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Below is an article that was published
in March 1985. While not a complete history of the boat, it
does offer insight into the early years. More can be read
on the Brochures page.
Laser
International now has a year under its belt in the manufacturing
and marketing of the Laser 28, and this newsletter is an
update for existing owners and for the nearly 5,000 people
who have so far expressed an interest in the boat.
The
development of a new product, and in this case a totally new
concept in a racing-cruising sailboat, is never without its
problems, and the Laser 28 has followed the normal pattern.
As most people have shown interest in both the manufacturing
and marketing of the boat and the development of the Class,
we will treat all of these items separately.
Manufacturing
1984
Production
Manufacturing
started in March of 1984 and, despite my best will and intentions,
we were unable to achieve the production levels we had hoped
for and only demonstrator boats were built for our representatives
during the summer. The first customer boats were delivered
at the time of the Annapolis Boat Show in October 1984 and
since then our output has steadily increased to the point
where, at the time of writing, the factory is producing in
excess of three boats per week. That level will increase to
four by the end of March, and if our level of quality can
be maintained, we will be at one a day by early summer.
No
changes have been made to the basic layout, rig, or structure
of the boat, but those of you who saw the original prototype
in Annapolis in 1983 would find the quality of the interior
significantly improved in the small detailing.
Closed Mold Process
All
of the first boats were produced using the hand-laid method
for the decks which were then subsequently finished by hand.
The level of this finishing has constantly been improved to
the point where, at most boat shows, visitors to the boat
have to be told that the deck is not produced in the closed-mold.
Perhaps
because of the importance given to the closed-mold in the
original literature, a mystique appears to have built up around
the process, which is really without foundation. The raison
d’être for the closed-mold has always been a reduction
in the cost of manufacturing the boat as no liner or interior
finishing is needed. There are no performance advantages of
one over the other. The weight differences are within the
normal tolerances of the hand-laid process and no one who
has a hand-laid deck will be at any advantage or disadvantage
on the race course. We have shipped three boats so far with
closed-mold decks and are slowly changing over the line as
all the small technical bugs that relate solely to the quality
of the finish are ironed out. Sometime in 1985 we will be
fully converted.
Marketing
The Rep Network
Prior to starting on the Laser 28 project, Laser International
made the basic decision not to market the boat through its
existing network of some 300 dealers. The reason for this
was because very few had experience in the big-boat field
and the Company decided it did not wish to build boats at
a rate that would be required to supply that network if the
boat proved to be successful. Instead, we opted to market
the boat directly to the consumer and to use “Representatives”
in fairly large areas who were extremely enthusiastic about
the product and who would demonstrate and promote the boat
by virtue of having one themselves. In return for their support
they would receive a small commission on all boats sold in
their territory. These territories are much larger than would
normally be covered by a “dealer” but, the Rep’s
main responsibility is not to stock and sell boats but to
create visibility for the boat and to organize and create
Class activity. As this activity expands throughout the area,
the Reps continue to receive their commission and hence to
stay interested in the development of the Class. This concept
is working extremely well and, of paramount interest to the
consumer, results in a considerably lower purchase price for
the boat as there is no built-in dealer margin.
Fleet Locations
The
following map (not included) shows the location of the boats
that will be sailing by May 1st and the numbers in the circles
correspond with the list of representatives that follow the
map. These Reps all own boats that are available to be seen
or sailed and, in addition, have a supply of VHS or Beta video
tapes of the Laser 28 being sailed and manufactured that they
will be delighted to mail, on loan, to anyone interested
enough to contact them.
Approximately
140 boats will be sailing by August 3 1st, 1985 and we will
decide at that point whether or not to increase production
beyond the one-a-day level. Although it is still too early
to confirm anything, the wheels are now in motion to introduce
the production of the Laser 28 in Europe at approximately
that same time and a demonstrator boat is now actually sailing
in England.
A
Line of Boats
There
are no plans whatsoever to develop a “line” of boats
of incremental lengths on either side of the Laser 28 as most
sailboat manufacturers have done. The Laser 28 is our “big
Laser” and our only big boat. It represents a multi-million
dollar investment and one to which we are giving all our attention;
the same level of attention that the original Laser received.
