Class Politics cost of a laser

laserdude

New Member
Are new lasers selling for over 4500.? I've been out to lunch for too long I guess. What makes a laser worth that much? It's not that big of a boat.....can someone please kindly and gently let me in on the secret?

I can't believe that much goes into the making of such a simple boat? What the heck happened?

thanks-
James
 
here we go again...

The boats are priced to market, the market is willing to pay the current price.

Out of curiousity, what new small one design boats do you think are a good deal ?
 
49208 said:
here we go again...

The boats are priced to market, the market is willing to pay the current price.

Out of curiousity, what new small one design boats do you think are a good deal ?

I'm sure a lot smarter people than I came up with that price....

as the price goes up such market must, by definition, get smaller. The true "market price" has to be plotted on two axes... cost on the (x) axis, and market size on the y axis... at $0 the market is infinite, at $10,000 the market size is zero. Where the cost line intersects with the market line is the most "effective" markey price.

In the case of the laser, however, I think they intentionally push the cost higher to make the new boat market smaller. Ther's no free lunch, they wont make more by doing so (fewer people will buy), but they gain other benefits, like more tightly controlled demand, and a more active 'used boat' market.
 
Laser #102 was the second production boat sold in 1971. The price was $475. Lasers were selling for $700 within a few months.
I consider the first price to be promotional and the latter price to be realistic as a comparison.

Lasers were forst sold as a cheap functional boat. They were both inexpensive and cheap.

The following is my case for: The boat is still relatively inexpensive but not Quite as cheap.

Not as cheap:
Today>> The hulls and decks last much longer as they are now made with better resin, better fiberglass, better gelcoat, better core material, better glues, a brass fitting in the bailer hole, reinforcement at the corners of the cockpit, better flotation, more consistent weight, better attachment of the mast step tpo the hull, metal fairleads for the traveler, a better ratchet for the mainsheet, better lines, same pulleys now attached together with durable reinforcing washers, a better vang attachment on the boom, a better vang attachment on the mast, a better gooseneck, a cheaper but less dangerous mainsheet fairlead on the underside of the boom, a reinforced boom, a thicker more durable sail, a metal tiller, a flexible and relatively durable tiller to tiller extension joint, consistent and maintenance free ruddrer blade, a consistent and maintenance free centerboard, durable plastic gudgeons instead of metal ones that bend, a litttel part on the top of the lower pintle that stickks up to catch the hold down flap (the old rudder had a flat top on the lower pintle and the flap just bent back over it and let the rudder fall off), inexpensive but maintenance free plastic grab rails and in the fall the company offers promotions like Dollys and covers and sails.

Price comparisons 1971 to 2006
Gasoline: approaching 30 cents a gallon.....now approaching $3 a gallon
King sized Snickers bar. 15 cents .... now $1.15
Tuition room and board at Penn State was $1530 for a regular school year.
How much now?
A new Toyota Celica GT was $3200... Now $30,000?
Coke in a machine was usualy a dime...Now it is a buck
Gold was $40 an ounce... Now??


I think the Laser is a better boat for less money than it cost when it was the "cheap new thing."

By the way... This goes with my entire "shut up about sailing being expensive" when you are looking for an excuse for the sputtering sailing game and the lack of growth of the Laser sailing game.
The local powerboat dealers in my area have sold about fifty 40 foot boats this year. That beats the local Laser dealer by ten fold. Tanks of gas cost more than new Laser sails and don't last as long.
 
Dont take it personally, I pretty much think everything is expensive.

$700 in 1971 is about $3100 when adjusted for inflation. Which, prolly seems about right.

My boat is a 72-73 (maybe one day someone can tell me which), and the quality differences between it and a new boat were quite apparent as I was helping people lift boats on to trailers at the last regatta.

I dunno... myabe I didnt make my point... If I were in charge of the world, I would increase the price of new boats slightly higher than what the demand would actually support. Fewer boats sold for more money each and it's a push.

Such wouls be good for the class because it would increase both the cost and value of used boats.
 
Surely it's all relative,my old laser built in 1979 cost me £400 about six months ago,I keep up with the new boys,will bolt on new kit as and when required and can guarantee to get my money back on her if and whn I sell her.
It's the same the world over,supply and demand.
 
I agree... I'm not the type of laser sailor that is in ther market for a new boat... so I bought a used one, and bought a sail, and will soon buy a new vang/cunningham & outhaul contrtols...

if a new laser was $1000, I would not have spent that money on my old laser.
 
The actual prize for the laser hull rigs and centerboard/rudder arn't really that bad. They're quite low compared to other boats.
The only thing on the laser which is a problem is the sails.
The lasersail has NO development costs, NO marketing costs and it's made from the absolutley cheepest fabric available yet they arn't much cheeper than finn sails which are bigger, has marketing costs, has developmentcosts and are made from a quite expencive fabric.
A laser sail should cost between 100-200 euro and that would still give the companys making them a decent buck.
 
