Class Politics Laser versus Force 5

Flappy

New Member
Which is faster, a Force 5 or a Laser? Does the F5 have any technical advantages or disadvantages? I'm asking because eventually I will go up against by brother's F5 and I need to know how much to wager.
 
Flappy said:
Which is faster, a Force 5 or a Laser? Does the F5 have any technical advantages or disadvantages? I'm asking because eventually I will go up against by brother's F5 and I need to know how much to wager.

For what it's worth

According to the 2006 Portsmouth handicap ratings, the Laser is the faster boat:

Laser = 91.1
Force 5 = 95.4

These are the 'average' (windspeed) numbers. The Portsmouth tables have wind-specific ratings as well.
 
Dude, if you've got a Laser and your brother has a Force 5 then you've already won where it counts! Just don't rip on him too much. ;-)
 
I've sailed both boats and IMHO the Laser is far more exciting to sail than the Force 5, partly because in marginal planing conditions the Laser will get on the plane first while the Force 5 plods along in displacement mode sailing.

I did once belong to a club where Force 5's and Lasers raced together and we discvered that although the Laser is slightly faster (as reflected in the handicap ratinogs) a good Force 5 sailor can beat an average Laser sailor, so be careful before you take on a wager.
 
I sail in a portsmouth fleet with a few Force 5s and lots of lasers. One of the Force 5 sailors is very good and as the old geezer says - he beats a lot of us laser sailors a lot of the time.
 

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