I have the opportunity to get a sunfish or laser sailboat for free. The sunfish comes with everything like a sail and mast, but the hull needs fiberglassing work. The laser does not come with a mast or sail, but does have a hull that is in great shape. What should I chose. Thanks
Your call really.
I'd be considering -
- cost of spars + sail for Laser - it will be more if you want to race it; less if you're OK with non-class legal gear
- extent of damage to the Sunfish hull, how comfortable you are with fiberglass work, + the cost of doing the repair
Of course it depends on what kind of boat you want, but if it was my choice, I'd take the Laser for sure. From your description the Laser requires no repair, just purchasing the missing components. Those can often be found used, so for a few hundred dollars you could have a very nice boat, assuming that your assessment of the hull condition is accurate. My comments assume that the Laser comes with rudder, tiller, daggerboard and most or all of the rest except for the mast and sail.
Of course it depends on what kind of boat you want, but if it was my choice, I'd take the Laser for sure. From your description the Laser requires no repair, just purchasing the missing components. Those can often be found used, so for a few hundred dollars you could have a very nice boat, assuming that your assessment of the hull condition is accurate. My comments assume that the Laser comes with rudder, tiller, daggerboard and most or all of the rest except for the mast and sail.
That's a Laser 2- it takes a main + a jib + is usually sailed by 2 people. I hear you can sail it singlehanded, usually with just the mainsail. I can't say much about the cost of the mast, sails, standing + running rigging, rudder, daggerboard etc. I'd guess it's a good deal more than a regular Laser, maybe somebody else can provide more / better info.
That's a Laser 2- it takes a main + a jib + is usually sailed by 2 people. I hear you can sail it singlehanded, usually with just the mainsail. I can't say much about the cost of the mast, sails, standing + running rigging, rudder, daggerboard etc. I'd guess it's a good deal more than a regular Laser, maybe somebody else can provide more / better info.
It's fundamentally a decision between singlehanded and doublehanded, and how much money you want to spend. The Laser 2 is a great boat (one of my personal all-time favourites), but if all you have is only a hull, you'd have to spend thousands of dollars just to get it sailing. As the class is almost dead (a small national fleet in Germany is about all that's left), spares are hard pretty hard to get, too. Sailboats.co.uk in Northampton, England holds the boat's rights (I think), and Fogh Marine in Toronto has some stuff as well. I'll check out their prices and post some numbers later.
Fogh Marine doesn't really have anything that Sailboats doesn't, though their spinnaker (the exact same item) is a little cheaper at 499 CAD. LaserPerformance | Boat Parts | Sailing
Neither has any rudder blades left. Some may be available on the second-hand market, most likely in Germany, and maybe Britain.
And before anyone mentions the name of a well-known advertiser on this forum: they do sell fake Laser 2 sails and foils, but no spars.
All in all, choosing the Laser 2 makes sense only if 1) you have a friend to do it with, and 2) you're ready to spend at least three thousand dollars on it.
I have the opportunity to get a sunfish or laser sailboat for free. The sunfish comes with everything like a sail and mast, but the hull needs fiberglassing work. The laser does not come with a mast or sail, but does have a hull that is in great shape. What should I chose. Thanks
I know the race team my son sails with has access to, and plays around with, a Sunfish. And they love sailng the Sunfish because it's an easy to handle, zippy little boat.
They mainly sail Lasers but the all like playing around on tne Sunfish.