R1 - I'm useless at woodwork and have never taped a carbon in my life. Maybe this isn't the boat for me. I've been spoiled with the sturdiness and low maintenance needs of the Laser.
Building your own foiler from scratch will set you back roughly $6 to $7k for materials alone. Buying one off the peg will set you back roughly $20k. Your choice. Actually sailing a foiler has a steep learning curve but most who try do seem to eventually succeed. After making the investment one assumes the owner tells himself he'll either do this or die trying.
What ever happened to those kits that were supposed to transform a laser into a foiler?
Well yes, that was waaaay back in August. By now I'd have thought these kits would be all over the place given the general availability of lasers and the hot blooded young hipster-men who sail them. I mean not every guy with a laser is frittering his money away on G-kids and running shoes.
I think the price of the foiling kit may be a factor George. It's not much less than the price of a new Laser. And we hot-blooded hipster Laser sailors are always whining about the price of a new sail ($600 or so) so I don't see many of us buying a foiling kit for $5,800 (Australian.) I don't even pay that much for a new pair of running shoes.
The laser foiling system is sound, the problem is the weight of the hull, the inefficient sail and the mainsheet system.
Foiling a laser....like riding a Harley on Dirt, like snow skiing on water skis, like looping a loop in a 747. Can be done, but there's better ways to do it
19 comments:
T! Do you think it's in you? Pardon my straightforwardness, but this little rocket ship is for younger guns, dontcha think? Love you man
I know a few ex-Laser Moth sailors. They're very good at woodwork and carbon taping these days.
Go for it, Tillerman!!!! Can't wait for the video!
R1 - I'm useless at woodwork and have never taped a carbon in my life. Maybe this isn't the boat for me. I've been spoiled with the sturdiness and low maintenance needs of the Laser.
Baydog - you could be right.
Do it, Tillerman. How hard can it be?
I've seen Nathan Outteridge's videos and it all looks very simple.
And I understand the level of competition is very low, so there's a World Championship just waiting to be won...
Building your own foiler from scratch will set you back roughly $6 to $7k for materials alone. Buying one off the peg will set you back roughly $20k. Your choice. Actually sailing a foiler has a steep learning curve but most who try do seem to eventually succeed. After making the investment one assumes the owner tells himself he'll either do this or die trying.
What ever happened to those kits that were supposed to transform a laser into a foiler?
George, I don't know about lasers, but you might be interested in other monohulls with foils. See:
http://www.cfboats.com/research-and-development/20-sailing-hydrofoil/
http://www.dynamicstabilitysystems.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L29s21-MvAQ&feature=em-upload_owner
Aussie Scow Moth sailors have gotten Scows to lift. Perhaps a more stable platform:
https://www.facebook.com/jfyachts/photos/a.620909804703646.1073741829.619053038222656/620909894703637/?type=1&theater
A kit to convert a Laser to a foiling Laser is available from Glide Free Foils in Australia and their dealers in other countries.
I wrote about it in this post (and others) back in August 2013.
Well yes, that was waaaay back in August. By now I'd have thought these kits would be all over the place given the general availability of lasers and the hot blooded young hipster-men who sail them. I mean not every guy with a laser is frittering his money away on G-kids and running shoes.
I think the price of the foiling kit may be a factor George. It's not much less than the price of a new Laser. And we hot-blooded hipster Laser sailors are always whining about the price of a new sail ($600 or so) so I don't see many of us buying a foiling kit for $5,800 (Australian.) I don't even pay that much for a new pair of running shoes.
Let's try foiler Moth boating. Step 1: How to bury the bow while doing 20 knots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brLcjM4IRvc
Thanks George. I am going to study that video intensively. I am pretty good at crashing Lasers so this should be a piece of cake.
Just think: a nice facial "shroud" scar could be as sought after as a turn of the last century saber dueling scar.
I noticed that. I am thinking of borrowing my wife's make-up kit and giving myself some fashionable fake shroud-crash scars before my next regatta.
You'll be lookin' good in a class which has nothing but free standing rigs--an ironic scar; I like it!
Exactly George. Bad ass is bad ass. Even among hot-blooded hipster Laser sailors.
The laser foiling system is sound, the problem is the weight of the hull, the inefficient sail and the mainsheet system.
Foiling a laser....like riding a Harley on Dirt, like snow skiing on water skis, like looping a loop in a 747. Can be done, but there's better ways to do it
Thanks Luke. Kind of what I suspected.
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