Re: Laser Radial Mast Change

[Tracy Usher <usher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Emma,
  Believe it or not, the composite spar has seen a huge amount of 
discussion on The Laser Forum... You can easily search there for all the 
threads (and there are several), the most recent is to be found at: 
http://www.laserforum.org/showthread.php?t=2740&highlight=carbon+spar
(I am a huge fan of the Laser list but if you are not cruising through 
The Laser Forum on a daily basis then you are missing out on a HUGE 
number of really interesting Laser/Radial/4.7 discussions).
  In addition, Ned Jones did a nice Q&A in the Summer Laser Sailor on 
what is going on with them as well. And ILCA is planning to do an 
article in an upcoming Laser World.
  In a nutshell.... the motivation is to produce a more flexible spar 
which will open the competitive weight range of the Radial (hoping to 
prevent future repeats of Michael Blackburn types making guest 
appearances and winning the Radial Worlds - we can ignore the question 
of whether you think that is good or bad). For several (4?) years now 
the builders have been testing a set of approximately 300 composite 
tubes/spars to make sure they are: 1) more flexible than aluminum, 2) 
stronger than aluminum (ie won't break so easily), 3) able to produce a 
spar with the desired characteristics, and 4) able to be mass produced 
and sold at a reasonable price (with a cap at twice the price of aluminum).
  My understanding is that these spars are mostly fiberglass with a bit 
of carbon and have good UV and wear characteristics. In contrast to 
their aluminum counterparts, they will not develop permanent bends and 
will not have the collar attached by a rivet creating the eventual 
failure point. So, in theory, they should be the last upper section you 
will ever buy. That by itself is a major selling point to me (with more 
candidate booms laying around my garage than I will use in the rest of 
my life!).
  They have undergone rather extensive field testing with everyday 
sailors in fleets in the Northeast of the US, in the UK and Europe and 
in Australia. The feedback from the sailors (some of it in posts found 
in the link above) has been overwhelmingly positive with the most asked 
question being "when can I buy one?".
  This is not to say the project is completely out of the woods... As 
detailed in a post to the above Forum link by Eric Faust,  a spar given 
to, I believe, the French sailing team broke during testing in very 
breezy conditions and the exact reason was still under investigation. As 
I type this I have not heard any follow up on this but if it is still 
going to ISAF then the situation must have been resolved favorably.
  Assuming a resolution to the above, the idea is to introduce these new 
spars as required equipment at the Women's Radial Worlds, probably in 
2007, and Olympics. Otherwise, I **believe** there will be a phase in 
period as with other equipment changes in the past. Certainly there will 
be lots of time to see them before converting, though if the testing 
feedback is correct you are going to want one "right now!" There are no 
plans (that I am aware of) to introduce the spar to the Laser (after 
all, the desire is to open the Radial weight range, not the Laser). 
Still, I'm sure there will be incentive within a few years...
 
  Tracy
 

emma paull wrote:

>Instead of having lots of speculation and then the sailors being upset
>when they are presented with a new top section that may or may not
>affect their sailing why doesn't the class association and builders
>sell it to the class a bit more.
>Who tested them? Where did they test them? Comments from the testers?
>Have they been tried in competitions? Do they last longer than the
>aluminum ones? How does salt and UV affect them? Will they cost more
>or less than present?Will it be optional or will all radial sailors
>have to use them? Why are the builders and class looking for this
>change? Show some video of the different masts on the laser website so
>sailors could see the difference for themselves.
>
>Maybe a demonstration at the Radial Worlds?
>In fact the Radial worlds would be a great place to let the sailors
>(male and female) see the sections as these are the sailors that will
>be affected by it possibly more than others.
>
>Having a class of sailors read that there is going to be change to
>their rig via a submission to ISAF is not the best PR in the world!
>This is surely even more important if the class doesn't get the chance
>to vote on it.
>
>Regards
>Emma Paull
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