Laser with a carbon mast??

Originally posted by eric_c Just remember that the Laser PYs are based on a lot more data than most others.

And always have been. In my time our local series was won by a Laser sailing off 1078, back in what 2004?Honestly I've lost interest in the whole charade now, which I know I'm meant to, because the whole thing is geared to make class racing seem the Holy Grail which it really isnt.
But whatever, every now and then, like this weekend just gone, something good happens, our youngest entrant has been away training in his Topper, and took both races on spreadsheet and nobody could be happier for him than me.

Lasers also have their place, they provide a good steady input of cheapskate tightwads which are of course perfect dinghy sailors and might one day become GP14 sailors.

Edited by iGRF - 19 Apr 22 at 11:19am

Originally posted by davidyacht Will be interesting to see if the PY of a Laser diverges from that of an ILCA

Originally posted by boatshed Originally posted by 423zero No, number is slower year on year. Oh. Must be the only class that adopted a carbon mast and went slower. Never mind, it was just my surprise at seeing carbon sticks on a Laser. I’ve not really sailed for two years, which explains a lot

Witty comment

The weight, bending characteristics and CoG are supposed to be the same as the tin one. As has been said above, the change is about robustness and longevity. Hence performance of the boat should be unchanged. The PY returns of the sailors sailing Lasers/ILCAs in handicap races suggest those people were performing relatively less well. But given the last PY update was 2021 based on results from the preceding year, I doubt a statistically significant number of those boats had a composite top section costing £550. I’d wager more were sailing with damage-induced pre-bent (aka slow) tin top sections than composite ones.

Originally posted by boatshed Originally posted by 423zero No, number is slower year on year. Oh. Must be the only class that adopted a carbon mast and went slower. Never mind, it was just my surprise at seeing carbon sticks on a Laser. I’ve not really sailed for two years, which explains a lot

Edited by Grumpycat - 19 Apr 22 at 2:14pm

if helps keep insurance premiums down, then it's progress... personally I always felt awkward claiming for a top section, it definitely hovers in the 'known running cost' area of general maintenance, of which Laser sailors are spared a fair amount compared to a lot of classes.