Old Laser Hull 823

4bdennis

New Member
Hello all, Today I bought an old laser. There was no HIN number where it was suppose to be. I did some googling and found out I needed to look under the boweye. The number is 823. Did I really find a 1972 Laser ?? There are a bunch of Styrofoam blocks loose in the hull and has 4 inspection ports . She is a bit dirty and dinged up but bone dry. Will try her in the water for a leak test next week .
 
My old Laser #2069 was a '72... or so it said on the title. Don't knock the older boats for recreational sailing, but those four inspection ports suggest that repairs have been made... I take it some of those ports are near the dagger well (or trunk) and mast step? Maybe one back by the stern? Four sounds like overkill, but just to be safe, and as long as those ports already exist, you wanna inspect your mast step and dagger well closely, including through the hull void to see what sort of repairs might have been made. :confused:

Damned if my ankle isn't giving me heller grief today... dunno how I hurt it, these things seem to magically happen with age. Didn't bang it or anything, I wasn't even drunk... well, I got drunk last night, but the ankle was already sore before I cracked my first beer. This 'getting old' business sucks... $h!t falling apart for no apparent reason, or getting busted up like cheap motel furniture. And of course, no warranty... no guarantees in life except for death & taxes, THOSE will always be in effect, don'tcha know? ;)

When the Grim Reaper starts moonlighting as a tax collector, and the b@stard tries to collect any back taxes I might owe at the time of my passing, I'm gonna turn my empty pockets inside-out and tell the fool, "KISS THE BUNNY!!!" Meh, there's probably a system already in place to deal with undesirables, folks with bad attitudes toward authority, lol. They'll charge the debt against my soul and sell it at the nearest swap meet, no doubt... hopefully it'll be one of those marine swap meets, so I can sail again. :rolleyes:

MEH, TIME FOR ANOTHER BEER, I SHOULD'VE STOPPED AT THE STORE TO BUY SOME OF THAT LIDOCAINE OINTMENT, BUT THERE'S ALWAYS MANANA... :cool:
 
Yeah after a bit of loving she is back on the water . Spent about 3 hours messin'about.
IMG_20210408_195314_660.jpg
 
Yes I have a vang but I think it is the original one. It doesn't bite very well . I will need to get a replacement .
 
I didn’t see the vang at first, either :D If that is the original vang, all it needs is a small block or two, an additional length of rope and (most importantly) a swivel to give the ”bite” you want. Post more (close-up) pictures if you want more help with this.

If a Laser’s hull/sail number is only three digits, then it was built in 1971, the first year of production.

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Did any of you notice that that vang attachment point on the boom of the pictured boat is closer to the mast than is normally seen? My boat is the only other one like that I recall seeing and it's hull #555. I wonder if the very early boats were built like this.
 
Did any of you notice that that vang attachment point on the boom of the pictured boat is closer to the mast than is normally seen?
Yes, now that I measured it from the picture, it's about 340 mm from the gooseneck, while the maximum (to which the factory position should be pretty close) is 482.

I have the 1975 measurement diagram right here, and it says 482 just like the current one. Was 1971 different then? However, 4bdennis's boom doesn't look original as it doesn't have the original 45-degree vang key tang. Rob, does your boom have that fitting?

Everybody please post lots of close-up pictures :D

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Found some photographic evidence to validate the speculations. This is on the back cover of Dick Tillman’s legendary book:

01D28269-41FA-4A30-AFE1-432E2781C944.jpeg


The vang fitting is farther forward, and is not the 45-degree strap type. The boat is number 995.

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Mine isn't the 45° bracket. I've always assumed that my spars were original with the boat but it's certainly possible they aren't. I'm not the original owner. Nothing had been upgraded when I got the boat except that the mast tube had been re-enforced. Grab rails and foils are of course wood,
20210411_130131.jpg
and the gudgeons are metal.

From the boom end including the end fitting to the center of the bracket is 310mm. To where the tang (mine is the bent variety) rests in the keyhole is about 300mm. The bracket is 50mm in length.
 
Thanks Rob, mystery solved! So the earliest boats had that six-rivet key fitting, at 335 mm (measured to the aft end of the fitting as in the measurement diagram). Means that 4bdennis's boom is original.

The 45° strap was then used roughly between 1972 and 76, and the current one that looks very similar to yours (but has four mounting holes) from then on. Why it was moved to 482 mm is anybody's guess. As it is, the vang key block hits the raised centreboard. Maybe it was intended that way for some reason.

The bent key wasn't introduced until the late 1990s I think. The Allen and RWO key fittings were originally intended to be used with the key Laser 2s use there (and, incidentally, I have on my Lightning):
R4890-600x600.jpg

The straight key that was intended for the 45° strap didn't really fit the "new" key fitting very well and that's why they had a habit of breaking. Took only 20 years for the class to fix that :rolleyes:
Is your key original, what does it look like?

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In our fleet upgrade I have removed two of the old style straight key vang booms. Good to know they may have been in service from 76...I go and hang one on my wall.
 
My key is bent but I don't know if it's original and, I hate to admit, I can't remember if I replaced it or its what was on the boat when I bought it. :)
 
Hello all. Went out again this weekend to go test homade tiller handle and extension. The wind was 10 to 20 gusting to 30 and at least 400 degrees variability . I got dunked I count 5 times , but was surprised how easy it was to right the boat in the winds we where having. Much easier the the Barnett Butterfly I also sail.
I took a bunch of pictures . So here you are
 

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Ok I got hull 823 registered with the state of Tennessee. Problem is they have the manufacturer as Gregor Boat Company. I googled and could not find the name of the company that made the Laser in 1972. Does anyone know?? My understanding is it was In the Quebec area in 1972.
 
Performance Sailcraft, in Pointe-Claire, on Montreal island. And your boat is a 1971 - as far as I know, boat number 1000 was built before that year's end.

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Just a hunch, but could that name be Gregory Boat Company? And was it located in Micigan? If so, that is likely the dealer's name.
 
Just a hunch, but could that name be Gregory Boat Company? And was it located in Michigan? If so, that is likely the dealer's name.
Could be??? I found this boat under a porch in East Tennessee and it had not seen water in about 15 years. And the lady didn't know much about it.
 

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