New Boat 4 Sled

[sleddog]

I'm still intrigued by that "pee equity" argument in the Scuttlebutt article you posted. Couldn't tell if the writer was serious or not. Am I really the only one who read more than Skip's contribution?

The Pee Equity article in Scuttlebutt was definitely serious. But only touches around the edges. Not sure why, but most women don't have foulies with butt flaps, nor do they want to use a bucket and hand it up to a person in the cockpit, stand on a stern step, or even pee off the leeward rail with the guys using a portable funnel type accoutrement. A flush toilet with plumbing is not a good thing on a small boat. But many women new to sailing don't want to think about an alternative. It should be a subject of discussion, and I welcome comments here from either sex. Meanwhile it was enlightening that in a recent San Diego YC race, guys peeing of the lee rail were ticketed by a following CG team of all women for "indecent exposure." Personally, I carry a plastic pee bottle with a wide watertight screw-top lid in my seabag. And WILDFLOWER's bucket head had a proper seat with comfortable rolled corners. Now back to the equally useful function of marbles in a Laser flotation tank.

 

[Philpott]

The Pee Equity article in Scuttlebutt was definitely serious.

Now this interests me. I seriously thought it was a spoof. Kind of like Latitude's annual April Fools Day gag. I will conduct an informal survey, re-visit this issue once I have collated the results. It will be an open ended interview. I will try not to skew the results.

 

[BobJ]

The next time you talk to (engine by) Dave, ask him about their club's former sailing director. He raced with her on an Etchells and this just wasn't an issue. The men were requested to keep eyes forward and according to Dave, she was back in her spot in about 20 seconds.

 

[Howard Spruit]

Ok OK for the pee thing, What is the marble thing about?

 

[AntsUiga]

To check your sanity, we still have some Macapuno for your delish. Just answer this question correctly: Why did the Laser dinghy sailor fill his air tank with marbles? Don't laugh too hard, this is serious, singlehanded stuff.

Well, Howard, I guess we don’t get answer until there are more or correct responses.

Sleddog is very careful about his wording so it is good to review the question. “fill his air tank with marbles”. A logical assumption is that the tank can not take one more marble. So, the tank is full of marbles and none of those marbles move.

The laser hull has a minimum and maximum allowable weight to race. Marbles weigh more than air, so if the added number do not exceed the maximum weight, the solo laser sailor may nave leveled the weight advantage over a heavier solo sailor.

With the air tank filled, the floatation is decreased by the weight of the marbles. Probably not significant.

The marbles may offer a structural benefit since twisting and flexing of the hull will change compared to a tank filled with air.

So, it seems to be either a weight advantage or a structural advantage, or both. If there is an option for two assists, the solo laser sailor would like to take advantage of both weight and stiffness.

That’s the next guess iteration.

If wrong, then Howard, it is up to you for next guess.
Ants
,

 

[BobJ]

I had hull #1042. Laser hulls were not built that well back then and to keep them all identical, they haven't been improved. They get soft and they can leak. So my guess is the marbles are to indicate when water has intruded. If you hear them rolling around the hull is dry inside, and if you can't the hull is wet?

 

[Howard Spruit]

Ants~
[QUOTE Sleddog is very careful about his wording so it is good to review the question. “fill his air tank with marbles”.[/QUOTE]

Yes your right, about Sleddog's careful use of words. I noticed he did not say the air tank that were filled marbles was in the laser, the tank could have been part of his car

 

[sleddog]

Just back from Hog Island Race on Tomales Bay. If there is a more fun race for small boats, I don't know about. Where were you? Amongst the starters were a plethora of 110's, 2 Flying Squabs, a Raven, 2 Day Sailors, a Lightning, a Johnson 18, a Snipe and Hobie 20. Missing were Wabbits, Moore 24's, 505's, Geary 18's, Stars, FD's, and Arctic Terns. Some navigation was required, as you could choose to round either Hog Island, 7 miles down the Bay, or two nearby daymarks. Rounding the Island meant sailing briefly in shoal water, and at least 110 ran aground. Why would you round the Island? It was a significantly shorter course, of course.

The water was 80, the air was 78, the wind at the finish was 20-25, and everyone planed home on a DDW spinnaker run in the afternoon wind tunnel. Good fun, and something not be missed. Put it on you calendar for next year. Winners were the two Skip's on the Day Sailor LOUP DE MER.

FYI, the marbles were in the air tank of a Laser, not my car!. I do not know the exact location of the air tank of a Laser. But I don't think that is important to the function of the marbles, which was important. Again, everyone is overthinking this..

BobJ: I have a friend who wants to join the SSS FORUM, but is unable because every time she gets to the end of the application, it says "Password Already Taken," She claims you gave her the password..Anyone who can help, appreciated. Might be important, as she likely knows the answer to the Laser/Marble question. But is locked out from winning the Macapuno.

 

[Intermission]

Just back from Hog Island Race on Tomales Bay. If there is a more fun race for small boats, I don't know about.

Where were you?

Again, everyone is overthinking this..

That does sound fun!
Pre-stalking the ever changing course around Hog Island the day before sounds important.

We spent two days at Ayala cove, and two days at anchor off HMBYC, avoiding the excessive heat.

Do the marbles act as a trim indicator like a tennis ball in an El Toro?

