Laser Serial # 165

P

pierres

New Member
Hi all,

I am a total newbie.. Bought my laser today... so please be gentle.
Juts bought a laser second hand today (from the buy-back recycling center). Looked good and had all the gear (sails, sheets etc).
Anyway, when I saw it was a laser, went online and did the usual reading / googling.
One surprise I found is that my boar has serial # 165 (on both the sail as well as the back hull) - See picture...
It seems this is pretty old (I read somewhere that they start at 100?).
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Have not taken it out on the water yet, but filled the hull with water and it did not show any leaks... Just reading up now on rigging etc... but will definitely need sailing lessons, so if anyone has recommendations for Sydney Australia, I am all ears...

Pierre
 

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Hi Dave,

it has a laser sticker on the hull on the inside.
upon further research on rigging, I noticed that my Mast etc were different from most on the net (no mast step, mast stays etc). It seems I have a Laser II (made by Vanguard?). It comes with main sail, a jib and a spinnaker.

Found a good laser II rigging guide on the net http://na.laserperformance.com/images/assets/pdfs/laser/laser2regatta.pdf

Planning on getting the trailer fixed (lights broken) and get it into the water next weekend hopefully.

BTW, what are your thoughts on the #165 serial number. that makes it (according to google) built in 1972 - 1st year of mass manufacture. Pat of me thinks that is cool :) especially since i bought it from the buy-back center at the recycling depot.

Pierre
 
Laser 2 were first launched in Australia and then North America in 1979, it made it to Europe in 1980. I doubt that it was made by Vanguard unless it is a late 1990's boat.

Laser 2's suffered from poor construction and bad design as the floors delaminate and get very soft. After the floor goes soft. the deck goes soft. A soft floor will not hold the weight or pressure over time of a sailor heavier than a kid. Simple test is to drum the floor and you can tell right away if there is delamination of the foam from the fibreglass

Looks like the sail has seen better days, you might want to look up Intensity Sail and get a new practice mainsail, it is the engine of your boat.

Leak tests are best down by gently blowing air through the drain hole with a soapy solution around all joints looking for bubbling
 
As Boom Vang already pointed out, do not fill your hull with water ever again...
The soap bubble test is quite easy and could be informative to your well being on the water...

Since you are new to sailing, I think that your old sail will do just fine for the first year or so.

Try to find a club to help you out with learning how to sail.

I have read that Laser IIs are a lot of fun; go for it! Although they can be sailed by one, a crew would really help.
 
Thanks WaveDancer & Boom Vang for the input.

My plan is to get going on the Laser II before assessing whether I need a different boat. Plenty of mates are volunteering to crew, so that should be a fun time + eventually, I want to take my 7 year old daughter out as well (after I get comfortable with it :))

Thanks for the info on the soap bubble test. Makes a lot of sense and i feel silly for not thinking of it.

I will do a test on the floor to see how she is going...

Pierre
 
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