Laser 2: missing and broken parts, your thoughts

flayrah

New Member
Hi everyone! Purchased this few years ago, only sailed 3-4 times. One time I crashed into parked boats while attempting single-handeded.

1. What I KNOW I have:
-beat to hell mast base plug
-jib halyard is all rope
-spinnaker sail and ring mounted on mast
-trapeze tangs

2. What I'm pretty sure I need:
-spinnaker sheets, rigging, block/s
-trapeze rigging, cheek block

3. What items are missing or in bad condition?

4. Here is video:
 

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It's now past 1 o'clock at night here, so I'll take a closer look at this material tomorrow. The mast looks like it's very old, so it's a model of which I don't have personal experience. What's the sail/hull number (What does the mainsail, transom code, or cockpit plaque say?)

Very good idea to include a video - that makes things a whole lot clearer than a bunch of still pictures :) People should do this more often.

_
 
Ok, I'll go through the video now...

0:00 - One can see in the very first shot that the mast is a very old model, as the main halyard is external at the top. Looks like the wire at the wire/rope connection of the halyard doesn't have a loop which would fit a hook or rack near the mast foot.

0:03 - Here's where the main halyard "dives" into the lower section of the mast.

0:05 - Diamond wire attachment and spinnaker halyard exit (and the spinnaker halyard itself).

0:09 - Shroud and jib halyard turning block attachment and jib halyard wire. The forestay should also attach to the mast in this area, but I don't see one.

0:15 - Jib halyard lock. This is where the swaged balls on the wire go (there seems to be two of them so you can choose between two mast rakes). There is what looks like a short piece of elastic at the bottom end of the wire (as there should), but the rope tail (attached to the wire, not to the elastic) is missing.

0:17 - Fairlead for the spinnaker pole uphaul.

0:18 - Diamond spreaders. The spreader tube goes through the mast and may interfere with the main halyard inside. Has been a problem area in other Laser 2s.

0:21 - Spinnaker pole ring. A very weak model that's going to bend. In the background: the broken grabrail is easy to replace as it's one of the few parts that actually are common to the Laser and the Laser 2.

0:23 - The upper Clamcleat (with the missing rivet) is for the spinnaker pole uphaul, and the lower is for the main cunningham. In the background, the traveller line is rigged wrong (and looks very thin and stretchy).
All Clamcleats should be made of aluminium, not plastic.

0:26 - The main halyard shouldn't go anywhere near the main cunningham cleat (see previous stop). There should be a loop at the end of the halyard wire that fits the hook above the exit block (see 0:00).
What you're calling the jib halyard is actually the spinnaker halyard (see 0:05).

0:37 - The mast foot fitting does look corroded and worn, but not really "damaged". How does it fit the mast step?

0:45 - The plastic hook next to the vang tang is where the piece of elastic at the bottom end of the jib halyard (see 0:15) hooks to keep the slack part of the wire from swinging all over the place.

0:54 - This is an unknown (to me) method of attaching the shrouds to the chainplate fitting. How does that connect to the wire?

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Responding line by line, thanks for thorough review!

0:00 - One can see in the very first shot that the mast is a very old model, as the main halyard is external at the top. Looks like the wire at the wire/rope connection of the halyard doesn't have a loop which would fit a hook or rack near the mast foot.
Is that critically essential?

0:05 - Diamond wire attachment and spinnaker halyard exit (and the spinnaker halyard itself).
I'm ordering trapeze setups; those wires connect *outside* of diamond wires, correct?

0:09 - Shroud and jib halyard turning block attachment and jib halyard wire. The forestay should also attach to the mast in this area, but I don't see one.
So......you're correct on forestay absence. I Franksteined this after a crash several years ago and didn't repair correctly.
Jib is currently where spinnaker sheet should be...will fix this.

Ordering new forestay. Does the soft loop in picture attach to 1 or 2? I believe it's 2 as indicated by quick release wire.

