Why does the Laser exist?

Don't get me wrong, I love mine, but while sitting around at the weekend waiting for the wind to drop, I got to wondering about the birth of the Laser.

There were a lot of one shop one designs back then, each little builder tried to develop their own in the hope that it would take off and they'd get rich. That's why there were so many more different classes back then. Boats like the Firefly, the Gull etc were all effectively single manufacturer one designs, and even single supply sails weren't unknown.

What was new about the Laser, I think, was the complete ban on altering the boat at all to suit the sailor, so you didn't have to think about the boat from one week to the next, just, as you say, turn up and go sailing.

Its interesting that has been lost of recent years, and whilst all the changes and options look like improvements on the surface, they have tended to subtract from the basic turn up and sail simplicity.

Originally posted by Mark Aged 42 Don't get me wrong, I love mine, but while sitting around at the weekend waiting for the wind to drop, I got to wondering about the birth of the Laser. At its inception, by my reckoning, available single handers included: Finn Solo Europe OK Moth Contender Canoe Streaker Sunfish Minisail Surely there was something for everybody in that list. So how did the Laser muscle in so successfully?

Its interesting. At the time my then club decided to adopt its first singlehanded class. We invited CAs to come and bring along boats for us to try. My memory is dim, but I seem to remember that Solo, Europe or British Moth (maybe both), and OK all put the effort in, whilst the Laser Assn/builders apparently weren't bothered and didn't. The Streaker didn't exist at the time. So a good number of people, especially we teenagers, spent some time on sailing the boats and formed our conclusions. Then came the AGM, and the vote, and it was a landslide for the Laser from people who probably had never sailed it and certainly hadn't turned up to try the others. It was an early introduction to the weirdness of democracy... Its interesting too, that amongst the classes that seemed suitable for an small inland club the Laser was decidedly the quickest.

Even I knew what a Laser was and I had absolutely no interest whatsoever in dinghy sailing, they were selling them at the time via some windsurfing dealers, but the mistake they made was poor margin and competing themselves selling direct. Would it have made a difference? I wonder, twenty years ago I would have said definitely yes they would have sold more, but then as sales dropped they'd have faced huge pressures from dealers to improve, modify, 'bring up to date' and the reason it's still so 'successful' in a one eyed man in the Kingdom of the Blind way is precisely because it didn't and because it is such a horrendous piece of junk to sail they get a high turnover and plenty get left in the nettles for newcomers to try, which then of course is the perfect inoculation against ever doing the sport again..

Edited by iGRF - 16 Dec 19 at 1:58pm

Compared to the others mentioned it was simple and bullet proof. Only 7 major components plus a few bits of string. It was easy to sail and robust enough to sail on and off a beach with out you having to be to precious with it.