Laser (dinghy)

*Specifications Under Current Rules*

Number of crew	1
LWL	3810 mm 12 ft 6in
LOA	4064 mm 13 ft 10in
Beam	1422 mm 4 ft 7in
Draft	787 mm 2 ft 7in
Hull weight (with fittings)	59 kg 130 lb
Sail Area of total of Main Sail	7.06 m² 76sq.ft

Olympic Class

''This article focuses on the Laser Standard dinghy. For the smaller editions of this boat see Laser Radial and Laser 4.7

The Laser is a popular one-design class of small sailing dinghy. It is a singlehanded boat, meaning that it is sailed by one person. The design, by Bruce Kirby, emphasizes simplicity and performance.

The Laser is one of the most popular single-handed dinghies in the world. By late 2004, the number of boats produced exceeded 180,000. A commonly cited reason for its popularity is that it is robust and simple to rig and sail while the performance characteristics match those of more-complex racing dinghies.

History

It started with a phonecall between Bruce Kirby and Ian Bruce, while discussing the possibility of a car topped dinghy for a line of camping equipment, Bruce Kirby sketched what would be known as "the million dollar doodle". The cartopper never went to production and the plans stayed with Kirby until 1970 when "One Design and Offshore Yachtsman" held a regatta for boats under $1000, called "Americas Teacup". After a few sail modifications it easily won its class.

The prototype of the boat was originally named the "Weekender" (The sail held the letters TGIF instead of the current international laser symbol. TGIF means: Thank God It´s Friday) but it was officially unveiled as the Laser at the New York Boat Show in 1971. The Laser became a men's Olympic-class boat in 1996, and a special Olympic edition of the boat was released that year in commemoration. The Laser Radial (see below) will be a women's Olympic-class boat beginning in 2008.

The first world championship was held in 1974 in Bermuda with 24 countries participating first place was won by Peter Commette, USA. The greatest champion of Laser Class is Robert Scheidt " El Demolidor", from Brazil; he won the world´s championship eight times and received two gold and one silver Olympic medals.

Design

As a one-design class of sailboat, all Lasers are built to the same specifications. The Laser is 4.23 metres long (13 ft 10.5 in) long, with a waterline length of 3.81 m (12.5 ft). The hull weight is 56.7 kg (125 lb), to facilitate car-topping. Many enthusiasts have even devised methods of mounting the boat on top of a car single-handedly.

Lasers are cat-rigged; they have only a main sail. The standard sail is 7.06 m² (76 ft²) and, especially in higher winds, is best sailed by a person weighing more than 80 kg (175 lb).

Identification

A Laser's date and place of manufacture can be determined by looking at the serial number stamped into the transom. This serial number is unique to the boat and is also the same number that is shown in the sail. The Laser is unique in this aspect, since almost every other sailing craft has the numbers assigned by the national organization. This means that the same Laser can be moved between countries without having to change numbers. It also means that the Laser has a six-figure number, which is more than almost all other boats that mostly have three- or four-figure numbers. Ask any Laser sailor about the needed time investment required when changing sail numbers after purchasing a used sail.

The Laser series

The Radial

The Laser Radial is the perfect boat for smaller single handed sailors and youth sailors who want to start sailing a Laser, but don't quite have the size to handle it. The Radial uses a standard Laser hull and blades, but a smaller sail and a shorter bottom mast section. The boat has all the performance characteristics of a Laser with a less powerful sail plan. All you need is a new lower mast and sail to make a Laser out of your Laser Radial.

Hosting a world championship with over 150 boats and boasting a slew of local, regional, and national level events for sailors of all ages. The Intercollegiate Yacht Racing Association, US Sailing Association, and International Sailing Federation contest all of their major Junior and Women's championships in the Laser Radial.

The Laser Radial class is built on the same fundamental philosophy as the Laser class. Strict one-design rules mean that it's the sailor, not the boat that wins the race. Every Laser and Laser Radial is identical. The Radial requires all the same techniques and tools as the Laser, allowing smaller sailors to jump into the competitive world of Laser sailing.

It's no secret that many of the world's top sailors have done lots of Laser sailing. The laser Radial gives even more sailors the chance to join in on the action.

Highlights:

A World Championship, National Championships, and hundreds of events fo the local to international level each year
Smaller radial sail allows smaller sailors to experience laser sailing
Radial cut orients the cloth with the loads and improves the sails racing life
Lower aspect rig lowers the sail's center of effort
Radial sail is 14 sq. feet smaller than the Laser full rig sail
Replace the bottom mast section and sail to make a Laser out of your Radial
The shorter, bendier lower mast section enables light sailors to depower easily
All control lines are identical to the Laser

In mid-1980 a new version of the Laser was developed, called the Laser Radial. The only change from the Standard was a smaller sail and shorter lower mast, reducing the sail area by 18% to 5.76 m² (62 ft²). Since the conversion from the Standard was trivial; you only needed to change the lower mast and sail; it was meant to be easy to switch between the boats. This meant that lighter sailors could sail their Laser in spite of a heavy breeze, and stay with their Standard in lighter winds.

In Europe the smaller Radial has surpassed the original Laser Standard in popularity, and even has supplanted the Europe Dinghy as the Women's Singlehanded Dinghy for the 2008 Olympics.

