Meet Seven of Nine

by Susan Burden                                                                                                                                                               photos by Susan Burden

In these days of sheltering in place, we yearn for the outdoors and sailing is the ultimate cure. With eyes on the Laser market, it had become apparent that the pickings were increasingly slim. We had to look to SoCal to find a used Laser. Vela LA of Marina Del Rey had what we wanted, a one-year-old fleet boat with a new sail.

Tom made a brutal one-day road trip to retrieve his found prize atop Great White, calling me from I-5, "I've got the boat! It has a "7" sticker on it." The boat came from a charter fleet that was used in eight championship events, such as the Leiter Cup which was held at RYC. Tom went on to ruminate aloud, "If I come to own nine Lasers, this will be seven of nine!" I giggled at the Star Trek Voyager reference, marveling at the random nerdiness of my husband's mind. As the day went on and I awaited his arrival, I kept thinking about his comment. I found it to be rich in hyperbole. How many boats is too many? This became the subject of a 'Lectronic Latitude 38 musing. 

Seven comes home

After some discussion, and playful use of photoshop, I suggested Tom name the new Laser Seven of Nine. He told me no one names Lasers. However, I thought an exception should be made in this case. He thought about it and came up with the following comparative analysis:

Borg are all alike, just like the Laser fleet. Generally speaking Borg are clad in black, wetsuit-like costumes, just like Laser sailors. Borg have a bright red laser beam emitting from the device on their headpiece, not unlike the Laser logo. We'll keep the original number 7 sticker. 

Borg laser beam

Laser logo

Guess the sail number!

Rigging Seven at RYC

Sans name

Name concept art