the wayfarers are built like brick s*** houses. i used to be sailed in 1 of them with parents when i was 4ish. from what i can remember it was well built stable and my dad didnt have a problem keeping it up with me and him and the full rig on in a force 3-4. he was fat and i was 4 at the time. with a wayfarer you can be fairly competitive racing aswell. the other day the parents took out our clubs wayfarer and had a great race on handicap. me and my sister where sailing our feva at the time but not against them. i remember once we all slept in the boat when i was 6ish with a boom tent. it was a bit cramped but warm. i cant remember much of wayfarer sailing but it always seemed safe with parents.

well it depends on what u really want to do.  because the 2000 has a very friendly class association that organise events all over the country etc and the rs vision doesnt have a class association but would be great for club racing and doing open events or the orcassional trip to the coast. the vision doesnt seem to hold its price very well condidering newish boats go for about £2000 but a secondhand 2000 would cost u around £4000ish. 

personaly i would go for the 2k much more stable nice to sail in genral and will be a blast when the wind picks up. happy sailing

well keep looking  the 2000 is a better boat anyways

 dont worry i dont think we will hold it against u.  and what is the link on ur signeture about?  bloody cars try a 49er that is real speed.

I recently posted a similar question re the Topper Omega.....stirred up some thoughts on the newer boats such as the Vision/Omega/Xenon. I was looking at all of them to replace my old Enterprise as a family boat whist the kids and myself also sail lasers/topper.

All have strengths, the L2000 is good and a strong class asociation as does the wayfarer. Wayfarer great boat but not as easy to deal with post capsize. The others above seem to get some flak for being 'plastic' but I think they are very flexible, low maitenance and fit the market they were made for. The Xenon is more sporty not really a cruiser, Vision has the RS pedigree but can cruise and the Omega is more of a cruiser with options for fun sailing.

In the end I bought a Laser Stratos which does the same as the Vision/Omega but is heavier (GRP) and even second hand can be quite expensive but I like the boat and it perfoms well but can be very stable when required.

I looked at second hand prices for all of them, not many Visions/Omegas (but RS and Topper do sell second hand boats), L2000 holds price well and you really are looking at paying over £4000 and the Stratos £4500 - £7000. wayfarers are about £1500 - £2500 depending on what you want (you can obviously pay more).

Good luck but I would recommend paying a bit more and getting a Stratos for the family

Neilboys, you criticise the Wayfarer for not being easy post capsize. True, it takes a while to bail out, but it's easy to right (well, the ones without a double bottom, anyway), after that it's just a question of sailing off the wind for a while (or being handy with a bucket) till it's dry.

The problem with the L2k and many other boats with double bottoms is that while they do self-drain once up, they're difficult to get up! They tend to invert completely unless you're very quick getting on the centreboard - I've seen a light guy standing for what seemed like 30 minutes on the gunwale of an inverted L2k without it responding at all!

Totally agree with the above........was'nt crticizing the wayfarer at all...sailed one many times and would'nt dare to fault it ! Having sailed an Enterprise for many years bit like the Wayfarer in inexperienced hands they can be difficult to drain. However, I accept the points re ease of initial recovery and issues re inversion (don't think the L2000 is that bad really)....

I should have said if you are looking for a cheap starter family boat you can't go wrong with the Enterprise (or GP14) dependent on what your local club sail

Above all, find what they sail at your local club and go for that!

Re: the poly boats, I do wonder what the "life expectancy" of these designs will be. They seem to be "up to the minute" now but if they are overtaken by fashion and dumped by the manufacturer their value could plummet. I gather that the initial cost of moulds etc is high, which means the builders will have to stick by them to re-coup the costs to an extent, but if some other "next big thing" comes along and a partic design stops selling, who knows? At least the 2000 has a race circuit and a bit of a following so if Laser drop it someone else might pick it up (a la 3000). Older classes like the Ent and Wayfarer have stood the test of time (for a good reason) have an established 2nd hand market, and a good pool of boats available at a range of prices.

Gosh I'd forgotten all about this thread.  I see it's grown somewhat since I last looked at it.  Anyway, after much deliberation we went the Laser2000 route.  The thinking was:

• that the hull weight was lower than the alternatives - so easier to get up slipway
• that concerns about the speed at which it inverts could be overcome with the fitting of a masthead float - and that given the shallow lake it's going to be sailed on having one of them on is better than having a muddy mast anyway
• 20,000-odd owners can't be wrong and the relative lack of 2nd hand ones on the market suggests that those that buy them are happy with them
• 2nd hand values seem to hold up anyway
• there are a number of them at the club we've joined
• we felt comfortable on the test sail
• Laser did us a good deal on price

So we've got one, it's sitting on its trolley waiting for the weather to warm up.  Can't wait.

The numbering goes from 2000 to 2999 then 21000 to 21764 (and rising). The change occured in 2002.

This was to avoid clashing with the Laser 3000 numbering, and maybe the Laser 4000 or 5000!

Kevin

Ah OK then, I was being naive.

I should revise to "nearly 2000 owners can't be wrong"