The actual prize for the laser hull rigs and centerboard/rudder arn't really that bad. They're quite low compared to other boats.
The only thing on the laser which is a problem is the sails.
The lasersail has NO development costs, NO marketing costs and it's made from the absolutley cheepest fabric available yet they arn't much cheeper than finn sails which are bigger, has marketing costs, has developmentcosts and are made from a quite expencive fabric. Not to mention that the quality of lasersails suck, they get worn out really quickly.
A laser sail should cost between 100-200 euro and that would still give the companys making them a decent buck.
 
laser sails are made for like £2.50 (i think thats about $5) abroad now so really the price hike is ridiculous
 
Probably better to rant about the Laser sail cost over in the other thread called Intensity Sails.
New Finn sail from North costs $1010 US - that twice as much as the Laser sail... Top Finn sailors buy 2-3 sails a year.... So, not sure that's a good comparison as far as actual cash out of a sailor's pocket.
 
thats like £505 in the UK, over here a laser sail costs £420 ($840) and some people seem to replace them every other regatta
 
Your forgetting to add your wonderful VAT and other monetary differences. If you are going to compare, at least compare the sails as they are sold in the same country.

If you buy a Finn sail from NS UK, it's £700
 
laser47 said:
thats like £505 in the UK, over here a laser sail costs £420 ($840) and some people seem to replace them every other regatta

So buy a used one from one of those people and save a ton of money.

Of course you will miss out on some racecourse placebo
 
naaaah that involves spending money...i've got a perfectly good rag of a thing for club racing and training and a few shiny new(ish) ones for nationals
 
laserdude said:
not sure what a star boat is...

thanks for the response

if youre not sure what a star boat is then your first problem is that you need to get your head out of your arse!
 
Laser sails are very very expensive!! So are the hulls and spars and every part of a laser!
I live in Portugal and my radial sail that i bought new 2 months ago was priced at 660euros, plus taxes and the sail numbers and i ended up paying around 760euros...
In comparison a 420 north sails costs about 1200euros and there are 3 sails, made of much better sailcloth and that last great for racing for at least two years!! Also for the 420 toni tio quantum sails cost around 1100euros.. that's just another example...
A laser hull is really expensive, my 420 new with trailer, covers, dolly, two sets of sails, and everything else cost me 10.000euros compared to my laser wich cost me 6000euros plus covers, dolly and another spare sail, and i don't have a road trailer for the laser... So i ended up paying as much for the laser as i did for the 420 wich is a much more complete boat, much better constructed and has design costs for the company, etc...
So i'll continue to say that lasers are way to expensive!!!! and unfortunely they are the only option we have to race a one design class... that is why the laser company can charge so much for this stuff and still be able to sell them!!
 
To be honest, the 420s arn't better constructed =P
Not as much the laser beeing expencive as the 420 beeing cheap if it's both new boats.
 
If you could charge what you want to a boat and people would keep buying them, wouldnt you? I mean, should vanguard be some sort of altruistic 'for the good of the class' kind of organization that serves their employees free lunch...

I mean... you can really blame congress for being irresponsible for 600 billion dollars when the fact is that anyone withat that much money would Likely do the same.
 
i don't know what brand are the 420 that u sail in... but i can assure that mine is way better constructed than a laser is!
And the question here isn't if laser may or may not charge what they want... the real question is if a laser is too expensive for the boat it is, and the answer is yes!!
 
What new boat isn't too expensive for what it is :D

For comparion's sake, in the US, a new Club 420 is about $6500 (Laser is ~ $5000)

IMHO, that is not a better deal compared to a Laser...

FWIW, even if builders move their production into countries where the labor rate is extremely low compared to their current rates, that is no guarentee that the reduced costs get passed on to the end user..
 
bguez91 said:
Hi.
try STANDARD Bytes, It's the same thing than a laser but smaler and a bit smaler than a radial but bigger than a 4.7 and you can buy one for 2500$.
www.ps2000.ca
bye


For a new boat ? That can't be US dollars - West Coast Sailing has it listed for $4895 (not sure if that is the CII) and APS lists the CII model over $6500 and The Dinghy Shop shows a price of 4700 for the orignal model...

Pretty easy to find a Byte regatta to sail in too :D

I will give PS credit though, the CII rig is a step into the future. One can only dream that the Laser would follow suit (carbon spars, fat head main from modern sail cloth)
 
hi
Im selling my 1999 Byte for 2500$CAN so for 2800$US with 3sails etc....The byte is a great boat but im to heavyfor it now. A 1999 Radial cost min.4000$ AT Cork they were 70Bytes!!!! but only 24CII. And CII are weak and boring...
I just have a question what is the maximum weight for a radial sailer. I weight 145lb, next summer I would be..... 160lbs. Is that to heavy for the Radial? It's for racing.
thanks bye
 

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