Laser story

P

pez

Member
ok... waving the newbie flag here...

but... Some buddined and I had an old banett sailboat, about 10-12 feet or so... A friedn down the way offered his Laser for sale for about $600... we waited and waited, thinking it was too much... finally aftre a summer of not selling it, he let us take it for $400... with trailer and ready top sail.

The bottom was a funcy sort of mustard yello, the top between a white and beige. The serail number under the bow cealt says 1769.

So all the laser serail numbers I've come across on the web are longer than that... Does this mean I have a really Old laser, or that the number under the bow cleat is not the serail number?

anyway, the fiberglass was badly blistered, we sadned it out and repainted it... dark blue hull with white top.

Woupld be interested is finding a resource online where I can figure out how old it is... this seems like a beginner question, but I didnt see a FAQ...

any help woupld be appreciated....
 
pez said:
Does this mean I have a really Old laser, or that the number under the bow cleat is not the serail number?

Woupld be interested is finding a resource online where I can figure out how old it is... this seems like a beginner question, but I didnt see a FAQ...

any help woupld be appreciated....
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Wecome, pez. I tried this link, but the age of your boat didn't come up.
http://www.lasersailing.com/boat-info/uk/introduction?i=07cac405d02d8e1352210bb0eceb9fef

Yes, that is the serial number under the bow eye, and yes, your boat is really old--over 30 years I guess.

Sail on!
 
sigh.... another missed link on the ILCA-NA web page...

Go to www.laser.org and try the "Questions" section, under "Boat Related" or follow this link . Granted, its concise, but does answer your question...
 
SFBayLaser said:
sigh.... another missed link on the ILCA-NA web page...

Go to www.laser.org and try the "Questions" section, under "Boat Related" or follow this link . Granted, its concise, but does answer your question...
Click to expand...

PS I think its pretty cool to have a boat out sailing that originates from the very beginning of the Laser Class!
 
Thanks for the info... I at least know it's between 1971 and 1973. I've only seen a few other lasers in person and a ton online, and I've never seen one with the wooden rudder, tiller, centerboard & grab rails.

Everything on the boat works great, there were some issues with the fiberglass that we've corrected the last couple weeks and we refinished the grab rails. There's a chip out of the fore edge of the rudder that I will see if I can fix.

All indications we have are that the sail is still original also. We plan on replacing that this next month as you can begin to see small pinholes as the fabric is wearing, plus it does not have a window. And there was the incident last summer with the outhaul cleat that caused the blood stains.

thanks again for the info...
 
For the blood stains, try letting straight hydrogen peroxide break it up. Just pour the peroxide on the stains on the sail (both sides if the blood had a chance to soak into the fabric weave) and let it do its thing. The blood should simply break up and wash easily off with a little soap and water and wiggling the weave of the sail around where the stain was. The peroxide should have no effect on the dacron.
 
Excellent advice, thank you... another friend rcommended running the sail through an industrial sized washing machine with a bit of bleach too. I'm not too sure how I feel about that aside from reservations...

Now knowing that my boat is 32-35 years old, I have to say how remarkably good shape it was in. There was minor blistering on the fiberglass hull, cracked fiberglass on the nose, many scratches on the hull etc... I'm 35 and think if you look there is come blistering on my hull also.

Uhh... we fixed the cracked fiberglass with bondo and gave the gelcoat a good sanding before we painted it. I nevver realized how difficult it woupld be to paint the entire boat... we certainly learned a great deal along the way, and have several notes for "next time" but it ended up being a spectacular project.

We've sailed it for 1.5 seasons at a little lake in Michigan... It's funny, after all the love that this boat needed to get back to the shape it's in now, I find myself thinking that the most needed accessory is another laser. I'll post a pic when I get a chance.
 
pez said:
Excellent advice, thank you... another friend rcommended running the sail through an industrial sized washing machine with a bit of bleach too. I'm not too sure how I feel about that aside from reservations...

.
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I think a washing machine is a bad idea. That's like industrial flogging! I've always just laid the sail on a flat clean surface. I usually rinse off my driveway, then use a soft brush and some sail cleaner on it. I think sail cleaner is just soap with a little bleach.
 
ok... well, I bought a new sail for it. There's some confusion about the sail number, so I asked the guy to leave it off for the time being.

