Looper

Surprisingly, the Laser was the best choice for me the last 10 years as a 20-40 something. After trying to race on OPBs which included deliveries, crew meetings, practice, boat prep, etc, hardly any time was actually spent racing. What other boat can I sail that has a huge OD fleet with countless events all over the place? Meanwhile, i don't have to manage crew and the boat can travel cheap on the roof of my car or on a trailer with a couple other people. When I want to go sailing close to home, I head down to the harbor, spend 5-10 minutes rigging, kick the boat in the drink and i'm off sailing. Now for the issue at hand. I understand that the changes to the top section and the mk2 sail were about durability and less about performance. These new rig/sail combos will be a huge fundamental change to the boat that basically makes it a new (read: different) boat. And in all seriousness, at what performance gain? I can't imagine that the boat will be that much faster or sail significantly better. If the boat was such a slug in the first place you wouldn't see the world's top racers in the boat that you do today competing in it. People flock to the Laser because of the quality of the racing, not because it's easy to lift or sails a little better around the course. I say leave the boat alone, continue to make small incremental changes, and if it loses Olympic status, so what? For the first 25+ years of it's existence the Laser did just fine without the Olympics. I'm sure the same would hold true if they went away as well.

I'd love to hear insight from others. In my mind this is just a express lane to further divide the class and accelerate the decline.

Far East 34R?

I don't think anyone has chimed in with the Farr 395 as an alternative. Will probably save you 2-3 crew needed to get the boat to leave the dock. Most of the Carroll Marine issues have been fixed on the boats by now.

Just got through my first season with my 7.9 #20. I go out with 3 small kids (8, 5, 3) and a wife. Boat is easy for me to take out with that troop, and it's fine for the wife and I when we go out without the kids. I use mine on Lake Michigan and it handles all conditions handed to it just fine. I had my fair share of issues this season, but all are attributed to the fact that the boat was sitting for 2 years and was needing some extra love. Yes there are balsa issues you can have with the boat, yes they can be fixed. I even have the often dreaded BMW diesel in mine and to be honest, it runs just fine. All my issues were attributed to getting rid of shitty fuel that had been in the tank for years. We took the boat to the class championship (even had a top 10 finish in our 3rd race ever in the boat), spent several nights on it at the dock, and introduced about 25 of our friends and family to the sport of sailing. The boat is built very well, sails like it's attached to rails and has given us a season full of fun. You'll have to tear mine from my lifeless fingers, it's not for sale.

In my mind, when you have the Olympic status a class stands to gain knowledge capital by having top-tier sailors and coaches working with the boat. Then through clinics and demonstrations the best techniques are trickled down to the masses. I'm not sure how big of a deal this is, but I do know that the Laser is the only boat/class I'm aware of that has at least two training facilities dedicated to learning how to sail the boat (international sailing academy and cabarete). Not sure what the other classes have to offer.

Yea, between 11:42 and 13:15 is 1 hr 23 mins... In that time they went 33 NM. Nearly a 24kt average in that window.

This might come down to how many boats actually exist out there. From the Class perspective, there are 0 boats registered in California, 1 in Oregon, 3 in Washington, 2 in Idaho, 1 in New Mexico and 0 in Nevada. http://s279.org/membership/memberdisp.php You might be better served opening this up to all MORC boats and making it a MORC event, not a 7.9 one.

Come race with us at CCR!

AFAIK, things went pretty late. I started having trouble speaking around 11 so I decided to do a faceplant in my v-berth. People were still going pretty strong at that point

I've been a bar steward for these pours before. Typically the keg gets tapped when the steward opens the bar. I'd guess 6PM.

Labatt Blue Light. The only good tasting light beer.

FYI. The 7.9 was $50k without sails, trailer and engine. See attached. This run would have happened had it not been for the recession that was occurring. It is my understanding that Tiara/Pursuit has since destroyed the molds. S2_Yachts_7_9_Limited_Edition_Final.pdf

Ditto what these guys said for the Laser (in my case), EXCEPT I also bought the keel boat so we can sail together comfortably as well. I get my racing, she get's to daysail. I get to sail twice as much (or some weeks even more) as when I just sailed my Laser on my allocated one night per week.

There is a 7.9 on the Class Facebook Page that is listed for $4k in Wisconsin. Boat needs a little cosmetic love, but the seller bills it as solid. I'm pretty sure AlanH is on SF bay and has a CB 7.9.