New boat! Review/ first impressions

so I just picked up my new boat. 191968. Hull is insane, and if you tell jordan (vanguard rep) you want one, He will hand pick one for you. It did include a european bottom section, but still a american top section. Ill get pics in the day.

Moderator's note: In a private conversation with sk8ingsailor, I learned that it was an exaggeration to say that he got a hand-picked boat. Sk8 wants to amend his statement to: "I got service so good that it felt like I got a hand-picked boat." The boats are as identical as is possible, after all.
Best,
Merrily
 
Most of the new hulls have minor imperfections around the centerboard trunk. The new ones do not.


One another note, The sail and rudder were stolen (we think) out of my van where we were unloading. If you see a Rudder still in box or a Radial sail with a number of 191968 on it, please contact me. Thanks.
 
atleast at my sailmakers, all the 06 or 07 lasers had minor imperfections along the daggerboard. This was caused by pulling them from the mold to quickly. They seemed to have fixed this.
 
so I just picked up my new boat. 191968. Hull is insane, and if you tell jordan (vanguard rep) you want one, He will hand pick one for you. It did include a european bottom section, but still a american top section. Ill get pics in the day.

This is the reaction of a young sailor to the purchase of a Laser that is substantially identical to every other Laser in the world.
Imagine what the reaction would be if the Laser were not a strict-one design class. Imagine the arms race (and price war) that would occur if a particular design were perceived to be better than the others.
OK...now that you have scared yourself...calm down and be glad that we don't have to worry about these things.
 
It's supposed to be one design what makes your hull more insane then mine?

His still has that "new boat smell!" :D

Think back on some time when you bought something you really liked and wanted, brand spankin' new. Car, boat, camera, computer, tools, furniture, clothes.... whatever.

Everything's all new... shiney... fits perfectly... no blemishes... no stains... no cracks... etc...

Those of us sailing old ones (mine's a 75!) can take comfort in the fact that they're designed and built the same, and the new one's aren't any *faster.* But no one can deny that they're *nicer.*

Good luck with your new boat! And the only proper thing to do with a new boat is to sail the heck out of it, and (while nevertheless taking good care of it) turn it into a used boat as quickly as possible. :cool:
 
Standard colors this year are white hulls with light grey decks....The brits are not really into colored race boats.....

*GROAN*

Every Laser I have ever owned has been grey or white. Just what I was able to find used at the time. I was thinking about upgrading to a new boat and would LIKE to get a nice color, maybe red.

Guess I'll just have to wait a year or two to see what happens. At any rate, white/grey is better than the speckled "bassmaster" gelcoat Lasers they tried to sell a few years ago.
 

A few years ago, one of the hull "color" options on a Laser was a speckled, metal flake gelcoat like you see on bass boats. It was in a typical Laser two-tone scheme with the bottom half of the hull white.

My local Vanguard dealer had one sitting out in front of the shop for a couple of years without any buyers.
 
Merrily I saw a hot pink boat at surf city! That thing looked so awesome.

Chris, I have seen new boats all over the world. I am sure I have a different reaction to condition of boats. I have seen boats that need work and are not up to snuff, as to boats that I feel could win the worlds in a heartbeat. I am sure that those minor imperfections did not heed the performance of those boats. It is just my opinion, and my personal experience.
 
A few years ago, one of the hull "color" options on a Laser was a speckled, metal flake gelcoat like you see on bass boats. It was in a typical Laser two-tone scheme with the bottom half of the hull white.

My local Vanguard dealer had one sitting out in front of the shop for a couple of years without any buyers.


hmm, recently, as in the last 10 years? I don't remember seeing that. sounds naaaaaaasty
 
yup, made it, no point in buying the Seitech bench, do a search and you can find plans for em
 
Standard colors this year are white hulls with light grey decks....The brits are not really into colored race boats.....

Up to last year, you could get a British boat with a coloured waterline hull - just had to pay an extra £60.

Sadly that doesn't appear as an option any more- but I guess like all things - if you were prepared to pay enough, they would probably do one for you.

Of course, they'll sell me a new boat when they put one out with a pink stripe.

Merrily,

It's a shame you weren't buying a new (UK) boat 20 years ago and you could have had a pink hull and sail.

Apart from the fuschia and turquoise hulls in the picture, they also offered: All grey, all yellow, and black waterline (Black Magic). All the hulls came with "Low Glow" decks to reduce glare in bright sunlight.

I've seen some boats produced with a light blue deck that looked good.

The hulls produced for the 2004 Olympics were also really good - blue and yellow one side and purple and yellow on the other .
 

Attachments

  • Pink Radial Sail Circa 1988.JPG
    Pink Radial Sail Circa 1988.JPG
    44.5 KB · Views: 80
look at the top of the mast of the pink sailed boat, thats for a halyard

I have an M rig, so I know what those masts look like
 
Radial rigs came with a Halyard for quite some time, they then got rid of coloured sails and halyards in the mid-nineties.
 
whats a hiking bench for????????????????????????


If you are Brig North, the one time O'Day Champion and general Texas rock star Laser sailor since the seventies...
The hiking bench helps you to sit long enough in the Laser hiking position to develop blood clots in your legs.
In Brig's case, the clots moved to his lungs and damn near killed him.

AND...
The damage to teh blood vesels in his legs is such that he cannot risk any hiking what so ever and has had to retire to radio controlled sailboats.

Great news? Brig is having a blast with radio controlled boats and he just sold his Contender to one of our local Laser sailors who goes by DaveK on this forum.

A hiking bench can be useful in a conditioning program. On teh other hand, the actual act of hiking on a Laer puts some pretty nasty stresses on your body. I believe the best conditioning for Laser sailing comes from:
1. Lots of sailing
2. Lots of general conditioning
3. OK if you want to build a hiking bench and occasionally sit in it for a few minutes to simulate one long tack as sort of an exam to see how the other conditioning is going and you can't go sailing that day....A hiking bench might have some occasional benefit to deliver to your sailing program.

Finally>>

I have a brand new boxed Laser in my yard right now. I will see what differences are apparent VS the one year old boat sitting next to it. The one year old has been sailed once.
 
those look like M's to me

Ross,

I suggest you read this article to help you understand the difference between the M Rig and the Radial

www.laserforum.org/showthread.php?t=7908

Clearly the picture of the pink hulled boat with the pink sail was a Radial, not an M Rig because the sail panels Radiate from the clew.

look at the top of the mast of the pink sailed boat, thats for a halyard

I have an M rig, so I know what those masts look like

Yes, well the two masts were / are quite different. The M Rig used the standard bottom section and a shorter top section with a fairlead and cleat attached at the top for the halyard.

The Radial uses a shorter more flexible bottom section with the standard top section. The early Radials up to about 1990ish all came with a halyard. This was fed through a metal cage/cap that fitted to the standard top section.

I have magnified the original picture so you can see the fitting more clearly.

If you think my picture was of an M Rig - are you sure you have an M Rig. Could you post a photo?

those we're M's the M turned into the Radial

The M Rig didn't turn into the Radial - they are two completely different rigs.
 

Attachments

  • Radial Mast Head.jpg
    Radial Mast Head.jpg
    70.7 KB · Views: 35
Moderator's note: In a private conversation with sk8ingsailor, I learned that it was an exaggeration to say that he got a hand-picked boat. Sk8 wants to amend his statement to: "I got service so good that it felt like I got a hand-picked boat." The boats are as identical as is possible, after all.
Best,
Merrily
 

Back
Top