Laser Fun New Wave

[webmuppet]

Hi All,

A while ago, a mate and I became owner's of a Laser Fun New Wave - for those of you not familiar with this boat, it's basically a Laser 2 with a slightly different mast and a 13.5m2 genneker flown from a deck mounted extending pole. I've contacted Laser to get some idea of how many were made, however, they say that they have no records relating to these craft (hmmmmm). Our own research suggests there are two sets of hull numbers relating to these boats - the first lot were used by Laser to evaluate the public's reaction to sailing craft with an assymettric spinnaker, they seemed to have a "Laser prototype numbers" and had purple and blue sails. There were also a series of Lasers marketed as the 'Laser Fun' - these were boats sold without spinnaker chutes in their decks, a sub-set of this group were another batch of New Waves i.e. boats with gennekers. These later boats had numbers in the Laser Fun series and could be considered as production boats rather the prototypes.
Anyway, enough of the boring stuff (wake up at the back !) - What I'd really like to know if anyone knows how many of these boats were made ? One of the sailors at Alton Water SC was so impressed with our boat that he saw one on Apollo Duck and snapped it up .....so then there were two identical blue/purple examples in the boat park.
The time had come to sell our beloved Graduate (it finally went today .....sniff) and were unsure what to get until we saw another Laser Fun New Wave on Apollo Duck and decided that we had to have it - this example's one of the later production series and has a very 80's colour scheme. I will add some photos once I've sorted some .....I've given you some advance warning because the the colours are so very 80's
As far as I can see the boat doesn't fit with either the Laser 2 or Laser 3000 class associations (although with three boats in the same boat park, perhaps we are the class association ?! )

Any info would be useful, many thanks in advance,

Nigel

[Rupert]

When the Laser II first came out, it had, I think, the main and jib that the LaserII fun new wave had. This was the Laser II fun. The Laser II Regatta, the racing version, came shortly after, and basically became the Laser II in peple's minds. The Laser II Fun New Wave took the original boat and added the assy spinnaker. I've no idea how many they made, but they do seem to crop up all over the place, either in purple or green, so they must have been popular for a short while.

However, as soon as Laser in the UK decided to bring out the 3000, all building and support for the Laser II new wave just seemed to switch off, as it did reallyfor the Laser II Regatta, and later on did for the Laser 3000. If looking for continued support, avoid Laser products. I can't believe they have no records at all, unless they just binned everything when they stopped production. The accounts department would probably know...

I have sailed one, and it was quite good fun. A nice cheap way to get on the water and go fast.

[Pat]

I'm not surprised Laser Performance have no records after reading the Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_2 as it predates that company's formation.

Since it's pre 1985 and there's no class association is it the cvrda's first Laser Lost Class

[Rupert]

I'd forgotten the change of ownership.

And yes, as the Laser Fun New Wave (the name reminds me of "The Former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia" - it just gets longer and longer) fits the Lost class definition, they would be welcome to come and play. They might not want to, of course, as the Assy spinnakers might be more fun sailing courses that we don't generally use.

[Nessa]

Will Gulliver would be a good person to talk to. I was sailing a fireball and 470 with his then girlfriend Lesley at Oxford and Will brought a prototype Laser NW over and got us to take it out. It was basically a laser 2 regatta with a bowsprit fixed on the foredeck with U bolts and rigged with an asymmetric.

My husband and I sailed and raced one of the first batches of laser 2. Laser were keen to get them going and gave out about eight demo boats to be raced at clubs and opens. We were racing at Chew at the time and Chris had some very good topper results so we got one of the boats. I remember it had blue stripey sails and an equally garish spinny.

[davidh]

For those of you with longer memories (Ie, younger than Roger!)..... when I did the 'Lost Classes' series the final part looked at boats that were in the process of becoming a 'lost class'.

What was interesting was the dynamic with the *aser holding company, who didn't want the fact highlighted that this was the first time a SMOD had had the life support removed. More importantly, they then did the same with the *PS, which as those who were at Blithfield saw, is a neat single hander.

It set a trend that has now been seen elsewhere in which a builder just decides to 'pull the plug'!

D

[LASERTOURIST]

I think the laser fun was a depowered version of the laser 2 .


The top section of the mast was shorter , untapered and made with the same extrusion as the bottom section (a now unobtainable egg shaped proctor section, deleted when selden took over)

The regatta model had a round , higher thinner top section (acted as a tapered mast) and both masts were rigidified by adjustable diamonds instead of more classical swept back spreaders.

