CVRDA

Flexible tops were easier to obtain with the turned tapered round tube (Z spars , needlespars..etc) than with the cut and weld technique, but i remember the 70's Elvstrôm black anodized masts...some were cut / welded / tapered very thin and flat at the top , they did flex quite a lot ...but better n...

Firefly seems likely , after hecking the database , bt still the wood / aly mast is a strange concept, may be it is like moden aly base and carbon tops on some modern boats, was it a known feature inthe late 50's early 60's

What's more the mast is part wood , part aly wih the diamonds anchored in the lower ..is this a known trick, a quick fix for a broken mast , butchered tinkering, just plain sabotage or an attempt to fit in a rules change without spending too much on a brand new mast?

Hello!

Says 3,7 m (makes 12 Ft ?) looks hot molded , veneers quite shot in some places , unusual in our climate, obviously much restoration needed, but what is it exactly?

http://www.leboncoin.fr/nautisme/710139293.htm?ca=12_s

Thanks for your help

The Laser 2 was certainly created in the early 80's , after the Tasar failed to fill the bill as a 2 men Laser... I don't know the intricacies of the CVRDA constitution ...but as soon as this boat is of significant interest in dinghy history (15000+ built) and is still being sailed (yes we used a la...

Very interesting piece of information...shows how narrow the margin is betwen succes and failure. You have to be very catreful in the details (where ,as they say is where the devil lies) and carefully think of all the possible snags (the cetreboard "crash plate" for example) before launchi...

On the other end ...what was the cost of the mould (a gigantic thing machined out f a block of solid aluminium alloy) and how many boats had to be cranked out to recoup the mold cost???


It is a leap into real industry as opposed to cottage industry

Link seems to lead nowhere? I Think Toppers were first built in classical GRP molding before JW Dunhill invested in a mammoth injection tool mold to cranck cheap boats in polypropylène . There is an attempt to do something like this in France (The Albatros by JM Finot)...but Finot (who designed fair...

I also thought of the Pajot Brothers (silver medal in the 72 Olympics)...but they generally used french made Chéret sails (an olympic triangle racecourse as sailmaker logo)...but they experimented a lot and miht t some point have used banks sails . The weird system seems to be a light weather device...

Reminds me of the french catamaran Exocet by lucien Gourmez (a french reinterpretation of the british shearwater by Prout)...but a bit more modern with more fiberglass and less wood .

Interesting piece of mid /late 60's pre hobie catamaran , but the sail should be a ull batten type

The sail has not been re cut, anyway, only the long bom was intended for a very crude transom main layout (Topper style) so it extended to the transom.

Thi was later changed to centre main sheet system when traveller rails came into fashion

Looks like honnor Marine 420 were a close copy of early french Lanaverre 420's ( wood strakes and breakwater / coaming , even round window in the jib like the original cannes made Elvström sails ...) Funny thing is that early pre 70 lanaverres were rather bullet proof (made entierely of fine woven r...

Wasn't the first franco british 505 match (2 teams of 3 boats each) held in Ouistreham sometime in the early 50's? The Patrick chapuis book mentions it and even one of the british contenders arriving late after crossing the channel in a cabin cruiser, (The others had taken the Cherbourg freey and tr...

Hello I have no clue concerning the Cettiers though i suspect the father passed away long time ago. Huguette Buffet died some years before Marcel , I think she had suffered both a broken leg and a bad case of flue while attending a regatta with Marcel and did not recover. Marcel buffet as you may kn...

It is one more verification that Sailing (and mot of the times rowing) is Not a spectator sport, contrary to soccer...


As one of my friends used to say : Sport has much in common with love : better make it than watch other people making it...