If you owned Lasr #1769, what sail number would you use?

So the boat has a new paintjob, new lines, refinished grab rails, and as soon as UPS ground can get it here, a new sail.

Assuming this was your boat, what would the next upgrade be? Everything is still stock in terms of cleats fairlead & such... I was looking at the harken vang asemblies and they seem crazy complicated.

I'm hesitant to start replacing hardware in that the current hardware is all original... I dont know if there is any sort of collector value associated with an old laser maintaining it's original hardware etc.

I think we're naming the boat "Sheila II" there was a pic in a magazine of a guy in a laser names shiela up on a plane and blasting through the wind that sold us on the boat originally... We dont want to snake his name so we'll call it Sheila II.

Anyway, hope to have the new sail this weekend, will post a pic here if I can figure out how to do so.

thanks again for all your advice.
 
pez said:
If you owned Lasr #1769, what sail number would you use?

Assuming this was your boat, what would the next upgrade be? Everything is still stock in terms of cleats fairlead & such... I was looking at the harken vang asemblies and they seem crazy complicated.

.
Click to expand...

Yup, your sail number is 1769.

I'd do an outhaul upgrade, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I know that I sail against a woman with an old style outhaul, and she doesn't change it because it's so tough to do. She sets it for what she thinks the conditions will be before she sails. I always catch up with her downwind. :D
 
The outhaul and cunninghamn upgrade is not all that difficult. You just take the old cunninghame cleat out and remove the fairlead that is just behind the mast step. You sikaflew the holes and then you just screw them in since it all is the same size for the new blocks and cleat. Also the package comes with instructions on how to rig it.
 
I just realized that the upgrade moves the outhaul controls to the fore of the cockpit... very interesting.

I think I'm gonna get the auto-bailer... just for the PITA factor of water in the cockpit. Plus, the price seems somewhat reasonable for something that is associated with a boat.

I was informed that the new sail was shipped yesterday and I shoupld have it tomorrow. The old one is an Elvstrom... which I guess were done on lasers by '74.
 
If you're going to be doing any sort of sailing in medum to heavy conditions, or racing, then I would say the Harken upgrade makes a HUGE difference. My boat used to have the old controls on, and since then I've tweaked just about everything, and the thing that's made the biggest difference is the kicker/outhaul upgrade. It's just so much easier to control the sail shape with the new rigging.

As someone said, it's not a hard job at all - the fittings just attach straight to the holes from the old fittings - very well designed - plus a bit of sealant. Well worth the money. The kicker upgrade kit's look tricky, but they come ready assembled, so it's just a question of attaching it to the mast tang and off you go. The kicker takes around 5 mins to fit, the outhaul around 30 mins...
 
Yeah the Harken upgrade kits are excellent

the kicker comes in one package
the outhul and downhul come a seperate package

irish laser
 
Ok... finally got 1769 in the water and sailing... moderate to heavy conditions, had an absolute blast...

All this thinking about boats and anticipation had led me to really think, and I end up with more questions than answers mostly...

I'm sure I'm violating the FAQ by some of these, but if the questions were Not asked frequently, there would be no need for a FAQ, so I'm just doing my part...

1. I read in the class rules that you ant race a boat with a wooden rudder or daggerboard unless they were originally fitted with one. Does this mean that the wooden parts present some sort of advantage?

2. Usually I sail an hour or two at a time (couple beers in the cockpit etc), the rest of the time the laser is parked at the dock, with the sail on the mast, blowing in the wind. After I'd heard that this makes the sail get old really quickly, we started un-stepping the mast when we were done. Well... do I REALLY need to do this, or is it ok to let the sail blow in the wind for a day?

3. Ratcheting mainsheet block... My boat doesnt have one, rather the mainsheet block is free spinning... we switched to 7mm line, and it's great, except that after an hour on the water in moderate conditions, my hands are screaming... So I looked into these blocks... and it said it makes it easier to hold the mainsheet... so that means it's just kinf of a brake? If so, how does it work when a huge puff comes and you have to ease madly in order to keep from swimming?

