Which would be better choice?

Which would you buy?

  • 1984 for $1500 no dolly with trailer--2 older sails & 1 new sail

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    4
  • Poll closed .

Rich B

New Member
I am considering buying one of two Lasers that I have seen on Craigslist. One is a 1982 with a dolly (no trailer) that supposedly hasn't been in the water since 2001 with one sail for $750. The other is a 1984 with a rebuilt trailer with new bearings, lights and paint but no dolly. Boat comes with a deck cover, two old sails and one brand new sail for $15oo. Neither have upgrades from standard rigging and I don't know the stiffness or mast step condition of either right now, and examining either would involve a 6+ hour drive one way to see. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated, even if it is to wait until I can afford a newer one for $1000+ more than either of these. Thanks for your feedback!
 
Well a lot will depend on your intended use - racing vs recreational. If racing, at what level of competition and commitment. If recreational, are you just out for a pleasant sail in 7 knots of wind, or do you want to get out in 20 knots, hang yourself way off the rail and get a good ride out of it.

Also, trailer vs dolly --- will depend on where you want to sail, and what launching and/or storage options exist there or at your home. Inside for the winter is a huge benefit for any boat, and certainly goes as much for older boats.

Either way, buying a boat from the 80's sight-unseen has some risks in it.
And either way, if you DO buy an older boat, and if you're sailing in anything more than the lightest wind and with the lightest stresses on the boat, I would heartily recommend that you do at least these 2 things. The recommendation is based on my own experience sailing a 1973 boat for recreation only (no racing) but I do enjoy getting out in a blow and getting a good-fast-wet ride when there's a good breeze.
1. regardless of whether the mast step leaks or not, put an inspection port into the foredeck and reinforce that mast tube-to-hull joint in there. Do it before it fails, cuz when it lets go+ the mast tips over while it's stuck thru the deck, it tears up the deck bad. Reinforcing ahead of failure might be 2-4 hours of time and maybe $30-50 materials. Fixing after failure might be 30-40 hours of work and $300-500 in materials.

2. Thru-bolt the following high-stress points, with stainless steel hardware and a big wide fender washer on the inside:
- rudder gudgeons
- hiking strap attachments forward and aft
- mainsheet block
and yup this requires putting ports into the afterdeck (for rudder+aft hiking straps) and next to the daggerboard trunk for mainsheet block and forward hiking strap attachments.
Again the reason for the suggestion is that these are relatively fast, clean, and easy jobs before something fails. And they turn into messy, difficult, more time-consuming and expensive repairs if something fails first, because as it fails, it tears out-- and tears up-- the deck/hull material around it.

If you upgrade to the new vang, I'd also recommend you put the boom reinforcement sleeve into the old boom. The new vang has MORE than enough purchase to break the older booms (that don't have the sleeve) easy enough.

Somewhere around there's a good 3-4 page recap of things to look for in buying and sailing an older boat, but I can't remember where I saw that. Maybe Laser Dr.?

whatever you do have fun with it!
 
Obvioiusly depends on the conditon of the boat and sails, and whether you desire a dolly, trailer, or both. My two cents, the new sail only has a lot of value if it's a brand new sail - i.e. never been used. And a brand new sail is probably a waste on a ~30 year old hull. As far as a trailer, you can probably get a trailering solution of some kind for $200-300. Either buy something used, or buy one of the kit trailers from Northern Tool and find a creative way to hold the boat.

I'd say on the surface, the $750 boat sounds like the better deal.
 

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