I bought once a late model laser 2 fun , it had a different mast extrusion profile (still untapered ) but with more conventional sweptback spreaders so PSI at som point had to source some other type of mast when proctor discontinued the initial extrusion profile

The regatta model had a spinaker chute, but i think the very original laser 2 had the same sail area and sailplan as the rgatta model albeit with a classic spinaker cloth bucket instead of a fiberglass chute.

The 3000 basically was a Laser 2 for the hull mould but with an asy kite and a "skiff style" cockpit copied onthe big brohers (Laser 4000 and 5000) some fittings like the rudder or daggerboard remained unchanged.

I never saw a "new wave" laser Fun but i guess it was a small asymetrical kite bolt on kit added to the quiet Laser 2 to give something to play with to the crew while sailing downwind.

[JimC]

who didn't want the fact highlighted that this was the first time a SMOD had had the life support removed.

But how would you differentiate the fate of the Laser boats from all the other little classes that only one builder built, and they stopped building it when orders dried up?

[Pat]

Personally I don't see SMOD lost classes as any different from any other lost classes, there's always a few left sailing despite the manufacturer pulling the plug.
There seem to have been far more in the last fifteen years as the SMODs become more established. Various Topper designs come to mind as well as Laser.
It also indicates potential for a Modern lost classes section for the post-1985 unsupported classes.

[LASERTOURIST]

The big problem of SMOD or multiple builders One design , is that as long as there are multiple builders they tend to compete in the racing field and start finding lopholes in the one design principle....and at that point the one design boat gradually ceases to be one design.

Boatbuilders are caught between two conflicting logics:

If the one design boat is a huge success it means a life span of over forty years in production ant it then becomes useful to invest in tight quality control to guarantee that the one design boat remains as "frozen" as possible to preserve the class and class racing as a whole .
The Laser i the best example but it is also true of the Hobie cat 16

If the one design boat is only moderately successful it is then tempting to phase out the gradually obsolescent boat and launch something more up to the latest trend, more "modern" , faster or more sophisticated...


The Laser 2 is an interesting case it was produced in numbers any dinghy manufacturer would dream of today (somewhere between 10 and 15 000) but would have been only a half success in the 60's 70's golden age of dinghy manufacturing...

IMHO it brung only marginal advantages over the 420 (car topping capability -just- self bailing cockpit , two parts mast) and was not groundbraking enough, or not cheap enough , to be the kind of boat a SMOD manufacturer would care to promote into long term career.

[mph1977]

the issue with SMOD 'lost ' classes is that the Class associatiosn are often intertwined with the builder unless and until there is a crtical mass ...

and unless you can do what the 3000s have done if the SM pulls the plug ...

[cweed]

I, a bear of no brain, am confused..........

The CVRDA mission statement, / Who Can Come..........'' The CVRDA is an association with no members? That is to say any one is welcome to come along to any of our events as long as your boat qualifies! (built before 1985 and of a class designed before 1965).''

So was the Laser Fun New Wave designed pre '65, or am I reading something wrong here?

So a 1967 Contender is / isn't CVRDA eligible?

Please clarify.

[Michael Brigg]

I, a bear of no brain, am confused..........

The CVRDA mission statement, / Who Can Come..........'' The CVRDA is an association with no members? That is to say any one is welcome to come along to any of our events as long as your boat qualifies! (built before 1985 and of a class designed before 1965).''

So was the Laser Fun New Wave designed pre '65, or am I reading something wrong here?

So a 1967 Contender is / isn't CVRDA eligible?

Please clarify.

Now then the Summer isn't over yet, you're not allowed to start the winter discussions yet!! Help! Moderator!

The week before the national rally should be full of Merlin Rocket, National 12's and Moths arg... discussing handicaps!

[LASERTOURIST]

The Laser 2 was certainly created in the early 80's , after the Tasar failed to fill the bill as a 2 men Laser...
I don't know the intricacies of the CVRDA constitution ...but as soon as this boat is of significant interest in dinghy history (15000+ built) and is still being sailed (yes we used a laser 2 this very afternoon in 20 to 35 kts , with a cheap recut rig , recut Fireball jib ad recut Sport 16 main with lots of roach...and the youngsters riding the pony enjoyed it...) it is of some sort of interest and deserves somesort of CVRDA endorsement just as the young timers Ford Capris or early WW Golf's enjoy some sort of endorsement from the classic cars fans club...Sic tansit dinghy glory

[JimC]

deserves somesort of CVRDA endorsement

The Laser 2 is still, unless I'm much mistaken, an ISAF International Class.