The 4.7

The Laser 4.7 is the perfect boat for small single handed sailors and youth sailors who want to get into Laser sailing. The Laser 4.7 shares the same hull, blades, and deck fittings as the Laser and Radial, but has an alternative mast section and sail. The 4.7 is ideal for lightweight sailors, (75-120lbs). All you need is a new lower mast section and sail to make a Laser or Radial out of your 4.7.

An even smaller version of the Laser was developed about a decade later. The sail area was reduced by 35% from the Standard, allowing even lighter sailors to sail. The same formula as the Radial is kept, the only thing you need to convert your Laser Standard into a Laser 4.7 was to change the lower mast and sail. The name, 4.7 comes from the sail area in square meters (4.7 m² / 50 ft²).

Specifications:

LOA: 13'10”
Beam: 4'6”
Draft: 2'7”
Sail Area: 50 Square Feet
Hull Weight: 130 Pounds
MSRP:
Laser 4.7 Pro (race ready): $4790 (USD)
Laser 4.7 Standard: $4565 (USD)
Colors: Colors: Citron or Oceanic Hull

Other designs

A third and lesser-known variant is the Laser M Rig. This sail was the first attempt at making a smaller rig for smaller sailors. It employed the same stiff lower mast section, but a shorter top section. The design failed. The M Rig was often more difficult to handle upwind than a standard rig, due largely to the very stiff mast sections, which prevented the effective depowering of the sail. Vanguard also makes a Laser 2 model, details of which can be seen at the external link to Vanguard below.

An even smaller model is the Laser Pico. This is a recreational, family type boat, but one which can also be quite fun for the experienced sailor. Its length overall is 11 ft 6 in and it has a beam of 4 ft 8 in. It carries a mainsail or 64 sq. ft. and a small jib of 12 sq. ft.

Handling

The Laser is an extremely quick boat for its size and width, and as a result, it will capsize if the helmsman is not cautious. This is nothing unique to the Laser; all dinghies have the same property.

A skilled helmsman can get the dinghy to plane on downwind tacks, lifting the bow of the boat out of the water and dramatically improving speed. Planing is difficult and increases the risk of a capsize crashing into the water at high speed, but it is needed to unleash the strength of the dinghy.

The trick is to head up the face of the wave, then surf down the back of the wave, causing the boat to plane.

Trimming

The Laser has 3 control lines (excluding the main sheet) from which the helmsman can adjust the rig, these are the outhaul, the boom vang and the cunningham (forward luff tensioner). In lighter winds, beginners can mostly ignore these tools, but the situation changes as the wind increases.

The outhaul controls how tight the foot of the sail is, by pulling the clew away from the tack of the sail.

The boom vang controls how tight the leech of the sail is, by pulling the clew edge of the sail away from the head of the sail.

The cunningham tightens the luff of the sail by bringing the tack away from the head of the sail.

When sailing upwind, one tightens all three until the sail is mostly flat and wrinkle-free. When the wind increases even more, the helmsman needs to reduce the amount of force being put into the boat by the rig, and to accomplish this the sail is flattened even more. In these winds, most sailors pull the outhaul to the maximum, the cunningham so much that the eye is forced down to the boom. The amount of boom vang used is up to the helmsman; most helms apply vang, or kicker, until the two mainsheet blocks on the transom and boom are touching. Large amounts of kicker are necessary in order to generate mast bend, and hence maintain sail shape. This does have the effect of stretching the sail, and it is not unusual for experienced helms to replace the sail regularly throughout the season as the sail quickly loses shape and hence performance. Although some helms choose to use the same sail over and over again as most of the gear on the one design laser is very expensive.

On all downwind tacks, the outhaul is kept quite loose to increase draft, and the cunningham is completely loosened to open up the top of the sail. In lighter winds, the boom vang is loosened until the leech moves freely back and forward. The boom vang becomes crucial in when sailing downwind in a heavy breeze. If the vang is too tight the boat will be unable to sail downwards and quickly steer up to face the wind or capsize. If the vang is too loose, i.e. the boom is pointing upward, then air flow along the sail will be turbulent, and might vary direction of the flow depending on the heel of the boat. This situation is very uncomfortable and results in an uncontrollable boat and can cause the boat to take an unexpected and very quick turn, either into or away from the wind. This is dangerous, since turning too far from the wind will lead to an uncontrolled jibe, which might make the boom hit the helmsman with much force, before the boat capsizes. This very situation is called a death roll among sailors.

In recent years, the basic sail controls have been upgraded by means of the XD performance kit. Fitting this kit allows the outhaul and cunningham to be adjusted more easily when under sail, by putting a pair of cam cleats on the deck so that the lines are always available to the sailor even when hiking.

Because the Laser has an unstayed rig, skilled helms are able to sail "By the Lee". This technique, employed downwind, involves letting the boom move in front of the mast, instantly inverting the righting moment of the sail. The advantage is the ability to steer the boat without the need to perform a gybe. This gives the helm flexibilty to move the boat to take advantage of wave motion and windshifts. Downwind, a sailor may choose to go wherever the wind is, without losing speed from gybing

The Laser has a relatively small rudder blade, meaning that turns made by the rudder have to be larger than on similar dinghies. It is usual to see that helms make little use of the rudder, preferring to change the direction of the boat using balance and heel. The rudder acts like a brake, because every time the sailor moves it, the boat will slow down to some degree. Using heel, the boat maintains speed better.

External links

Dinghies | Single-handed sailing

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