Ah... one design!

(The Daily Sail subscription website took a look at the equipment top Laser
sailors use to maximize their performance. Here are just a few excerpts
from their comprehensive story.)

When it comes to highly technical boats the Laser and Laser Radial are
usually not ones considered top of the list. Lasers are supposed to be
identical, the ultimate one design, and as if this weren't enough of a
great leveller when you attend the Laser World Championships your kit is
supplied to you and you must use that. While this might eliminate all
possibility of technical development, the Laser is still a manufactured
item, made to maximum and minimum tolerances, so there is a degree of
variation from boat to boat and as a result there are some technical ways
to improve your chances of winning. This may not help you at a World
Championship, but there are still many other events where the equipment is
not supplied and you can sail your own boat.

When a mast is made by Laser it has to weigh in between a set minimum and
maximum tolerance for it to be sold. Jon Emmett, a prominent Laser Radial
sailor and coach, explains how this can be used to your advantage: "The
method of manufacture for the Laser masts is extrusion and if you stick
them on accurate scales you know how heavy they are and the heavier they
are obviously the stiffer they are." To take the idea even further there
has been trend for competitors to buy their masts overseas. There was a
trend recently in the Laser Radial fleet of buying masts from Australia
because it was said that they were made closer to the top end of tolerance
than any other country.


From the Scuttlebut newsletter!

Hey... the Tornado's went to Carbon sticks because some teams spent a small fortune developing stiffer alu sticks which measured in ... but only a few teams had access to them!

ISAF was not pleased...
Either the class developed a LEVEL and Equitable playing field or they would loose their Olympic status.

So, the new carbon sticks are all built to extremely tight tolerances, measured at the Marstrom factory and certified according to ISO5000??? standards. ISAF keeps the log and verify's the measurements. If the independent ISAF measurer flunks your manufacturing process... your equipment is not legal and the competitors who use it will be DSQ'd.

Oh yeah... ALL ISAF classes will have to rewrite their class rules to fit the STANDARD template by 2008 and they will have an option to opt into the ISAF equipment certification programs.

You should see the laser measuring device US Sailing had to purchace inorder to spec out a Yingling, etc etc hull!!!

(information from the US Sailing One Design technical breakout session, Annapolis, MD Nov 2005)

The Tornado mast issue could easily have been solved. Just include a rule in the class rules that masts (or other equipment) have to be available to everybody who wants to buy it. I believe there was such a rule earlier, at least I heard a story from the 80's where Gøran Marstrøm was assembling his boat and the other sailors noticed his large diameter crossbeams. The measurers hit him with "you can not sail that boat, as those beams are not available to everybody". Gøran opened the lid on his trailer, and had 20 identical beams ready for sale in it..


"one design" != "identical"..

Lasers also have variance in thier mast rake,depending on the mast step.

Hi Rolf

I believe that the fix would still have been inadequate. You would just have the same situation as the laser class without the option of a supply of boats at the worlds and the Olympics.

Not sure but I believe I heard that the carbon stick allowed the heavier teams to have a level playing field in the lighter stuff (5 knots and above). Not sure what this weight range is currently at the elite level.

Mark



Mark

Yes, there would still be a difference in masts, as the dies used in extrusion got worn out. But the playing field for the pro's would still be level, as they all searched for masts of different stiffness and could choose the profile they believed in. The rest, who does not have olympic ambitions, could live in the belief that we had the same equipment as the pros.
Now everybody are stuck with a stiff carbon mast, and has to adjust to it, instead of finding a section that fits their weight. Interestingly enough, I have not heard or read about comparisons of the speed between the two. Not even before the ballot. This season, we was clearly faster than a T with the carbon stick, so it's not an essential on the hobbyist level.

(In addition, lots of sailors can't afford to upgrade, and further degrade their motivation for participating in class events. But what is, is. So..)

I guess the competitive weight is still from 135Kg to 160Kg (ca.)

There was an article in Seahorse, where Juan K. wrote about a reiteration of the Star design. He was playing around with keel placement and volume distribution within the one-design class rules. There are some room to work within, as the rules often allow some margins for homebuilders. With todays CNC plug shaping, it gives the designers enough room to make a difference in the hands of olympic quality sailors.

one design does not mean identical. it is only intended to say the differences are with in a tolerance. when you compete at the top of any fleet those tolerances should not make a difference in the final outcome of a race/regatta.

as a junior laser sailor, Dick Tillman showed up one afternoon to play. he took the worst boat that had a polypropelene maisheet and a trashed sail. anyone wish to guess the outcome? he trounced the fleet.

so going back to Mark's other post about resentment, that afternoon is where it (resentment)started for me!