Jeff, and others:
Fred's on the road to CORK and may be out of touch for a few days so I'll
give this a shot.
Please note: he may disagree with me slightly, but usually he and I are
pretty much on the same page, and we've been debating this issue for the last
3 weeks between us, Paul Millsom the Chief Measurer, and some other top
sailors.
Fred didn't say painting your blade was illegal. The rule book specifically
allows "refinishing" which does include painting. I'd agree with you that
blades need paint on them to protect them, especially from soaking up water
which the foam inside has been known to do. I'm told that most paints we use
when we refinish our blades are much better, harder and more durable than
what comes on the blades when they're new. We'll get to that.
What Fred said was:
"If you are painting your board to make it quit rattling in the trunk...You
are cheating
If you are painting your board to fix up the shape...You are cheating
If you are painting your board because it really looks crappy, you can do
that but be careful not to alter the shape."
I just inspected 120-odd boards and the same number of rudders in San Diego
at the Nationals. All but one had paint almost everywhere, and the one that
didn't, I told the guy he should paint it because strictly speaking it wasn't
in "original" condition. One guy had a set of blades that were shinier than
my car after it's just been polished. I told him that in my opinion this was
an illegal finish job and I was sure that if Fred saw them at CORK he would
rule them illegal, but I let the guy sail. He was officially warned.
Before I went to San Diego, we started debating the rules on blades. The way
the "refinishing" rule is worded, it's way too open to individual
interpretation. I'm an idealist and see things pretty much in black and
white. Therefore, I thought anybody that has a blade with a better finish
than when it came out of the box had illegaly altered the original
characteristics.
But both Fred, our NA Measurer, and Paul our Chief Measurer for the whole
world, told me this was unrealistic. They're the ones in charge and they're
both certifiable experts. My husband told me MY blade was way better than
when it came out of the box . ..
If you scratch your new blade taking it out of the box, you are allowed to
sand the scratch out, and you will immediately have a smoother finish because
the blades COME with orange peel etc. We scratch, and dent and break pieces
off our blades all the time. We must repair them and refinish them - and
repaint them, too.
Basically, if it fits through the template, is the original shape (which the
template doesn't tell us), thickness (which the template does tell us, sort
of) and length and is not too shiny and beautiful we'll pass it. Fred says
he'll be able to tell if a blade has had stuff added to make it thicker. I
sure as heck am not going to attempt that.
What we want is for everyone to sail as close to the same equipment as
possible. Keep your boat stock and maintain it well, and we'll do our best to
make sure it stays competitive. Just checking stuff makes the cheaters think
twice, and the regular guys feel that somebody's watching out for their
interests. That's why I do it.
In Laser races we want it to be a contest of sailors, not a contest of boats.
We can all go sail PHRF if you want to do that.
If somebody wants to make their Laser a little bit better Laser, they should
be sailing in some other class. Actually, they are already. Hey, we could
have a start 5 minutes ahead of the Lasers for those guys in the "Not Quite a
Laser Class". I wonder if 5 minutes head start would be enough for them?
Lainie Pardey
North American Laser Class
