Composite Top Section - Any News?

Would others like to see the new composite top section released?


  • Total voters
    6
  • Poll closed .

Andy B

Member
The Olympics are over for another four years and all the Laser Championships are nearly finished. It would seem to be the ideal time to release the composite top section.

Does anyone have any idea if this is going to happen soon?
 
No idea. Just like the Mark II Standard sail, it may come quite suddenly, as there's no voting involved. It's not a change in the class rules, but the construction manual.

November 1st would probably be the best legalization date for the next season start in the southern hemisphere. So we might know in a few weeks.
 
I was thinking about this the other day. I'm wondering if they are having difficulty lining up a supplier to make the spar given the recent chaos in the class.

The new sail had a built-in immediate market as many people (like myself) put off buying a new sail until the new design came out. On the other hand, most people aren't going to buy a new spar until the one they have breaks. Don't get me wrong, I know some people really go through them and buy new ones more often than most people buy new sails.

The new spar is supposed to have the same bend characteristic as the aluminum spar, so there would be no advantage to rushing out and buying one when released (I'm sure some people will). Another issue could be cost. Intensity currently lists a carbon fiber practice spar for $400, and that's the sale price. Meanwhile, a class-legal aluminum upper goes for $210.
 
I'm wondering if they are having difficulty lining up a supplier to make the spar given the recent chaos in the class.
This would be LP:s problem - PSA has been in collaboration for a long time on this with Southern Spars, and PSJ has had the in-house production capability for years.
 
would they use the same collar or possibly design one that tapers into the upper section? (making a new collar available to older alu tops as well)
 
The reason for asking about the composite top section is the new MKII standard is a great sail and I like it; but is it putting more stress on my top section and shortening its life?

By eye and by laying the MKI sail on top of a MKII I can see the luff roach is more pronounced on the MKII by about 50mm and when the kicker is on you can see the top section has more curvature with a MKII than a MKI. There is the additional luff patch at the joint but more curvature in the top section would seem to imply more tension and stress in the spar and possibly a shorter life. Especially if you death roll with the kicker on and the spar hits the water with some force. A composite section would appear to be a better option.

Do any of the experts feel the new MKII will shorten the life of top sections or have ILCA mitigated this in some way in the design?
 
The reason for asking about the composite top section is the new MKII standard is a great sail and I like it; but is it putting more stress on my top section and shortening its life?

By eye and by laying the MKI sail on top of a MKII I can see the luff roach is more pronounced on the MKII by about 50mm and when the kicker is on you can see the top section has more curvature with a MKII than a MKI. There is the additional luff patch at the joint but more curvature in the top section would seem to imply more tension and stress in the spar and possibly a shorter life. Especially if you death roll with the kicker on and the spar hits the water with some force. A composite section would appear to be a better option.

Do any of the experts feel the new MKII will shorten the life of top sections or have ILCA mitigated this in some way in the design?
The spar is still operating inside the elastic zone, so the extra bend in its self will have no impact, even when it's flexing. Stress concentration around the rivet holes is still an issue and as long corrosion around the holes is minimal then there is no issue.

There are two issues with spars bending, one is wall thickness and secondly incorrect heat treatment resulting in low yield points meaning that they bend prematurely. Changing the minimum wall thickness tolerance would have been a significantly cheaper and simpler option than playing around with carbon fibre.
 
I fail to understand why they don't just sleeve the top mast at the collar (and maybe the bottom mast at the vang tang while they're at it...)
Sleeve in the boom pretty much solved the problem in the past and it's easy and cheap to sleeve an old boom instead of having to buy a new one.
Would be even easier for the mast.
E
 

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