1975 "New" Laser - what do ya think?

F

F15EagleE

New Member
Hello all,
I just purchased my first laser after a sailing hiatus of nearly 10 years. Got a trailer, 3 sails, and looks like a complete package. Im currently trying to dry it out (has quite a few "blisters" on deck). What do you guys think of it by the pictures? Suggestions on fixing the dent/scratch in the hull? How about the mast step? (solid enough?) Ive been lurking on these boards for a few weeks now and its great to have all this information available. Really helps us "newbies". :cool:

boat and trailer

dent/scratch in hull (ouch)

mast step

Hull #

Oh the heck with it. You can see more here.
Thanks again!
 
You can't really tell what shape the mast step is in from a picture, so I suggest filling it with water. If the water leaks out, cut a hole for an inspection port and fibreglass around the entire thing, top to bottom.

As for the hull/paint, I'd like to suggest completely redoing the whole thing, but for most people it's too much work. I've personally completely resostored a '74 (last summer), and will be restoring another one this summer. Heretwo pictures of my restoration, after a full summer of sailing, 6 hours in the water each day. I got a few scratches from transporting it to regattas, but other than that it's in great shape. I'll be painting the rudder and daggerboard to match the boat this summer, I ran out of silver paint last year :(.

If you put a lot of work into a boat, it looks great when it's done. If your willing to do the work, and have the budget, I rurge you completely restore the boat.


http://img15.echo.cx/img15/69/david0794vu.jpg
http://img15.echo.cx/img15/9133/david0805zs.jpg

I know I shouldn't have my daggerboard down, but I had nowhere else to put it (as you can see, the ground isn't in great shape).
 
macwas16 said:
Great looking boat, David. What kind of paint did you use and how was it applied?
Click to expand...

Awlgrip. I sanded down the original banana yellow with 120 grit, then 180 grit, then 220 grit, wetsanded with 400 grit, cleaned it, primed it with some kind of car primer my grandfather picked up, then wetsanded that with 300 and 400. It was as smooth as a baby's bottom :)

Then we painted it with the silver Awlgrip in a painting room with controlled enviroment and all that other special painting stuff (My grandfather's friend knows the owner of the shop, so he let us use the room for a couple days.) It took about 6-7 very light coats. There's a few small blemishes in the hull paint, but the deck was perfect.


I'm actually going to be redoing the paint again next week. Our garage got broken into this winter, and they scratched up the boat really badly while stealing our generator, lawnmower, shop vac, and a few other things like that. It ended up on its hull, about 15 feet from where it should have been, instead of upside down, so my guess is they tried taking it too.
 
Awlgrip was my guess. Great job. I'll be Awlgripping my 13' Whaler chase boat and another Laser I've been restoring shortly.
 
MLaser said:
That is Old School.

How much did you pay for it?
Click to expand...

$1200... Decent since i got the trailer and 3 sails with rigging and what not...

David, what did you do to the deck to restore it? Looks like brand new! As for the hull, did you prime it with flex primer? I'd hate to go through the expense of restoring only to have it crack under stress...
 
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