chuso007

Terrifying... People have to be very desperate or very ignorant to risk their lives like that.

These are nice http://www.ewoltech.it/

Look, I love the laser and I'm not saying carrying your boat is something good, but being able to do it is. You should see some of the older sailors in my fleet dragging their boats (with their cockpits half full of water) up the ramp after a couple of hours racing... My point is big changes in design will effectively make a different class, and then the laser would lose it's advantage which is the current fleets you can race in around the world, and in exchange of what? A new boat that looks like an Aero? It'd make no sense.

I sail a laser every friday afternoon with a bunch of weekend warriors, mostly older than myself, and we run our monthly Grand Prix club race one Sunday a month. I don't know if there's a lot of people among the laser fleet around the world in a similar situation, but I reckon there are quite a few. I got my 1983 boat in exchange of a 400€ guitar. and I've invested just as much on a new Rooster MKII sail and a few strings, blocks and such, maybe a bit more. Could I realistically have this with another class? No. Would I rather sail a modern, light boat like the Aero? Yes. For a fleet like mine introducing the new rigs would make it a lot more expensive, many would not (or could not) do the investment and it would not bring any new sailors to it, so from my point of view, it's not worth it. Unfortunately for the laser class (IMHO) there's not a bright future unless they cut the prices by A LOT!, and even so... I asked the Spanish RS distributor the price of a new competitive Aero, he said about 8,000€, a new Laser goes for what, 7,000€? It's just a matter of time that the Laser becomes a class more for people like me, than people like Robert Sheidt... About a complete redesign of the boat (or new construction standards), I really don't think it can be done. If you bring a new boat that cannot compete with the old ones you lose the only advantage the laser now has, the fleet size. And to be honest, competing againtst this picture below is very hard, and old man carrying his boat like a windsurf board is the best advertisement I've ever seen.

...Unlike Juan fucking Vila.

I haven't bought a Spanish guitar in ages, I do own a 1939 Domingo Esteso though, a real gem in need of restoration...

They are all from Galicia though, IIRC...

Yup I did post a shitload of pictures there...

I travel around the coast for work, so I know almost every town, definitely every town with a boatyard. I admit that as a Northerner (although I was born In Madrid and lived there for 20 years) I'm a bit biased towards the North. In my defense I'll say that I hate tourist traps, and most of the Mediterranean coast, as beautifu as it is and the great weather, it has, It is a tourist trap, evenmoreso in August, because it's the Spanish tourist season. That means lines in restaurants, not so good service (usually the waiters will be just inmigrants hired for the season, nothing wrong about it, no racist remark here, but a good waiter is a very important part of the restaurant exoerience, IMHO) In August? Yes. Now? Only for food About Spanish art, you'll have to be more specific, this country is really old! You can see the oldest (I think) cave paintings in Europe up in Altamira, or go to the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid for the latest stuff. In between, you can check out: Architecture: Cathedrals, from the oldest Romanic to the Sagrada Familia, you have every style, (also thousands of smaller churches all around). León, Segovia, Zamora, Burgos, Sevilla, Córdoba, Santiago de Compostela and Palencia are the best Cathedrals, and of course the Arab Architecture in Granada and Córdoba. Check out the monasteries and castles too. If you do the "Ruta de los pueblos blancos" (White towns route) you'll get a beautifull trip of the interior of Andalucía. but again, you can melt down there in August. Paintings. Go to Madrid. There's no other place like El Prado, anywhere. Also the Sorolla Museum, Lázaro Galdeano Museum and of course the Thyssen Museum. If you go to Madrid you MUST go to se the Monasterio del Escorial (about 40kms. away) You'll drop your jaw there, pick it up because that day I would also drive to Pedraza or Sepúlveda in nearby Segovia (also an outstanding catedral, and the castle that inspired Walt Disney) and eat some cochinillo and/or cordero. You'll thank me later. Also in Madrid, best luthiers there, but I'd bet my ass they'll be closed in August. Madrid is empty in August, so it's the best time to visit. (I'm a guitarist myself, what kind of instrument are you looking for?) Music: For flamenco, Madrid or further South, Sevilla, Córdoba and Cadiz are the best. Beaches: The best in Spain are in Cádiz and Galicia, no questiln about it, except for the ones in the islands (Balearic and some in Canarias) but again, too crowded in August. My recommendation for what you want, in August, Andalucia, Madrid and the North. Avoid the super touristic trap of the Med coast, it's not authentic anymore, If you want to see the real Spain, that's away from the coast, except in Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and País Vasco. Believe it or not, YES. But I wouldn't go to the really hot places, and that includes definitely Mallorca and Med coast, except Marbella area, because the mountain range behind it makes it cooler. Awfully touristy though...

As a Spaniard I don't think I'd recommend most of tbe places mentioned above ... Too touristic. What would you like to do or see?

Titan=Tighten??? That's the first thing I thought of but what do I know... I'm Spanish, I miss most of the humour in this forum.

I've been offered a ride, but there are so many reasons I can't do it (family, work, money..), that I'm running off to buy a lottery ticket. Just in case

I've had that problem on a mini 650 (I'm not sure what the English name of the lines is, they are the ones that position the bowsprit sideways). At first I thought the problem was that the eye splices were not correctly done, thus making the core strands work unevenly (the "bumps" you could feel inside the rope were evenly distributed inside), then I thought maybe it was the core turning inside the cover. Not really sure what the cause was, I ended up replacing them. The line did not go through any block, just a fairlead and a clutch.

Nice!

Chainsaw time?