Is a Laser the Right Boat for Me? - Part 3, Care and Maintenance

A Laser is easy to own.

I have owned twelve other boats beside my three Lasers, five small boats, three ocean cruising boats and a Melges 24. Nothing has been as easy to store, trailer, clean, rig or launch.

The Laser weighs 125 pounds fully rigged, which means that it weighs even less with the mast and sails off the boat. I regularly get it on and off the trailer by myself and at regattas you will see others get them on and off of car tops by themselves. Sure, it’s great to have help and there is almost always someone around to help, but it is very relaxing to know you can manage by yourself if necessary.

125 pounds isn’t nothing if you try to lift it off the ground, but that isn’t what you do with a Laser. You pick-up one end and rotate or push; you are lifting only part of the weight. Two people can easily get a Laser onto a car top without heroics.

There are dedicated Laser trailers made of galvanized steel or aluminum. You can make your own out of a regular boat trailer or from a small utility trailer. I have an aluminum one that weighs 60 pounds. I love it!

Any car on the road and most motorcycles will easily pull a 125 pound boat on a 60 pound trailer. I can back a semi-truck into a narrow alley, but if there is any hitch in backing the Laser I simply unhook it and wheel it in by hand. And, if the boat is off the trailer, I can lift the trailer completely off the ground and just carry it.

Most Laser sailors also have a light aluminum dolly to move their boats in and out of the water and, at some clubs, to store them on. These Seitech dollies are versatile and invaluable.

To do a good job cleaning and polishing the bottom of a small boat it is great to be able to roll it completely over. I used to do that with my 300 pound plus Wayfarer. It took two saw horses, three 2x4’s, a packing blanket and no wind. The Laser is easy to flip over and flip back with just one person and no 2x4’s.

I find that I can wash and polish the bottom in under an hour. Car soap and Teflon polish will do the trick once a month, no wax please. Lasers aren’t kept in the water so they don’t need any kind of anti-fouling paint.

If you are new to sailing this next piece of information may be a surprise to you, sails and rope need to be replaced regularly. We don’t have to put gas in the tank, but we do need fresh sails and good line to make a boat go optimally.

My third boat (also a Wayfarer) was over ten years old when I bought it. It was cheap because it had broken loose from its mooring and run aground on some rocks. The right side had a three foot round hole in it. I was in the boat repair business so I fixed the hole, painted it and had a brand new looking boat. I wasn’t racing so I didn’t understand the importance of new sails and went blissfully along with the originals.

Three years later I sold the boat to my dad and he sailed it for over fifteen more years without replacing the sails. By this time I was a serious racer spending thousands every year on sails for my “big” boat. When I would ask my dad to consider replacing the now almost thirty year old sails, he always pointed out that the old ones didn’t have any holes in them and they “worked.”

To work, sails need to have and hold a very specific shape. The curve has to be deepest at a very specific point and the trailing edge can’t flop around. A good sail has a limited life and after that it is only good for practice or play. A new Laser sail costs between $175 and $450. With a Laser every part has to be sanctioned by the class rules to keep every boat the same. The $450 sails are the class sanctioned ones; the $175 are new practice sails. Some clubs allow “practice” sails to be used in club racing, but they aren’t allowed at regattas.

A Laser sail will be in good shape through about 20 races. It will be tolerable through about 20 more. For most casual racers this means a new sail every three to four years. If you want to be competitive at regattas it usually means a new sail every two to three years. Without a practice sail you will need one even sooner.

The control lines (ropes) on the boat will last three to five years if they are covered and watched closely for wear. Even new Lasers don’t necessarily come with the best lines on them so many people replace the original lines before they ever use them.

If you are thinking of buying a used boat check to be sure that it has the updated rigging on it. A new way to rig the Laser was approved in the late nineties and the upgrade costs a few hundred dollars. When the wind is gusty the old rigging is brutal to use. I personally would quit sailing Lasers if I had to sail with the old rigging.

To protect your lines from the sun you will need to cover the boat. A blue tarp can work or a specially made Laser boat cover. Just don’t assume that you will leave it uncovered or you will sacrifice many dollars worth of high-tech line.

Part 4 will cover racing a Laser