jeffers As for the comments about build, I am not sure of the source but the D-Zero is pretty robust for a light boat. There were some early production niggles but you get that and the builder sorted them and made tweaks to the production method to mitigate them. The source I referred to was the World Sailing report which rated the quality relative to the other boats in the trials, the D-Zero being by far the lowest scoring on quality, which surprised me. How much worse than a Laser can it be!?