Fake Laser Equipment

A sailor at Stokes Bay SC recently swapped some Laser parts for what he thought was a genuine new Laser Radial sail. The patch at the tack said 'Laser', so it wasn't a replica sail. He therefore thought it was a genuine Laser sail.

On closer inspection he saw that it did not have a Laser button at the tack, and the blue patches weren't quite right. 

Knowing that Laser has sometimes had issues with suppliers, or spec changes might not have been communicated effectively, I checked with ILCA. Suddenly this looked like a fake. And it is. Judge for yourself: 

• The blue patches look too pale (though this may be the photo), and are on the port side of the sail. (They may also be on the Starboard side, but a genuine Radial sail has blue patches only on the Starboard side.)
• The cunningham and clew cringles/eyelets have a blue lining; the genuine articles have a red lining.
• There is no ILCA button.
• There are circular reinforcement patches on the batten-pockets.
• It is unlikely to have a '5.7' symbol in the window.

Please be aware that there are fakes about. Please report any instances to  the UKLA office.

If you are approached by someone offering to buy/swap a genuine sail, please try to find out who the seller is before you commit yourself.