Once anchored, we set an anchor alarm. It was blowing pretty good Saturday, and we were solid, in spite of the absence of a good riding sail. That night it laid down and was like glass, and the fleet of a couple dozen visiting boats slowly turned to face the sunrise. But just after 7:00 when I would have preferred to be still asleep, the alarm went off.

For a bowl of Skip's ice cream, what went wrong here?

 

[BobJ]

Once anchored, we set an anchor alarm. It was blowing pretty good Saturday, and we were solid, in spite of the absence of a good riding sail. That night it laid down and was like glass, and the fleet of a couple dozen visiting boats slowly turned to face the sunrise. But just after 7:00 when I would have preferred to be still asleep, the alarm went off.

For a bowl of Skip's ice cream, what went wrong here?

Drainage breeze off the land caused you to swing enough to trigger the alarm?

P.S. Now that I'm retired, I find that not setting an alarm is the most reliable way to avoid being awakened by one.

 

[Intermission]

Drainage breeze off the land caused you to swing enough to trigger the alarm?

P.S. Now that I'm retired, I find that not setting an alarm is the most reliable way to avoid being awakened by one.

I get it Bob, I no longer have a watch tan mark.

The alarm radius was only 7 feet larger than the scope. We failed to add the distance between the stem, and where the Garmin 76Cx sat at the top of the companionway.

Please contact Skip directly for your ice cream.

 

[BobJ]

In case my first guess about the marbles is incorrect, I'll tell a story in hopes of covering my bases.

When Island Yacht Club in Alameda was a new club, I was one of the first members of its junior program. Kids from visiting clubs would come for regattas (remember the SBRA?) and one of our kids had a scheme for messing up their starts. He would wait until a few seconds before the gun and then turn his radio up full blast to create confusion. Now hold that thought...

A fun old movie was "Ensign Pulver." Near the end of this Navy-themed comedy, the grumpy old Captain got appendicitis. Ensign Pulver, a consummate prankster, had to perform the surgery. Before he stitched up the captain he left a few marbles to rattle around inside him.

So my guess is the Laser sailor left a few marbles to rattle around in his boat, and maybe in others, to distract and confuse the competition.

 

[sleddog]

I will repeat my answer given 4 days ago to Ants on post 5099: "Sorry, but the marbles in the Laser flotation tank do not act as a trim indicator."

And no, they are not slingshot ammo. Nor do they glow in the dark and no, they are not meant to rattle the competition. Somebody knows the answer. SoloSailer?

 

[Cover Craft]

Marbles...

I had Laser #1172 IIRC, so only slightly less old than Bob's. The Laser's flotation tank was the entire hull. It had a few - not very many - large chunks of foam wrapped in plastic that had been put in before the hull and deck were stuck together. I know because I got a "deal" on the boat, it was a dealer's demo and had been left in the water in Marina del Rey for at least 6 months. All I could afford with the proceeds from my OK dinghy and meager 16-year -old savings. Upon opening the plug in the transom water ran out so clearly the boat was waterlogged. The rules allowed the installation of a deck plate near the daggerboard slot so I cut a hole and rinsed out the inside as best I could and then hung the boat up in the garage for a few months with my mom's hair dryer taped tightly in the deck plate and the stern plug open. I should have weighed the boat before and after but didn't. I don't recall if my parents said anything about unusually high electric bills...

So if a Laser's hull "air tank" was FILLED with marbles, that's a LOT of marbles and a lot of weight. I can imagine only two scenarios: 1) a semi-submersible (and very unstable) boat for photos of someone sailing without a visible hull (would Sled do that?) or 2) an underwater art installation of a fully rigged dinghy, well trimmed, sitting on the bottom of an unknown body of water. I have to say I prefer the visuals although not the environmental impact of #2.

On the other hand, do Laser sailors now sail with a bottle of compressed air strapped to their chests like AC sailors? I can't imagine why, but if so that "air tank", if filled with marbles, would be a nice bit of extra hiking weight, and hard to detect although illegal. I wore wet sweatshirts back in the day before they were outlawed.

Tom K

 

[sleddog]

Good guesses and fun history by Tom (Cover Craft.) Mom's hair blower left running inside his Laser?! However, the marbles in the Laser were not meant to create a semi-submersible, an underwater art object, nor extra stability. I will hint that for the Laser skipper, the marbles provided good value.

 

[Wylieguy]

No water in hull = rattle. Water in hull = no rattle

 

[sleddog]

No water in hull = rattle. Water in hull = no rattle

Thank you, Pat. That is an interesting explanation and makes sense I think. But not why the Laser skipper filled his flotation tank with marbles. Guess again, the Macapuno is melting.

 

[Philpott]

I will conduct an informal survey, re-visit this issue once I have collated the results. It will be an open ended interview. I will try not to skew the results.

Still gathering feedback. People are surprisingly responsive. Men, women, doesn't seem to matter. Everybody has an opinion about precious bodily fluids.

 

[BobJ]

In related news, after the PacCup I retired my red pee bottle. It was time. The replacement is a more-subtle light gray.

 

[sleddog]

Inverness sunrise, yesterday, Tuesday, 9/06/22, at 6:57.
It was a toasty 94 degrees on the CBC deck when I returned at 2 pm. Rare to get that much heat at this location, being close to 59 degree ocean.

Did we mention the remnants of Hurricane Kay will impact S.Cal by this coming weekend? May even get moisture as far north as Central CA.