Educate me on dinghys

[slakjaw]

I have a chance to pick up a Laser for a decent price. Comes with 2 sail's and a trailer. There is an active group out here that has races and what not a couple times a week. Anyone ever played around with a Laser? Whats it like?

[Jim Richards]

Fun, fast, tippy. Expect to spend some time in the water trying to right the boat. Very active racing class. Enjoy!

[74-911]

Originally Posted by slakjaw

I have a chance to pick up a Laser for a decent price. Comes with 2 sail's and a trailer. There is an active group out here that has races and what not a couple times a week. Anyone ever played around with a Laser? Whats it like?

Have sailed Lasers and Force 5's a lot. A lot of fun, particularly if you get involved with an active group and take up racing (when you first start you will become familar with the term OTH - Over The Horizon - that's where the rest of the fleet is... . Very inexpensive hobby and can get addictive.
Note: a laser will plane when the wind picks up and its kind of like going into Startrek warp drive when it comes up on a plane.

Get you a good life vest and be prepared to get wet.

[304065]

Remember- if you don't flip it over once in a while you aren't pointing high enough

[TheMentat]

I would echo the comments above. I raced 'em for a number of years, and they are blast!

[71T Targa]

I can't help, but what's a 'decent price' for something like this?

[sailchef]

Lasers have great excelleration and are fun little boats. easy to transport and rig.

[fingpilot]

Lasers are great because there are so many of them around, especially there in the twin cities.

And I thought this was gonna be a thread about something else....

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by 71T Targa

I can't help, but what's a 'decent price' for something like this?

New ones are about 6k

I have a chance on a 1980 model in really good condition for 850.00

[SoCal911T]

Lasers are a blast but another option is a Capri 13. They're made by Catalina and are almost identical to a Laser and a lot of the parts are interchangeable.
I switched to one when I became an old fart because they're not quite as tippy as a laser and the cockpit is roomier.

In fact, I think I'm going to hitch it up and head down to Mission Bay

[David McLaughlin]

I really like the look of that capri 13 -^.

I've only sailed Sunfish and Lazers a few times and they were fun. Very simple and IMO a nice learning tool to the basics of sailing. These boats almost demand wetsuits though. Anthing past 60% of the sailers ability and you're going in sometime. Educate yourself on proper set ups and have some fun. I'd suggest looking over the boat's gellcoat to make sure there are no blisters and poorly patched damage. May of these have lived a hard life with lots of neglect. Depending on the previous owner, plan on at least replacing all of the lines and maybe some hardware.

Most of my experience has beein in Rhodes 19's and my own Seidleman 25 (I miss that one). Despite the number of regattas I've been in I'm just not that competitive. I've already told my wife I want something like a lazer to teach my boys to sail.

[JeremyD]

Laser - fast, wet - lots of fun- you can learn more from sailing a laser in a month than you can from a bigger boat in a year.

I raced lasers in college - Sunfish locally until just a few years ago. Great fun.

[pwd72s]

I miss our dinghy....if anything, more than I miss a 911S. I agree, the Capri 13 looks like a lot of fun!

[74-911]

Originally Posted by slakjaw

New ones are about 6k

I have a chance on a 1980 model in really good condition for 850.00

2 sails and a trailer? that is one hell of a bargain... a decent trailer is worth half that if not more..

[Jim Richards]

If you want to race, you'll eventually want a newer boat than an '80's model. IMO, of course.

[jluetjen]

I used to have an old Force-5 (similar to a laser, but the hull has a hard chine on the bottom as opposed to being rounded like on the Laser) and it was great for knocking around. The only thing that is annoying about many of this class of boat is that you have to step the mast every time that you go sailing since the sails rig from the top down as opposed to pulling them up from the bottom. I believe in the some of the new boats this has been changed.

From a sailing perspective, I've got nothing new to add to what the others have posted except that sometimes I missed jib. But compared to many sailboats, the Laser/Force-5 design is a sports car, pretty stripped down and exciting to use. Not really intended for genteel sailing.

Unfortunately something knocked a hole in the hull of my Force-5 one winter and so we scrapped it. I've since picked up a used Newport Blue Crab (11.5 feet) which is similar sized, but fully rigged with a mainsail and jib, and the sails rig up from the bottom. There aren't many of them about, but there isn't any one-design racing on our lake either.

[71T Targa]

Looks like fun. There should be a lake or two to sail on...

Not sure how far Pepin is for you, but there always seems to be wind and sail's up.

[Tidybuoy]

I used to sail Lasers in sea scouts when I was a kid. Their great boats for both adults and kids.

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

If you want to race, you'll eventually want a newer boat than an '80's model. IMO, of course.

I agree but I am a n00b

[74-911]

Originally Posted by slakjaw

I agree but I am a n00b

Lasers are a one design class, there should be no difference between one made in 1980 and one made yesterday (other than wear and tear)... There are virtually no mods that can be made and you must use a class approved sail when racing. The idea being that every boat in the fleet will be identical, who wins is the best driver.

http://www.laserinternational.org/rules/Current%20Rules.pdf