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'Fake/Training' Laser Sails
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    Posted: 18 Apr 06 at 8:56am

At our club we are thinking about allowing people to race with the fake or training sails that you can by e.g. Rooster Laser Sails.

If anyone has any knowledge of these could they please address the below 4 points

1) What is you club?
2) Do you allow people to club race with "fake/training" sails (yes/no)?
3) Do the "fake/training" sails offer any performance advantage (yes/no)?
4) Are there any other points to consider?

regards,

Rick



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Chew my RS View Drop Down
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Posts: 790 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Chew my RS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 06 at 9:23am

Good question.

I'm not sure whether anyone at my club (Chew Valley) has requested using a 'fake' laser sail before, but I have been considering doing so, so am interesed in any replies you get. We get around 25-30 lasers out on a Wednesday and the top eight positions or so are filled by the same usual suspects every week. These guys probably do at least one official Laser open a year, so I guess they will need a proper sail. The rest of us don't generally do any opens and aren't really competing at the front of the fleet, so (I would imagine) would welcome the opportunity to buy cheaper sails. I think its only right and fair to use a genuine Laser sail at official Laser events, but for club racing cheaper alternatives seem fair enough. After all, your club can create its own "class" for its purposes.

I guess it may be the sailors at he front of the fleet who take the most convincing that the 'fakes' should be allowed.
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Posts: 177 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Pabs Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 06 at 9:33am

Are club Combs S.C allows them. they dont seem to offer any better performance then a Hyde laser sail apart from on your wallet.

 

 
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elmo View Drop Down
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Posts: 31 		Post Options Post Options   Quote elmo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 06 at 9:59am

At my club the club owned lasers have (attractive neon) fake laser sails.

They seem to be considerably worse in performance than those with their own lasers, although it is hard to tell if that has to do with the difference in age of boats and the quality of sailor.

You'd have to be careful they were comparable, our "radial" sails are rumoured to be bigger than the real thing, and clearly cannot be true radial sails as they are not radially cut!
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Posts: 8956 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Rupert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 06 at 10:25am
There is nothing official at Whitefriars, but several people have raced and do race with fake sails. It is difficult to say whether they are slower than the real thing, but we have no reason to believe they are faster. I would say that so long as the sail is made to be cheaper than the real thing, we have no problem. If someone deliberately set out to make a faster sail, cost no option, then we would have to think again
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Posts: 401 		Post Options Post Options   Quote kasey3000 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 06 at 11:35am

A few people used to use the Rooster replica's at my last sailing club...

They didn't seem any faster or slower in any wind conditions...seemed to work about the same as the real Laser sails.
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Posts: 351 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Norbert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 06 at 12:11pm
Originally posted by Chew my RS

We get around 25-30 lasers out on a Wednesday and the top eight positions or so are filled by the same usual suspects every week. These guys probably do at least one official Laser open a year, so I guess they will need a proper sail.



I guess if you're going to be winning on a regular basis in a fleet of 25 - 30 competitive lasers then you're going to have to do it with an official sail, if you're just there to make up the numbers and have an occasional stab at glory why not... for god's sake!
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Posts: 1599 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Stefan Lloyd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 06 at 12:53pm
They aren't "fake sails". They don't pretend to be what they are not. They are "training sails".
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Posts: 583 		Post Options Post Options   Quote m_liddell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 06 at 1:05pm

Without try to derail this thread, do these 'training' sails last longer? The official sails have a pathetically short life.
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jeffers View Drop Down
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Posts: 3048 		Post Options Post Options   Quote jeffers Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 06 at 1:05pm
At Hunts we have just 'officially' voted on the use of 'training sails'. We decided that for Club racing using a training sail is fine but for open events an official Laser sail must be used.

We looked at many angles, one being making sailing affordable. There are many more people who will (and are willing to) pay the £250 (approx) for a training sail (Rooster appears to be the sail of choice but Hyde and Dolphin do make them as well).

They offer no advantage aside from some of them being made of a better quality cloth and as such have a longer competitive life than the 'official' sails. I had a Hyde one for 4 years while I sailed a Laser and it was still the correct shape (if a lot less crispy) when I passed it on to one of the junior members.

Regards,

Paul
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