Search found 368 matches

by LASERTOURIST
Sat Jul 18, 2015 7:30 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: Club 420 Date of Mfg.
Replies: 17
Views: 16527

Re: Club 420 Date of Mfg.

420 was mostly a french thing and only started expanding in the angosaxon countries in the early / mid 70's so french / Spanish /belgian /Italian numnbering should be coherent for that period....a19000 class numbr would mean early seventies ..1973 / 1974...maybe
by LASERTOURIST
Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:38 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: Corsa 16?
Replies: 22
Views: 20833

Re: Corsa 16?

still the FJ is only 14 Ft long ....there are two feet missing somewhere
by LASERTOURIST
Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:32 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: Corsa 16?
Replies: 22
Views: 20833

Re: Corsa 16?

Alpa was a "mass manufacturer" in 70's italy , like Lanaverre in France...The Flying Junior was intended a 14ft version of the olympic FD (by the same designer , Gus Van Essens), like Maury's 420 was an attempt to make a 14 Ft 505 . In Italy there were refined racing FJ's by small artisana...
by LASERTOURIST
Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:04 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: Pierre Marique's "Europa" vs Alois Roland's "Europe"
Replies: 10
Views: 12088

Re: Pierre Marique's "Europa" vs Alois Roland's "Europe"

Think it depends on the intrinsic boatspeed...if it is non planing and slow with a straight beat downwind shrouds are a nuisance specially with a low aspect ratio sail as is used on the Europe...fast boats and even more foiling ones behave differently (zigzags and gybes downwind with the boom rarely...
by LASERTOURIST
Tue Jun 16, 2015 5:52 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: Pierre Marique's "Europa" vs Alois Roland's "Europe"
Replies: 10
Views: 12088

Re: Pierre Marique's "Europa" vs Alois Roland's "Europe"

I'm chiefly a laser sailor, so had only a distant seat in the Europe circus...which declined sharply when the boat ceased to be olympic so i don't know what exactly happened to Cristalli , who was , as you mentioned Roland's assistant. On french sailing forum somebody mentioned he had got his europe...
by LASERTOURIST
Mon Jun 15, 2015 10:07 pm
Forum: Boat maintenance, repair and restoration
Topic: Epifanes
Replies: 14
Views: 11376

Re: Epifanes

Used epifanes varnish on my father's zef...it is a Dutch "northern" stuff, looked wonderful after 5or 6 coats, aged well, lasted long, first impregnating coats were diluted with a drop of W/S , OK for countries with little sun (in the Mediterranean the Veneziani varnish would last longer)....
by LASERTOURIST
Mon Jun 15, 2015 9:38 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: Pierre Marique's "Europa" vs Alois Roland's "Europe"
Replies: 10
Views: 12088

Re: Pierre Marique's "Europa" vs Alois Roland's "Europe"

I'm not sure the mast is the correct one :the freestanding rigs of the priod generally had a mortise and tenon arrangement for the gooseneck mast and boom link and were of course of the rotating type , with a brass collar at deck level allowing much better sail setting when sailing dead downwind. On...
by LASERTOURIST
Mon Jun 15, 2015 9:23 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: Pierre Marique's "Europa" vs Alois Roland's "Europe"
Replies: 10
Views: 12088

Re: Pierre Marique's "Europa" vs Alois Roland's "Europe"

It is indeed the "atlantic moth" by Lanaverre and the family "look alike" with the early 420 is unmistakable : foredeck wavebreaking ply coaming, rounded buoyancy tanks (flat panneled ones were incompatible with early, non sandwich , fiberglass)....It is quite right to detect Chr...
by LASERTOURIST
Mon Jun 15, 2015 9:27 am
Forum: Boats and bits for sale
Topic: Minisail slightly odd .....or maybe not?
Replies: 5
Views: 5378

Re: Minisail slightly odd .....or maybe not?

What is the differenc between a minisail and a minisprint ?
Could a minisailbe converted into a minisprit by bolting a retrofit kit (sliding seat)...
tHANKS FOR THE INFORMATION;;
by LASERTOURIST
Mon Jun 15, 2015 9:18 am
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: Pierre Marique's "Europa" vs Alois Roland's "Europe"
Replies: 10
Views: 12088

Re: Pierre Marique's "Europa" vs Alois Roland's "Europe"

Well, I've been around in many clubs, sailing schools...etc in France ,for more than forty years and spotted dozens of obscure, cryptic, untold and even bizarre dinghies, even in the moth class (cabin moth, aluminium moth...even optimoth) , but i nver ever spotted an Europa with pivoting board...mus...
by LASERTOURIST
Sat May 30, 2015 10:31 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: Corsa 16?
Replies: 22
Views: 20833

Re: Corsa 16?

Caneton strale is a strange story... Once the caneton class endorsed the 505 ,it quickly became a separate class and the Caneton guys asked for a tame , hard chine classic on design caneton (the caneton 56 by Eugène Cornu, the uncle of André Cornu of 470 fame)...it was too heavy and not exactly at t...
by LASERTOURIST
Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:28 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: "Ugliest dinghy ever" contest
Replies: 52
Views: 42471

Re: "Ugliest dinghy ever" contest

I've been teaching sailing for quite a long time (some forty years)...the idea of the Windex and indicator is certainly clever, sail setting is indeed a problem for a beginner..but but I think the real first hurdle is the tiller /and helmsman position in the boat.... A tiller is counter intuitive fo...
by LASERTOURIST
Mon Mar 16, 2015 6:49 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: "Ugliest dinghy ever" contest
Replies: 52
Views: 42471

Re: "Ugliest dinghy ever" contest

Still it's hard to understand why a Topper should cost twice the price of the smaller escape, basically both hulls are a bucketful of soft plaastic granules thrown in a big industrial mould (enormous tool cost but very little commodity and manpower cost) and the foils and rig are basically on the sa...
by LASERTOURIST
Mon Mar 16, 2015 6:41 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: "Ugliest dinghy ever" contest
Replies: 52
Views: 42471

Re: "Ugliest dinghy ever" contest

I have mixed feelings about the sail karts like the escape , the funboat and so on ... they do their best in simplifying the very first hours on the water , but then there is little scope for skill improvement because they are too tame... IMHO they may prove their worth in beachfront clubs , boat re...
by LASERTOURIST
Mon Mar 16, 2015 2:15 pm
Forum: Boat Identification and Dinghy History
Topic: "Ugliest dinghy ever" contest
Replies: 52
Views: 42471

Re: "Ugliest dinghy ever" contest

Oh , stupid me! It's Laser Performance US, not Hobie cat manufacturing the "Escape" boats....and using the sunfish rudderstock (Whyon earth do they have both this one and the pico-based funboat in their range?).... Interestingly it's a Gary Hoyt design like the Freedom 40...theguy seem to ...