0:15 - Jib halyard lock. This is where the swaged balls on the wire go (there seems to be two of them so you can choose between two mast rakes). There is what looks like a short piece of elastic at the bottom end of the wire (as there should), but the rope tail (attached to the wire, not to the elastic) is missing.
-The elastic belongs at bottom of mast to secure/keep it out of the way?
-The rope tail is what's holding jib halyard onto mast in this photo. I'd untied it for the photo...for no good reason.


0:21 - Spinnaker pole ring. A very weak model that's going to bend. In the background: the broken grabrail is easy to replace as it's one of the few parts that actually are common to the Laser and the Laser 2.
I should replace spinnaker pole ring?
Will replace the grabrails, thankful they're plentiful.

0:23 - The upper Clamcleat (with the missing rivet) is for the spinnaker pole uphaul, and the lower is for the main cunningham.
Understood :)

0:26 - The main halyard shouldn't go anywhere near the main cunningham cleat (see previous stop). There should be a loop at the end of the halyard wire that fits the hook above the exit block (see 0:00).
Understood :)

0:37 - The mast foot fitting does look corroded and worn, but not really "damaged". How does it fit the mast step?
Not great, feels a bit wobbly. Will hold off purchasing new base plug until I've stepped using a proper forestay :)



0:54 - This is an unknown (to me) method of attaching the shrouds to the chainplate fitting. How does that connect to the wire?
I previously attached a turnbuckoe, will remove this. Red herring.


Thanks again for thorough review!

Purchasing forestay, trapeze rigging w/ components and spinnaker halyard + rigging.

Will keep updated, really appreciate thoughtful and meticulous review :)
 

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0:00 - One can see in the very first shot that the mast is a very old model, as the main halyard is external at the top. Looks like the wire at the wire/rope connection of the halyard doesn't have a loop which would fit a hook or rack near the mast foot.
Is that critically essential?
Well, I'd say it is pretty essential to cleat the main halyard :rolleyes: The wire loop (or at least the end of it, it can be fairly long) should come out of the exit block at the mast foot, to attach on that stainless hook just above the block. If there's (as it looks like) a thimble there, it won't go through. It's a tight place; the rope tail has to be eye-spliced to the wire as knots don't fit there (unless you're comfortable with very thin rope here).

0:05 - Diamond wire attachment and spinnaker halyard exit (and the spinnaker halyard itself).
I'm ordering trapeze setups; those wires connect *outside* of diamond wires, correct?
Correct.

0:09 - Shroud and jib halyard turning block attachment and jib halyard wire. The forestay should also attach to the mast in this area, but I don't see one.
Ordering new forestay. Does the soft loop in picture attach to 1 or 2? I believe it's 2 as indicated by quick release wire.
It was actually intended for 2, and looped around 1, like in picture 14 on page 6 on the 1982 manual shows. But it doesn't really matter much, as all the forestay really does is to hold the mast up whenever the jib is down. The greatest load on it are on land when you pull on it to help cleat the jib halyard. No sailing loads whatsoever (hopefully!), so the wire can be quite thin.

0:15 - Jib halyard lock. This is where the swaged balls on the wire go (there seems to be two of them so you can choose between two mast rakes). There is what looks like a short piece of elastic at the bottom end of the wire (as there should), but the rope tail (attached to the wire, not to the elastic) is missing.
-The elastic belongs at bottom of mast to secure/keep it out of the way?
Yeah, it "rides" with the wire loop and attaches to the plastic hook near the mast foot. Rides up again when the jib comes down.

0:21 - Spinnaker pole ring. A very weak model that's going to bend. In the background: the broken grabrail is easy to replace as it's one of the few parts that actually are common to the Laser and the Laser 2.
I should replace spinnaker pole ring?
Not at the top of your to-do list, but it is a design and size which a Laser 2 pole will definitely deform on a tight trapezing reach. Might as well get a better one if you can when buying other stuff.

