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Let's improve the Laser mainsail!
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bentye View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		Post Options Post Options   Quote bentye Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Let's improve the Laser mainsail!
    Posted: 09 Jan 07 at 11:02am
many people have seen to missed the point about the laser, yes it's expensive almost half the price of a decent car but if you look after your boat resale values are high. New designs and low volume racers are all very well but look at how many have become yesterdays big thing and are now generally unknown.
Yes the design of the laser is not perfect but that is not what I believe sailing is about. It is being on the water and racing. lasers are easy to put together, learn to sail and fleets are enormous and everywere in the world. I teach and rent kit out to clients all over the world and everyone recognises lasers and hobies they are the global brand of our sport. We need to make sailing less acessable not less, look at what happened to windsurfing when everyone went over to formula kit, it nearly killed the sport. Can going on about windsurfing this obsession with speed is not productive, less we don't want to blob along in a boat but if you want to go fast take up windsurfing or cat sailing and miss out on the joys of tight startlines, big fleets and cowded mark rounding.
Yes lasers are expensive but they are still the boat that gets people envolved and our fleets running at sustainable levels.
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Merlinboy View Drop Down
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Posts: 3169 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Merlinboy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jan 07 at 11:32pm
From my experience the quality of laser sails is rubbish, i used to get through 2 a season at least, it was ok then because i was sponsored by my dad and they were a ot cheaper, but i would never buy another laser because of the sail quality
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tickel View Drop Down
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Posts: 408 		Post Options Post Options   Quote tickel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jan 07 at 11:18pm
Lightning 368 uses a dacron sail but has a mast, the top part of which, is derived from a wind surfer. The latest top sections are carbon and are very bendy. Couple that with easy to operate paired minor controls and you have a fully controlable sail. It would be interesting to try that rig on a Laser but the laser mast is a great fat thing at the bottom with an even bigger hole to slop it into. Lightning sails cost about £300 from Bruce Banks.
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MRJP BUZZ 585 View Drop Down
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Posts: 1496 		Post Options Post Options   Quote MRJP BUZZ 585 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jan 07 at 11:00pm
But can you honestly see the laser dropping that low?

Also with laser selling everything that high, they have something to fall on if sales drop a bit and that is to lower the price slightly


Edited by MRJP BUZZ 585
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jan 07 at 10:42pm

I think Rob.e has a fair point there!  Lets not help laser by improving the main and rig, if we keep shtum they'll keep thinking they've got a good boat on their hands and then eventually when it gets DEselected as an olympic class (and it will one day), laser will have a huge shock on their hands when all of a sudden they aren't selling anymore boats!

Doug
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Rob.e View Drop Down
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Posts: 545 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Rob.e Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jan 07 at 8:55pm
Don't improve the bloody things, leave them as they are. Hopefully people will eventually realise just how 'orrible they actually are, and stop sailing them! Oh well, I can dream....
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bustinben View Drop Down
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Posts: 288 		Post Options Post Options   Quote bustinben Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jan 07 at 8:04pm

I don't think there's anything wrong with the laser mainsail other than the price. And let's be honest, laser are a business who want to make as much money as possible, so it doesn't make any sense for them to make their product more durable/affordable seeing as it's the most ubiquitous dinghy there is and they're still selling them by the bucketload.
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Ian99 View Drop Down
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Posts: 138 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Ian99 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jan 07 at 7:17pm
I think people worry about Laser sails becoming "worn out" far too much. After the first 5 uses, I don't reckon there's as much of a difference between a "nearly new" sail and one that's two or three years old as most people think.
I take great enjoyment out of sailing against brand new boats at the club, using my circa 1995 sail, which is nearer to brown than white, and has gaffer tape on the batten pockets and a leech that makes more noise than the rescue boat.  I have occasionally had comments made along the lines of "you had so much more boatspeed than me, is there something special about that sail?" True, I may have been going faster at that moment in time, but it will have had nothing to do with boatspeed and everything to do with hiking harder, spotting a good gust or shift and not sailing in dirty wind, which is the whole point of Laser sailing.
The laser rig should be left well alone, to be honest even the radial and 4.7 rigs don't feel quite right when compared to the original article.


Edited by Ian99
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Charlie View Drop Down
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Posts: 209 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Charlie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jan 07 at 7:15pm
Originally posted by jeffers


As for a mylar main, I am no sail designer but I do know that mylar sails and unstayed rigs do not mix.


Oh crap, it's lucky i've got a Dacron training sail somewhere, or even better i could get a proper cloth one, and then put on a wooden mast, get rid of the current carbon stick, then i'd show the others with their fancy modern Finn rigs.
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Posts: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Guest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jan 07 at 7:04pm

Originally posted by jeffers


As for a mylar main, I am no sail designer but I do know that mylar sails and unstayed rigs do not mix.

Oh dear ... you'd better tell Ben ...
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