Enough talking... Let's see some action. Here's me and Dutch racing a bit; Me pinching, trying to cover...
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| Pinching |
Here's me, fully concentrated on getting max speed out of this thingy. The Laser is extremely lively, so it is imperative to steer and stay focused all the time...
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| Full speed |
... Dutch is doing pretty good too. Stay focused... stay absolutely focused. No looking at the scenery. No looking back. I can hear his bow wake... is he coming closer? Stop thinking and start sailing...
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| Focus |
Eeeek. He's got a little lift there, and maybe - just maybe - I was thinking too much instead of sailing. Hey! Ahoy there!! This here is just about close enough.
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| That's close enough pal |
Ok, so he got away. After all he built this baby, so he should know it better. Not an excuse. Just an explanation, teehee. Nah, I kinda lost focus in sheer excitement over this boat.
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| Hey! That's far enough pal... |
However, there's no reason to give up. Never. never give up. There is always an option to win it back. Something will happen. A lift, a shift, he will make a mistake, a huge bird will land on his boat and drag it down - something will happen... just wait for it.
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| Working hard, hiking hard |
My turn to get a lift. See... The gab is closing; Just a few more minutes of hard hiking and...
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| Weeeee! |
Yes, - I am back on top. This is an absolutely amazing boat... and it isn't even done yet. I am not sure I can possibly imagine how great this will be once finished. This will raise the barre. Virtual sailing in SL will never be the same again.
Still a few details are missing. We already covered the continous sheet loop and the missing traveller in the
comments here. I covered the non-carbon blocks in
this post. It is not the centerboard, because it is already working. Well, it is sorta working, but only when it wants to. What's left? I wonder if anyone can spot it...
Something isn't quite bent into shape? Laser experts will spot it right away.
ReplyDeleteNetrom
You're right, Net. It has already been fixed, so I'd better post a few new shots.
DeleteHiya!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you this is a pretty boat, but let me lodge a polite complaint. It is still just a beta. It wont be a 'Laser' until it launches.
I spent a few hours sailing the latest beta flavor yesterday, and came up with problems. I'm confident Dutch will fix them, but the boat is his responsibility. I feel uncomfortable commenting publicly about betas while they are still 'vaporware.' It makes it hard to review them critically after they are released.
I also worry if we publish about betas, then builders will only provide them to sailors at the last moment, when they are unwilling to make substantive changes. Even worse, builders would be encouraged to release betas only to get positive media support, since the beta contains no "objective" information about the final release.
I also admit I occasionally post about betas. When I do that I try to find a way to throw up my hands and emphasize that, although I think something looks pretty great… I actually know nothing about the final result.
Here's what I said months ago about the beta Melges, a boat I was excited about but hadn't drooled on yet: :-) http://wp.me/puBYu-2pg
Noodles, what do you think should be a beta testing standard?
Hey Jane,
ReplyDeleteTrue, this is work in progress. Isn't that pretty obvious from my posts? I hope it is. However, it looks like a Laser, it feels like a Laser, and so it is a Laser to me. I don't really care if it is ever launched.
Now, these "Lasery" posts aren't really tests; They just portray the process and the progress. I may or may not mention features that I like or dislike. That's the whole idea.
Is it a problem to show work in progress, create a little hype even? Nah; Don't really share your concern there. I've told the builder what I think, and he knows I will tear it apart, once it's out.
I don't think a beta testing standard makes sense. This is much more about the journey;
I'm with Noodle on that one, Jane. We're feeling free to blog about whatever tickles our bones. I'd hardly call Noodle's or my posts "tests" in any way. They are just personal impressions, maybe hands on experience reports and they often have quite different outcomes as well. Last example was the Ktaba Teleri 20 which didn't really work for me but Noodle found it great. That's good I guess. Our dear readership can come to their own conclusions.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I'm fairly unbalanced and (sometimes heavily) biased towards certain products. My readers know it and they can deal with it. I guess nobody ever made their decision about the purchase of a boat depending on what Orca blogs about it.
Maybe for the more systematic tests as done by you a certain standard is nice and needed ... but as it looks right now you're the only SL sailing blogger who really tests the boats thoroughly and puts them thru their paces. So that standard would only apply to Metaverse Sailing magazine anyway ;)