Latest legal Laser tweaks????

What a lot of [stuff] in this thread. What the Laser delivers is certainty. Certainty that there will be other boats to sail against wherever you go, certainty that you can just order up bits when you need them without puzzling over which is the best brand, certainty that you have the same kit as everyone else, certainty that you can turn up at the sailing club and go out on reasonably even terms with the rest of the fleet without having to pore over tuning guides, play with mast rake etc etc.

Those aren't things that particularly appeal to me, which is why I don't sail one, but they are valuable to a lot of weekend sailors who don't give a damn for chatter on forums or class politics and all the rest of the [redacted], and I think its a damn good thing for the sport that such certainty is available for those who need it.

So it ****** me off that people and companies attempt to destroy that certainty, simplicity whatever for their own ends, be it flogging fake parts, persistent knocking of the boats, playing business fighting games or whatever. If you don't like the Laser fine. Loads of other boats. Brand new classes, older classes, 80s designs, you name it its out there and you can sail it if you want...

Edited by JimC - 18 Jun 14 at 11:05am

Well without the Laser and I view it in much the same vein as Jims excellent post, we would have half the competitors at our club. It also amazes me how fast the damn thing still is in good hands which we have a couple of cleaning up thanks to it's generous handicap.

So I certainly don't see it going away any time soon, nor do I care about all the legalities and illegalities which it sounds like we could use to make life very awkward for the Mackerel boys if we chose to be anal about it, I'm sure we have probably only got a couple that are truly legal and that's probably due to age rather than design.

But, it wouldn't do any harm if there were a reliable resource where folk could go to find out what's what, nor would it be a bad thing if there were a proper commercial operation looking after things other than a retailer. Did they leave an Agent style operation in place after the demise of Performance Sailcraft? Who is the go to source if you wanted to buy say a bunch of them now?

Laser Performance

Originally posted by jeffers Laser Performance Purple Northampton Sailboats Are the 3 official sources of new boats I know of. Obviously LP are the builder so you are buying direct.

Originally posted by kneewrecker That's sounds like a plea for 'live and let live' - can't fault that view Jim.  The commercial interpretation of that would be 'free consumer choice', again I get that and support it.  However the dice are loaded in favour of the Laser- supported top down from elite sport and bottom up from grassroots junior programmes.

Edited by Chris 249 - 18 Jun 14 at 11:58am