Recreational sailing with crew of two?

konaboy

New Member
Hi

I'm tempted to buy a secondhand laser for recreational leasure sailing. The thing it I will be sharing the boat with my girlfriend and we enjoy sailing together.

Is there space for us both in the cockpit. Will the boat handle the total weight of 150kg (3001b)? Or should we forget the Laser altogether and go for another boat, if so what?

Many thanks
 
Re: Reccreational sailing with crew of two?

I sail with two in a laser all the time... it's sometimes more fun, always less work. You dont go as fast, but depends on what your goals are.

In a perfect world, you should get two lasers :)
 
Re: Reccreational sailing with crew of two?

I have sailed with 2 in my Laser and it is fun for 1 adult and a child up to about 10 years old after that there is just not enought room. When my son was 5 until about 9 he would just grab on to the mast and sail with me at 10 he would sit forward of me and hike. Tacking was more the issue than sailing in a straight line.

He is now 14 and sails his own boat. I loose big in the light suff against him now.
 
Hi `konaboy´,
my personal opinion, as a cruising / recreational - sailing Laserite, to this question is this:
You can sail the Laser-I with two persons (also if the Laser-I has to carry 150 kilo's). It can be a lot fun if you want to have that Laser as a sort of "platform for swimming" and enjoy a warm summerday at a beach at the blue "Azur"-colored ocean (f.e: Mediteranian Sea or Caribic or Bondie-Beach). There are old photos of very young Robert Scheidt, who won so many Laser-I-Worlds, outside at the www, where his "companion", his Laser-I, teached him together his brother, how to have a lot of fun on the water in such pretty summerdays.

But, If you want to do some real "performance sailing", you better sail alone the Laser-I.
Get a used "Laser-II" or a used "Laser13" and a suitable road-trailer, or, 2 used Laser-I and a suitable road-trailer for both Laser-I's and you and your girlfriend definitely have much more fun.
Ciao
LooserLu
 
konaboy said:
Hi
I'm tempted to buy a secondhand laser for recreational leasure sailing. The thing it I will be sharing the boat with my girlfriend and we enjoy sailing together.
Is there space for us both in the cockpit. Will the boat handle the total weight of 150kg (3001b)? Or should we forget the Laser altogether and go for another boat, if so what?
Many thanks

My son and I sailed my Laser recently. The boat can handle the weight and still move if there's breeze, but we were mighty cramped. I also think it would be more fun if there's two people to be in a boat with a jib, if only to give each person something to do.

As for what, I can't say. I see from your profile that you are in Sweden. Look around at sailing clubs and in ads and see what boats are popular there. That way, if you are buying a used boat, you will get the best deal, and you will also be able to sell it easily if you decide to do so.
 
I sail with my fiance in our laser. I'm 220 and she's 115, when the wind is blowing 10-15 we go pretty fast. There is just not enough room to be comfortable for us. By the end of the day my back is real sore and legs are cramping. An hour or so is fine, but I am going to buy a hobie 16 for us for all day sailing.
 
A laser 2 or even a V15 would be even better. I know that the laser 2 is an all around fun boat rigged with trapeze and spinnaker. 300 lbs. is on the heavy side for optimal weight which is 280 lbs. I raced them when i got out of optimist until about 16 years old. In Texas the V15 is a very popular boat and my gf wants me to buy one, so we can race together. Whenever I take my gf and I out on the Laser she lays on her stomach and straddles the mast while I sail the boat and it seems to work well for us. I also use to take girls out, so that they would have to be in a bikini right next to me, when I was single. I guess it depends on what your motives are...
 

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