Changes to the Laser thru the years

49208

Tentmaker
From the Boom Preventer thread:
Add to it....

Laser never changed? Oh, not so, grasshopper. Here are a few:
Name change from 'Weekender' with TGIF on the sail to Laser
Wood foils to glass/foam
inside rails wood to plastic
original Elvstrom sail to 3.2 to 3.8 oz cloth
tillers and extensions opened up
sleave allowed in boom
traveler line knot arrangement allowed
lots of configuration of the lines of vang, outhaul and cunningham allowed
deck mainsheet cleats allowed
bungee on board allowed, recently modified
all new vang, outhaul and cunningham systems introduced
line, then velcro and then metal JC sleave allowed at clew tie-down
M, radial (several incarnations) and 4.7 rigs intoduced
tape allowed here and there
Anyone think of more?:
I'd not enjoy the original Laser as much as I do today's craft. I bought Ron Krippendorf's 1974 boat with all original equipment a couple years ago. Strictly a museum piece. He used it three times and garaged it for 30 years. I opted not to sail it. Newer boats are more fun.
But lack of a JC strap to automatically hold out the boom off the wind is not a deal-breaker.
Dave Ellis

One more:

The rudder gudgeons changed from metal to plastic.
 
Foam floatation blocks to the plastic cubitainer
Plastic fairleads to almag
plastic cleats to alum.
Boom vang attachment fitting on boom has changed
Bigger rudder pivot bolt
hiking strap material opened up for change
gooseneck fitting strengthened
straight to curved vang key and bigger dia vang pin for lower attachment


even the lowly drain plug in the transom has changed
 
Bailer, and Inspection ports were not original.
2nd vang key
Steel disk in mast step
Mast hold down line.
Tape in centerboard slot, faired slot (as Vanguard does now)
Tape on spars
Curved batten ends
Compass allowed, and electronic aids banned
pads on the strap, bungee on the strap
Harken clew hook, or shackle
Windex
Clothing weight limits, wearing water bottle ban (may have been no class change)
Mark 5 to Mark 6 radial cut

The latest changes to board bungee, and board stopper, plus the bailer plug.

Geez, I can hardly keep up!

Al Russell
182797 (originally 1041)
 
We should also create a list of the "changes" that no one stuck with, after the class did change it, or were later upgraded to a sensible solution, after more thought and experimentation. Here are some:

Stupid rope tricks (SRT)
Thimbles to save the lines when doing SRT
Ban on kevlar lines (when using the SRT)
wear tape on spars (not used by top guys who want the rake)
wear tape in slot (made board jump up even more?)
Harken hook (hardly seen now, thought unreliable)
Velcro strap on clew (doomed, I'd say)
short boom sleeve (now they are longer)
Banning wood boards in newer boats(who'd bother now?)
2 vang keys (do people still do that?)
Vang swivel (we used to pay 65 bucks for that, in 1980 $)
Magic markered numbers ban (to save weight and $, we all did that)
Metal sleeves in c-ham eye.

No need to rush these changes, lol.

Al
 
people still tape their spars, some of mine are
i know people that have 2 vang keys
LOTS of people use hte velcro clew strap
people still use the harken clew hook
"Metal sleeves in c-ham eye" and i just dont get that one
 

Back
Top