Foredeck Shuffle
More of a Stoic Cynic, Anarchy Sounds Exhausting
I purchased a 1996 Laser a few weeks ago and have been cleaning it up and modernizing it for local racing. It has what appears to be the correct stickers that indicates it was a boat used in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (sailing venue was off Savannah), it has the pretty flower pattern on the boot stripe from that year. The history of the last two owners who make up nearly two decades of ownership is that the boat just sat with almost no use and other than the obvious UV damage to the bottom of the hull from reflections from the ground the boat is in immensely good condition. It is dry as a bone and I put an endoscope into the boat and had a good look around, no musty salt water funk only a mild epoxy smell.
The real reason for this post is because as I was rerigging the boat for current standard gear and replacing everything plastic that is not the hull, I noticed that the boom was really heavy. Picked up another boom from a newer Laser (2007) and it was significantly lighter. Weighed both and the Atlanta Laser boom is 3.06kg versus the other boom at 2.28kg, both are fully rigged and have the outhaul line on them. Figured that while the boat had not really been neglected, just not used, apparently the boom was full of mud or something at the gooseneck end. I was going to wait to drill out fittings for when the on order Laser Harken blocks arrived but cleaning the boom out seemed a good idea. Drilled out the rivet for the gooseneck plug, then the vang strap plate, no mud. Took a flashlight and I see an obvious sleeve that has been mounted with the vang plate rivets. Pop the endoscope in and the results are what you see in the linked video below. There is no sign anywhere on the outside of the boom of any stress or other reasons for the sleeve to have been installed. The corrosion patterns match the state of the rest of the rig. I put this to someone that professionally treats and preserves metal for a living and they stated that without putting the boom in their lab, they could only say that it appears to all be the same age.
Was this boom used to sail in the Olympics? How hard would it be to do this and get it on the water? How different would this make the boom and would you need to practice sailing with the exact set up to make it worth it? Did this boom really sail in the Olympics in this configuration? Wonder who sailed it?
Obviously, this is all conjecture. This boat is 26 years old and perhaps the rig is not even the same one the boat came with? But why is there a sleeve in this boom? As stated above, the entire rig has the same amount of galvanic corrosion on it. All of the little yellow official Laser tag parts look the same with a similar amount of wear and aging. Figured I would shit post this on SA before I finished re-rigging the boat, still need the new Harken blocks to finish the job anyway.
So, there you have it. A very difficult, perhaps completely un-confirmable mystery that slings mud at the innocent and dredges up shit for the fun and amusement of the less politic end of the racing community. Have at it and if you want me to post more photos or something relevant, feel free to ask. I may or may not respond but will definitely be slow at answering, I have things to do. But I have a good history with the Ed and if this drives some posts and ad banners into his bank account, so much the better. When the Harken blocks show up, I'll drill out the rest of the rivets on the boom and dump the sleeve and post photos of that.
(Edit: grammar and spelling corrections)
YouTube link of video (too long to TikTok it):
Direct link to video if you want a closer look. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VCPekQURW3-ODOMJl4GMXJrP-exBHX81/view?usp=sharing
The plate and hull number for the curious.
The real reason for this post is because as I was rerigging the boat for current standard gear and replacing everything plastic that is not the hull, I noticed that the boom was really heavy. Picked up another boom from a newer Laser (2007) and it was significantly lighter. Weighed both and the Atlanta Laser boom is 3.06kg versus the other boom at 2.28kg, both are fully rigged and have the outhaul line on them. Figured that while the boat had not really been neglected, just not used, apparently the boom was full of mud or something at the gooseneck end. I was going to wait to drill out fittings for when the on order Laser Harken blocks arrived but cleaning the boom out seemed a good idea. Drilled out the rivet for the gooseneck plug, then the vang strap plate, no mud. Took a flashlight and I see an obvious sleeve that has been mounted with the vang plate rivets. Pop the endoscope in and the results are what you see in the linked video below. There is no sign anywhere on the outside of the boom of any stress or other reasons for the sleeve to have been installed. The corrosion patterns match the state of the rest of the rig. I put this to someone that professionally treats and preserves metal for a living and they stated that without putting the boom in their lab, they could only say that it appears to all be the same age.
Was this boom used to sail in the Olympics? How hard would it be to do this and get it on the water? How different would this make the boom and would you need to practice sailing with the exact set up to make it worth it? Did this boom really sail in the Olympics in this configuration? Wonder who sailed it?
Obviously, this is all conjecture. This boat is 26 years old and perhaps the rig is not even the same one the boat came with? But why is there a sleeve in this boom? As stated above, the entire rig has the same amount of galvanic corrosion on it. All of the little yellow official Laser tag parts look the same with a similar amount of wear and aging. Figured I would shit post this on SA before I finished re-rigging the boat, still need the new Harken blocks to finish the job anyway.
So, there you have it. A very difficult, perhaps completely un-confirmable mystery that slings mud at the innocent and dredges up shit for the fun and amusement of the less politic end of the racing community. Have at it and if you want me to post more photos or something relevant, feel free to ask. I may or may not respond but will definitely be slow at answering, I have things to do. But I have a good history with the Ed and if this drives some posts and ad banners into his bank account, so much the better. When the Harken blocks show up, I'll drill out the rest of the rivets on the boom and dump the sleeve and post photos of that.
(Edit: grammar and spelling corrections)
YouTube link of video (too long to TikTok it):
Direct link to video if you want a closer look. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VCPekQURW3-ODOMJl4GMXJrP-exBHX81/view?usp=sharing
The plate and hull number for the curious.
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