Re: Food for thought & Weighted Centerboards

[Lainie9126 (at) AOL.COM]

In a message dated 12/16/99 10:06:35 AM Mountain Standard Time, 
charles.w.queen@boeing.com writes:

<< If we want to make the Laser something different, change the rules.  Why 
not sliding hiking boards? >>

Guess you haven't laid an eye on the Laser.eps that's being marketed in 
Europe now?  PSE built this a couple of years ago.  It has "wings"  and 
Carbon Fiber masts and a whole lot of the "upgrades" that have been suggested 
and discarded for Laser.

You could say it's another singlehander competing with it's own mother.  I 
don't think so.  There never will be enough of them around to provide the 
great competition that Laser fleets have.  They're fancy and expensive and 
probably a little faster and easier to sail than a Laser.  But who wants one 
if there's no fleet to race it against?

What you're saying sounds to me like "if you're not big enough or strong 
enough or man enough to sail a Laser, go sail something else".  Sorry, I 
don't want to go sail a Sunfish, or a Europe Dinghy even though either would 
be a better boat for me.  There's no fleet of either class within 800 miles 
of where I live.

I'm saying we can keep the Laser's one-design beauty intact, and still 
attract or keep women and masters and other non-Olympic caliber sailors by 
making the careful changes we have been.  They don't change the performance 
of the boat, they just make it better for more people.

Ask around for opinions of the Masters you'll meet at events this year.  Bet 
you'll find a lot more in favor of gradually upgrading, than "no changers".

We (ILCA) also need to help the manufacturer keep his product competitive in 
the market.  Making them sell 25 to 30-year-old technology on a brand-new 
($4000) boat ain't gonna do this. This is what we do if we don't evolve the 
Class Rules along with the times. Even Volkswagen had to change the bug over 
the years.  Still, they didn't change it enough to compete with the Japanese 
small cars.  They took it off the market and - years later - produced the 
present model.  We don't have that last option with Laser.  Without a 
successful builder, the Class would die a painful death.

BTW I bought my first Laser when I was 19.  That was, let's see, in 1971.  I 
liked to steer and be in charge, and they wouldn't always let me on my Dad's 
IOR boat.

Lainie
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