boat for blasting.... laser5000 ?

Hi all,

I've been toying witht the idea of buying a laser5000.  (Okay they're 'old'  now but I thought they'd possibly be fun ?!).

Mainly  for just messing around.  but I have some questions ...

Has anyone had much experience sailing them ?

How well behaved are they ?

How hard are they to re-right ?

how would they compare to say an RS400 ?

what's the strongest  wind strength can they be taken out in /

Any thoughts opinions - please respond. 

i may be selling my 14 soon

is a good one with shed loads of spare gear

and the boss seems a bit sh*te.

get a 5 tonner it is an amazing boat and good fun to sail

I would go for the 5 tonner, only sold mine last year, due to marriage and crew moving miles away. Was a fantastic boat in a real blow, and very quick on handicap in the light suff, as has some rocker. Never found the Boss to be much of a problem speed wise, even after they spent a load modernising them.

Things to look for:

Sails, mains last forever, jibs need to be replaced yearly for racing, kites a little less often.

Rig, Check the spreader brackets, two types, the modified one was a one piece bracket that was indestructable, the original one can crack at the base of the shrouds.

Hull: pretty bullet proof, but the areas to check are the dagger board case, can crack at the back lower edge if grounded. Hull under the back of the pole, can go soft after repeated standing on it, when fully retracted, and the gunwhales around the shroud plates for softness. All these are easily and cheaply fixed, as boat builder does not need to worry too much about weight.

Go for it, they are cracking.

Andy McK

Sol 416, ent and 18

I owned one for 8 years, it's a fantastic boat I had great fun sailing it. We now have a 49er but my helm has kept his so we can still play in it (we both had one)

Most boats are now sold with loads of kit so that wont be a problem, but things to look out for are ;

check under the rear of the pole wether the deck is soft(it's where the crew treads on it) it's not difficult to repair but a bit of a pain. make sure the rest for the pole at the bow is correctly screwed down. If it breaks you have to put a hatch in to refix it. Another thing is the slot for the centreboard underneath, the board will cut a slot in it because of the angle you put it in at.

Otherwise the hulls are pretty good, masts don't tend to break often so no worries there either.

All I would say is get one and have  fun ! f you don't like it you wont lose money on it, will you ? at a grand!!

BTW you can still buy sails but they are as expensive as they have always been. And we now have 6 at Grafham again!