"NotPony" wrote in messag

Geesh, Max, hold old are you? Roll tacking has
been acceptable for as long as I can remember.

I sailed Snipes in the early 70s. The SCIRA rule book, at that time,
prohibited "ooching, sculling, pumping, rocking, and any other kinetic
movements which might give the competitor an unfair advantage." I never
roll tacked in a race, but did so all the time while just day sailing the
boat. The Snipe roll tacks as well as any boat I've sailed, which is
probably why Snipe sailors all do it these days.

They're just now beginning to crack down on
kinetics. And in my opinion, the Laser class
overlooks more kinetics than any other class.

When I began to sail Lasers in '72, no one was roll tacking except me and a
few others from fleets in and around Detroit and Indianapolis. (I can't
honestly say what was happening out West or East, however.) Other skippers
used to ask me what I was doing, and I was always happy to oblige with info
and instructions on how to do it. Unfortunately one of them was a district
officer who took my information back to a national meeting at which kinetics
were deemed "unfair." The following spring I sailed in a regatta on the
Detroit River and was DSQ'd in a race for roll-tacking. I still won my
class, but that race was my throwout. Lucky for me it was my second to last
race, because I did poorly in the last race after being told I'd be DSQ'd if
I roll tacked even once. ****ed off, I sold the boat, and three years
later everyone was roll-tacking Lasers. The national big wigs must have had
a change of heart, or at least decided they'd be unable to stop something
that everyone was doing by then.

You
can always spot the Laser sailors when they
sailing in another class. They're the ones
ooching, sculling, pumping, torquing, and roll
jibing every 30 seconds. Interestingly, they're
also the ones not getting along with their crew.
Kind of explains why they single hand.

Actually it's that they normally single hand that makes them unable to get
along with crew. After single handing for a year or so, I found it
frustrating to go back to having a crew (my wife) who couldn't read my mind.
It was simply awful to have to vocalize intentions and instructions again.
After dumping the Laser, I bought another Snipe and regretted it for the
entire season. Sold it in the Fall. It was either that or face the
prospect of divorce. g It was a good decision, because we've been married
for almost 35 years.

Max