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Carbon Topmast for the Radial
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    Posted: 16 Dec 05 at 12:23pm

Originally posted by Chew my RS

1. More than any other class, the Laser promotes itself as a strict one-design. It is therefore never going to be at the forefront of technology. Anyone who buys a Laser must surely accept this fact. Tens of thousands of people would need to splash out to update their kit and remain competitive, which wouldn't be popular.

errr .... what about the new controls; £150 it cost just for a new Harken kicker ... the class has adopted that pretty fast ...

Originally posted by Chew my RS

2. Carbon masts are easy to sand down and/or build up to change the bend charecteristics. There would be a great temptation on the Olympic hopefuls to do this, to optimise the mast for their own body weight/prevailiong wind conditions etc. Obviously this goes completely against the OD ethos, but would be difficult to police as the masts are hidden under the luff sleave.

I think at the top level the RC may have a little peek under the sail ...

Originally posted by Chew my RS

3. Just because the IOC have selected the wrong boat for the Olympics, this is not the fault of the average club sailor. Why change the boat to suit the Olympians, who make up a tiny fraction of Radial users.

The carbon mast would make it easire for smaller sailors to manage the radial what ever their level of ability

Originally posted by Chew my RS

4. If you want a Laser type boat with a carbon mast, get a Byte!

Because there arn't many of them about and fleet racing is more fun ...
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Posts: 2753 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Isis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 05 at 12:35pm
Originally posted by Guest#260

Originally posted by Chew my RS

2. Carbon masts are easy to sand down and/or build up to change the bend charecteristics. There would be a great temptation on the Olympic hopefuls to do this, to optimise the mast for their own body weight/prevailiong wind conditions etc. Obviously this goes completely against the OD ethos, but would be difficult to police as the masts are hidden under the luff sleave.

I think at the top level the RC may have a little peek under the sail ...



Agreed, modifications to the mast would be spotted at top level but are we saying that every mast will come out the factory the same? It is well know that many of the top level sailors shop around for 'one design' parts of slightly different stiffnesses/weights. (I think the 'fastest' combination is suposd to be a euro bottom section, aus top section and a US hull) Using composites would lead to even more variation than the alloy spars IMO
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Posts: 790 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Chew my RS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 05 at 12:41pm

errr .... what about the new controls; £150 it cost just for a new Harken kicker ... the class has adopted that pretty fast ...

With hindsight, I wouldn't have been in favour of that either, but at least that was an 'ease of use' change, not a performance one.  Changing the topmast is 'ease of use' for the smaller sailor, but at a disadvantage to those who are at the design weight.

I think at the top level the RC may have a little peek under the sail ...

You're probably right, but would it be that hard to trick them?

The carbon mast would make it easire for smaller sailors to manage the radial what ever their level of ability.

If you're too small for the boat, get something else.   Making it easier for lightweights is unfair on heavy weights.

Because there arn't many of them about and fleet racing is more fun ...

If people bought Bytes, then a fleet would develop!

P.S. I haven't worked out how to quote yet!
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Posts: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Guest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 05 at 1:16pm
Originally posted by Chew my RS

P.S. I haven't worked out how to quote yet!

Use that button over the RHS that says "Quote"

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Posts: 92 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Sarah B Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 05 at 1:23pm

I transferred from the Europe to the Radial and am not sure how much difference a carbon top section would make. Don't forget that at Worlds & Olympics you are given kit, so the shopping around then is irrelevant.

The biggest problem I have found with the transition is driving the heavier hull weight (the Laser hull is 10kg more than the Europe) through the waves by using my body action. I am not sure how much easier it would be with a carbon rig as you are still driving the same weight through the water.

At the moment a top section is just under £100 - will this cost be achievable with carbon?
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
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Posts: 2753 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Isis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 05 at 1:29pm
Originally posted by Sarah B

At the moment a top section is just under £100 - will this cost be achievable with carbon?



Im sure its possible to manufacture for that much but id imagine Laser would want to jump on the 'look at us using space-age materials' wagon and sell for many times that
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Posts: 790 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Chew my RS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 05 at 1:32pm
Originally posted by Guest#260

Originally posted by Chew my RS

P.S. I haven't worked out how to quote yet!

Use that button over the RHS that says "Quote"

 

Ah, yes.

Thanks!
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Posts: 583 		Post Options Post Options   Quote m_liddell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 05 at 5:13pm

The best place for more info on this is the laser forum, http://www.laserforum.org/.

A post on there seemed to indicate that the top section was at the brink of being sorted and ready to be implimented until on of the sections in Europe broke and sent them back to the drawing board. More than enough people have broken Al top sections in the past though...

I think moving to a carbon top section is a great idea. The competitive weight range is 65kg-72kg for the radial (77k-80kg for full rig) and I don't see any fit girls weighing 65kg unless they are 5'9"+ in height which is also pretty uncommon.

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Posts: 46 		Post Options Post Options   Quote GBR176671 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 05 at 6:06pm
To be honest It would not be fair on the women who have put the time into gaining the weight for the radial class and have developed fast rig settings for all of the different conditions.
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Posts: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Guest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 05 at 6:15pm

Originally posted by GBR176671

To be honest It would not be fair on the women who have put the time into gaining the weight for the radial class and have developed fast rig settings for all of the different conditions.

I am sure any woman who has gained weight deliberatly to sail a boat would be much happier without it ...
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