0:37 - The mast foot fitting does look corroded and worn, but not really "damaged". How does it fit the mast step?
Not great, feels a bit wobbly. Will hold off purchasing new base plug until I've stepped using a proper forestay :)
...
Purchasing forestay, trapeze rigging w/ components and spinnaker halyard + rigging.
Here's the question: where do you intend to make these purchases? The problem with the Laser 2 is that it's not an active one-design class anymore, and strictly class-specific equipment hasn't been produced for a long time now. Things like new mast foot fittings simply aren't available; you probably have already researched some of the second-hand market.

You may be already familiar with these providers, too, but just repeating that the last two places to offer L2 stuff are Fogh Marine in Toronto and sailboats.co.uk in England, and they seem to have fewer parts to sell every time I look.

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Well, I'd say it is pretty essential to cleat the main halyard :rolleyes: The wire loop (or at least the end of it, it can be fairly long) should come out of the exit block at the mast foot, to attach on that stainless hook just above the block. If there's (as it looks like) a thimble there, it won't go through. It's a tight place; the rope tail has to be eye-spliced to the wire as knots don't fit there (unless you're comfortable with very thin rope here).
Believe may need to purchase another main halyard or have local boat shop build.



Here's the question: where do you intend to make these purchases?
Midwest Sailing in Michigan replied to an inquiry they have 2 new base plugs.
Just purchased some rigging from a fellow on here. Will update with more pictures.

No idea how previous owner used spinnaker...there's no spinnaker chute or sock or turtle. Imagine I'll end up buying a turtle or build DIY chute sock.
 
may need to purchase another main halyard or have local boat shop build.
Yes. The length is pretty critical; you want to have a little luff tension on a raised main even with the cunningham loose. You may want to use a length of some thin low-stretch line as a stand-in to get the measure. Raise the main (the mast doesn't have to be stepped, you can do it horizontally, too) and see that the sail goes high enough that you need to pull down on the boom slightly to get it in and out of the gooseneck. Err on the short side as you can fine-tune the halyard with different length shackles at the top. Also, the bottom end loop should be long enough that its swage stays inside the mast even when the main is up.

Midwest Sailing in Michigan replied to an inquiry they have 2 new base plugs.
Just purchased some rigging from a fellow on here. Will update with more pictures.
Interesting! I've been thinking for some time how cool it would be if someone really had some original L2 parts to sell in some less than obvious location... this certainly looks like one :)

No idea how previous owner used spinnaker...there's no spinnaker chute or sock or turtle. Imagine I'll end up buying a turtle or build DIY chute sock.
Spinnaker bags seem to be objects that simply evaporate after a certain number of years :confused: (Same thing in the 470 class.) Apparently no new ones for the Laser 2 have been made since the change to the launcher, so you may have to get one made by your local sailmaker (or some such). Some measurements and pictures can be found in the somewhat legendary 1982 owner's manual on pages 17-19.

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I'm unsure how to attach forestay to hounds for this 1984 model. Have attached pictures showing hounds and forestay wire I have (what modifications does it need?)
 

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Well, looks like you got a "new" style forestay with a thimble at both ends. It's meant to be attached to the mast with a small eyestrap about 10 cm above the shrouds. That's the simplest way.

Your other option is to do it the way it's shown in the manual that I linked to in post #5 :rolleyes:
It was actually intended for 2, and looped around 1, like in picture 14 on page 6 in the 1982 manual shows.
For this, you'd need to cut off the existing eye at one end and replace it with a new, longer "soft" eye. Don't worry about the length of the wire, it's very uncritical to begin with, and is "fine-tuned" anyway with the rope tail at the bottom end. (A shackle is very useless there.)

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I have the 1982 Manual bookmarked and regularly reference it, had difficulty understanding what the picture indicated.

Thanks for clarifying! Will swage and create soft loop and attach to jib block.
 

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