Good news for Laser 2 and 3000-4000-5000-

Just found out Northampton Sailboats have taken over the distribution
of the  Laser 2 and Laser 3000 Laser 4000 Laser 5000.
At last I can get some decent service and prices for my 4000.
I phoned to order a new jib and some other bits would have had to wait
a week or more from Laser in the past.
Ordered on Thursday morning arrived today, and I think they are keen
to help promote these classes which is great I just hope they can get
through this recession ok as we need em!
Keep up the good work Sailboats

 
There are only a few V3000 about but hundreds of Laser 3000's  Laser 4000's Laser 5000's and Laser 2's to sail and race against.
   
  You don't have to buy a new boat because these are  all great boats already, its much better to keep your old one and learn how to sail it really well than to keep jumping into new classes that will just disappear,  and you get to see your old mates every weekend for a beer, and now it looks like these classes have at last got a permanent supply of spares to keep them on the water which will increase their value .
    
  Unfortunatly in this economical downturn I don't think the V3000 will survive and in a few years the spares will probably dry up and the few that are around will be converted to Laser 3000's.

 If the V3000 was going to survive there would already be hundreds out there and
there isn't,   the Laser 3000 is a good boat it just needed some support and a good supply of spares not redesigning  now it has got that I am sure it will Flourish.
 
Vandercraft  can give a poor service on spares a friend of mine gave up waiting for some parts for his Laser 3000  I told him about Northampton Sailboats on Friday after my stuff arrived so quickly from them.
 
He phoned me today to thank and me he couldn't believe he had had already got the parts he previously  had been waiting weeks for.        (I wont let you  forget you owe me a couple of beers either  Pete}.
 
You don't have to buy a new boat when there are such great classes out there already and I for one am looking forward to great year in my Laser 4000 I think it
has a great future now we can get all the parts we need from a company that tries so hard like Northampton Sailboats.
 My top tip is buy one of the boats in these classes I think they will prove to be an recession proof investment and go up in value if you look after it, but if you buy a new non established class like the V3000 you stand to lose a lot of money. 

Originally posted by flyingmachine . My top tip is buy one of the boats in these classes I think they will prove to be an recession proof investment and go up in value if you look after it, but if you buy a new non established class like the V3000 you stand to lose a lot of money.

I think you're kidding yourself. No boat is ever a good investment... Surely you've heard the definition of a boat as being a hole in the water into which money is poured... Its safest to think of money spent buying a boat (any boat) as being gone for ever. A class dies out because few people want one, so when you want to sell one you may well struggle to find a buyer at any price.

Sailboats have been selling L2 spares for a couple of years now,generally giving better service than Laser and giving better deals from time to time. (I saved a couple of hundred buying a set of sails last year) When Laser dropped the L2 from their website I rang them up and they confirmed that sailboats are now the official supplier of parts.

The L2 is very good value at the moment, A championship boat for £1000 - 1500, they are bullet proof so relatively cheap to run and there's lots of them....Maybe in a slump when purse strings are tightened they could do well at clubs. In that respect they could be recession tolerant. (not proof)

The L2 originally designed to be a 2 up version of the Laser, uncomplicated and simple to rig combined with performance....The standard Laser guys realised that the sail controls were inadequate changed the rules allowing modifications to downhaul outhaul and kicker..... So why oh why don't they allow similar mods for the L2 . That would be progress.

edit.....on reflection, we can cope with the downhaul and kicker (although they could be easier) it's the outhaul that is the real pig.

Edited by GK.LaserII