Laser Vortex

the vortex is a nice boat and works well for people moving to a single
handed trap boat without trap experience or the less frequent sailor or
someone than wants more stability due to above or age / fittness. having
said that they are a dam fast boat with the kite. As you are 15 one would
hope that the fitness and less frequent bit would not apply, plus your
worries associated with experience / traping at speed will not be high on
your radar. so I would not suggest the vortex as the boat for you.
unfortunatly there aren't that many other single handed Assy boats
around, so your choices are limited to the more expensive MPS or RS 700
e.t.c so if you are on a limited budget the RS600 would seem a good bet
even though it has no kite or go for a MX-Ray. there cheap, fast and light,
plus your age / agility and weight will be an advantage here even if they
have no trap. If the budget is unlimited it would have to be an MPS for
me. This all depends on your water as well. If your lake tends to have
unstable air due to tree coverage e.t.c I might be tempted to go for the
stability of the vortex. I sail at Burghfield and we have a MPS sailor who
gets dumped in by our less than consitant wind. Not that he minds.
anyway that's my thoughts on the subject.

Edited by Jack Sparrow

Some owners of other performance singlehanders like to talk about the demise of the Vortex. Interestingly this includes some who have been 'tarred' with the same brush but have since made a partial recovery.Sorry to dissapoint you guys, but the Vortex is still going strong with good fleets and strong interest.For instance it had more boats at its Nationals last year than any of the others mentioned. Well known and reputable potential new builders are asking the class about building and marketing the boat - so if only Laser would 'let go', new Vortex would soon be available again.

Don't misunderstand me, I don't want to knock any of the opposition - I love the MPS - I like the 700, I quite like the 600.  So if any of them are what you want - go for it.

But if you're looking for a single handed trapeze boat with asymmetric for around £2500 - there is no real alternative.

Like the 600 and 300, second hand prices have dipped but are recovering - but remember this was a much cheaper boat to start with so the lower prices now simply reflect that. Another aspect to consider is cost of maintainance. They are very robust - very little maintainance and  parts are rarely needed and/or inexpensive ( for instance, I don't know of anyone ever needing to replace a foil, but if they did , they cost around £70 - I'd bet the others are over £200 (The MPS is over £400). Over 75 asymmetric kits have been fitted and of those, only one has a second kite - which he has never used.

Upwind performance has always been good, but the asymmetric has transformed the boat into a downwind Rocket. Yes, like most trapeze boats, its light wind performance isn't great, but it's not as bad as some like to claim - it just requires a bit of technique and of course the kite has helped enhance it's overall lightwind performance and downwind enjoyment 

The class has one of the most active associations around and has enjoyed great sponsorship from Gerber and now ASAP International. As a result, the class provides free training, free meals / drinks at events and cheap subs etc.

The Class is holding it's nationals at Lymington this weekend preceded by free training on the Friday- come along and try one - I doubt you'll be dissapointed.