4. Tiller... mine's old, wooden, and nearly shot. In another life, I do some woodworking and such, and looking at this tiller handle and extension, there's not a lot to it. If I build my own and keep it the same as the current one, am I stil sailing a laser?

ok... many more questions, but it's a long post already... cheers all... thanks again for the advice...
 
pez said:
1. I read in the class rules that you can't race a boat with a wooden rudder or daggerboard unless they were originally fitted with one. Does this mean that the wooden parts present some sort of advantage?
Click to expand...

Don't know.

pez said:
2. Usually I sail an hour or two at a time (couple beers in the cockpit etc), the rest of the time the laser is parked at the dock, with the sail on the mast, blowing in the wind. After I'd heard that this makes the sail get old really quickly, we started un-stepping the mast when we were done. Well... do I REALLY need to do this, or is it ok to let the sail blow in the wind for a day?
Click to expand...

You really need to do this. Flogging the sail is bad for it, but worse, sunlight is very bad for the sail. Some people unstep the mast, roll the sail around it and lay it on the deck, then cover the whole thing with a deck cover.

pez said:
3. Ratcheting mainsheet block... My boat doesnt have one, rather the mainsheet block is free spinning... we switched to 7mm line, and it's great, except that after an hour on the water in moderate conditions, my hands are screaming... So I looked into these blocks... and it said it makes it easier to hold the mainsheet... so that means it's just kind of a brake? If so, how does it work when a huge puff comes and you have to ease madly in order to keep from swimming?
Click to expand...

Get the ratchet block and save your hands! They act as a soft brake. As long as your hand still provides some pressure, they hold the line. As soon as you release pressure, the sail zooms out.

pez said:
4. Tiller... mine's old, wooden, and nearly shot. In another life, I do some woodworking and such, and looking at this tiller handle and extension, there's not a lot to it. If I build my own and keep it the same as the current one, am I stil sailing a laser?
Click to expand...

Yes. The tiller is one of the few parts that you can play with, but I haven't read the rules to know the exact parameters of that. People have wood, aluminum or carbon fiber tillers, with extensions of varying lengths, and they are still sailing a Laser.
 
Awesome... I shall go ahead and build a tiller... Although the low-profile carom tillers with the huge extensions look pretty nice.

And the ratchet block will probabaly be my next purchase... Is harken generally regarded as the best brand? Anyone have a good source for this stuff online? Being landlocked in the midwest, there are no authorized laser dealers within several hours (the one listed On the vangaurd site is no longer carrying sailboat parts).

Thanks again for the advice...
 
Harken are laser's provider of all blocks etc.

I find harken stuff good but it's quite expensive to purchase


irish laser
 
pez said:
And the ratchet block will probabaly be my next purchase... Is harken generally regarded as the best brand? Anyone have a good source for this stuff online? Being landlocked in the midwest, there are no authorized laser dealers within several hours (the one listed On the vangaurd site is no longer carrying sailboat parts).

Thanks again for the advice...
Click to expand...

I order stuff from www.apsltd.com The internet shipping is cheep (this for the newbie who is only an egg). Also, if you know the model of block that you want, you can get it from any marine store, such as West, that sells Harken. BTW, I thought Michigan was a Great Lakes state, not the Midwest.

This is my 1000th post. I want virtual confetti!
 
Merrily said:
I order stuff from www.apsltd.com The internet shipping is cheep (this for the newbie who is only an egg). Also, if you know the model of block that you want, you can get it from any marine store, such as West, that sells Harken. BTW, I thought Michigan was a Great Lakes state, not the Midwest.

This is my 1000th post. I want virtual confetti!
Click to expand...


LOL... I just came back to read this post to get your link (great site btw) and I totally missed the stranger in a stange land refence :) I thought I was the only one who said that.

Branch County Michigan... almost in Indiana, almost in Ohio... about as far as you can get from the great lakes and still be in Michigan... we actually reside in Indiana... so IMHO, our part of michigan is part of michigan in name only... less than 5 miles from Indiana. Since I dont think they are going to fill up the speedway with water and set up some marks, it's not a state known for it's sailing...
 
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