 | |
| Development | |
|---|---|
| Designer | Frank Bethwaite Ian Bruce |
| Location | Canada |
| Year | 1978 |
| No. built | 8,200 |
| Builder(s) | Performance Sailcraft Vanguard Sailboats |
| Role | Racer |
| Name | Laser 2 |
| Boat | |
| Crew | two |
| Displacement | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Draft | 3.50 ft (1.07 m) withdaggerboard down |
| Hull | |
| Type | monohull |
| Construction | fibreglass |
| LOA | 14.42 ft (4.40 m) |
| LWL | 13.83 ft (4.22 m) |
| Beam | 4.67 ft (1.42 m) |
| Hull appendages | |
| Keel/board type | daggerboard |
| Rudder(s) | transom-mountedrudder |
| Rig | |
| Rig type | Bermuda rig |
| Sails | |
| Sailplan | fractional riggedsloop |
| Total sail area | 124.00 sq ft (11.520 m2) |
| Racing | |
| D-PN | 92.8[1] |
| RYA PN | 1035[2] |
TheLaser 2, orLaser II, is asailboat that was designed by New ZealanderFrank Bethwaite and CanadianIan Bruce as aone-designracer and first built in 1978.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
The design was built by Bruce's company,Performance Sailcraft, in Canada and also byVanguard Sailboats in the United States. Production ran from 1978 until 1987, with 8,200 boats completed, but it is now out of production. In 2007 Performance Sailcraft and Vanguard were merged to formLaserPerformance.[3][4][9][10]
The Laser 2 is asailing dinghy, built predominantly offibreglass. It has afractionalsloop rig, araked stem, a plumbtransom, a transom-hungrudder controlled by atiller with an extension and a retractabledaggerboard. It displaces 170 lb (77 kg). The crew can make use of a singletrapeze.[3][4]
The boat has a draft of 3.50 ft (1.07 m) with the daggerboard extended and 4 in (10 cm) with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water,beaching or ground transportation on atrailer.[3][4]
For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with a symmetricalspinnaker.[3][4]
The design has a USPortsmouth Yardstick D-PN handicap of 92.8 and a UK RYA-PN of 1035.[1][2]
The basic Laser 2 was produced in a number of variants, including the Laser II Fun, Laser II Regatta and the Laser Fun New Wave, which was equipped with anasymmetrical spinnaker. All were out of production by 1990.[3][4]
The boat was at one time aWorld Sailing international class, but its status has been revoked.[11]
In a February 1980 review John Turnbull inCanadian Yachting wrote of the Laser 2, "Frank Bethwaite, the unclaimed maestro of high-powered dinghy design, and Ian Bruce, the designer / promoter of Performance Sailcraft, may have come up with the only boat that could live up to the expectations created by the Laser. It doesn't bring anything startlingly new to sailboat design except perhaps the idea that a mass-market boat should be fast and challenging."[12]
Related development
Media related toLaser II at Wikimedia Commons