Exclusive laser sailor or ???

Do you sail exclusively on a Laser or do you sail or race other boats? How do you manage time for practicing and regattas?

I race on a buddy's J-80 in various crew positions and am part owner of Catalina 36 cruising boat.

I am asking this question because my friend is probably selling the J-80 and I am somewhat ambivalent about finding another lead mine to crew on or getting more serious about racing laser. I will probably always have a cruising boat.

I'm Laser only as I do not have time for other boats or able to commit to crewing. So, I prefer to focus all of my sailing time to the Laser for practice and racing.

There's a real trend of folks bailing out of larger keelboat racing and getting into (or back into) dinghy racing.

It's more affordable, more convenient, and fuels all the same competitive juices.

I try to do a lot of keelboats and lasers... i find even my "cruising" sailing to Catalina is "time on the water" and helps my overall laser sailing.

I Race Lasers, Stars, J22's, J24's, and the occasional cal 25.

Just lasers nowadays, variety of dinghy's in the past but have never sailed yachts other than on holiday.

I sail laser, fj, 420 and other small boats, in addition to crewing on a r boat weekly.

I predominantly sail a laser and will continue to do so until I have completely mastered it to my satisfaction. Not sure if that will ever happen though.

Excelusively Laser... I've got another little barnett that came with the house that is fun for a hoot in heavy wind..... in light air the barnett outsails the laser, at least until a puff comes along and the laser gets 5 lengths on it.

I mostly sail Lasers because they're fun, don't require crew, and it seems like it requires a lot of practice time (for me at least) to stay somewhat in shape and to keep off the bottom of the fleet. I also have a regular crew position on a J24 a couple weekends a month; good to get to work as a team and see how others think their way around the course, more chance to watch what the wind is doing as I am weight on the rail going upwind, and there's a place to put a beer. Oh, and after raising/dousing spinnakers a few times in a breeze, adjusting the lines on your Laser before mark roundings no longer seems like a problem at all. I just stick to these two because they keep me very busy.
So many boats....so little time!

Ten years ago when I lived closer to the water and was more agile, I raced a Laser on Saturday and a 470 on Sunday. What I sailed on Wednesday was a toss-up, depending on what other boats showed up. It was undoubtedly the best sailing time of my life, and I put up with a crappy job to enjoy it. Eventually I had to put career ahead of sailing and moved away from the water.

What I see a lot of now is big boat sailors, both skipper and crew, buying Lasers as a second boat. They have every intention of racing it, but only make it out to a couple of frost-biting sessions. I'm not a big fan of cold-weather sailing, so that leaves me with fewer boats to sail with when everyone goes back to their big boats.

I race Laser for fun and still pretend my main boat is a 12M Sharpie. In fact 2 kids and demanding job and wife leave little time for any sailing so I now support 2 fleets from the bottom!

I sail Sunfish, J24, Melges 24, and often crew on bigger boats as tactician. I like getting in the Sunfish and Laser so noone to blame but myself and I find it makes me much better than most in the bigger boats when I hop on. I try to sail in which ever fleet has the best competition which changes a lot around the Charleston area. Laser class seems to be picking up so I am looking at doing more of that soon.

Melges 24, Ultimate 20, Cal 25, Catalina 27, NA 40, Catalina 27, 29er

I sail in on both, for keel boats, some bay races, Wed nights and a few ocean races a year on OPB's. Sold my own boat last year and find there is always need for eger crew with others. I feel released by not shouldering the burden of chasing crew, funding a larger boat (not to mention sanding bottom when I could be sailing) and looking after the logistics. I'm now able to apply myself to racing, reading about, thinking about, and even practicing on my Laser. I think for many the Laser takes a back seat in the summer but picks up for Fall, Winter and Spring sailing. I find cold weather sailing is no worse than skiing if you are dressed for it (speaking from one year's frostbiting experience).
The Laser is all fun with no hassel.

I sail both a Laser and a 49er. As melges said, what I like most about the laser is that you are completely in charge, and there is no one to blame (or congratulate) but you. This factor makes me come back to the laser more often, even though a 49er is about as adrenaline-filled as you can get. Plus, the laser is more challenging in the sense that tactics and small adjustments make a huge difference in races, thus it is an intellectual dinghy as well .

I sail a Seaward 23 and a laser and if not for the camaraderie, I would prefer the laser.

I sail my laser and crew on a j30 once a week. I like being part of a team so i crew on the j30, but nothing gets me going like fully hiked out on my laser.
-kai