Believe it or not, that little boat will be 15 years old in
October, yet still represents the finest investment in dollars
per sailing hour available on the market today. This is because
the boat has never been modified or produced in an “improved
model”, continues to have its activities as a Class fully
supported by the Company, (it is the strongest Class in the
world) and enjoys an unsurpassed resale value. The plans for
the Laser 28 are no different and we will not dilute our efforts
across a line of boats.
Farr
38 Race/Cruiser
On
this same subject, however, many people who knew the boat
have asked what plans we have for the very fast, cruising,
Farr 38, a prototype of which we built and exhibited at Annapolis
in1981, called Early Byrd. There are over 100 of these Farr
designed 38’s sailing worldwide and the boat is truly
a “big brother” of the 28; a very fast (PH RE 81),
comfortable, good looking, easily handled fractional rig
which is not designed to any rule. All the production tooling
and moulds were finished prior to the Laser 28 project and
are now sitting in storage, but we do not have the human resources
at this time to mount its production even though it obviously
would not require the same time and effort to develop the
Class profile that the Laser 28 needs. In a few years, however,
when the 28 is firmly established, we will undoubtedly approach
Bruce Earr for a license to produce the boat as the final
link in a chain of boats spanning the full spectrum of sailing
from age 1610 60! Meanwhile, Early Byrd is in Annapolis and
is now for sale.
Offshore
Sailing School
On
a final marketing note, we are extremely pleased that Steve
Colgate’s Offshore Sailing School at Captiva on the west
coast of Florida, off Ft. Myers, is now running its Advanced
Race Program in 4 Laser 28’s. These are one-week programs
with intensive on-the-water instruction yet carefully scheduled
to provide ample free time during the day so that the week can
also be a marvelous holiday. Each week Steve brings down a Guest
Expert who is well known in the yachting world and it is a fantastic
opportunity to sit and listen for a week to the likes of a Bill
Shore or an Ed Baird tell you how it’s done. I’ve
been lucky enough to be chosen by Steve on several occasions
as the Guest Expert and can say, unequivocally, that it is an
outstanding value.
The
Laser 28 Class
Start-Up
The
Laser 28 Class Association has been formed with a provisional
Governing Council to run its affairs until the first general
class meeting at the North American Championship in Kingston,
Ontario in August (see Regatta Schedule). The Council is made
up of our U.S. Rep. Lucy Minihan, from Sodus, New York on Southern
Lake Ontario, our Canadian Rep., Don Morgan from London, Ontario
and Paul Lestock, who represents the manufacturer. Tim Coventry, of the U.K., who was a President of the worldwide International
Laser Class for 10 years and who with Bruce Farr and with myself
instigated the Laser 28 project, is also an ex-officio member
of the Council.
The
Class will have a provisional Constitution and Class Rules
which will be mailed to members in the First Class Newsletter
in early April. Owners will automatically receive this information,
but should anyone else be interested, they should drop us
a line and we will be glad to forward it.
Regatta Schedule
Apart
from the many open regattas available, a sanctioned Laser 28
regatta schedule has been set up for the summer which will include
four events. These events will be sailed under Class rules which
means using only Class approved factory sails, sailing with
maximum crew weight of 1100 lbs (weight in usual street clothing)
and sailing with all interior furnishings in their normal position.
The Class has elected to go with a maximum crew weight after
discussion with many sailors in other types of boats who have
seen their racing destroyed by huge heavy-weight crews which
a family, for example, cannot compete against. The schedule
is as follows:
East
Coast Championships
Estimated
attendance 10— 15 boats.
Annapolis,
Maryland, May 25, 26 & 27 A permanent trophy has been presented
by Michelob and it is envisaged that this regatta will change
venue up and down the coast each year.
May
25: A series of very short races run
back to back with a break for lunch. The idea here is to keep
the Fleet very close together and provide a learning experience
for new crews. The goal is 6 races, 3 to 4 miles in length.
May
26: Long Distance Race. Approximate
distance 20 miles.
May
27: Two
Olympic courses, approximately 8 miles each.
Quebec
Open Championship
Estimated
attendance 10 — 12 boats.
Montreal,
Quebec, June 7, 8 and 9
Host: Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, Championship is run as
part of their June regatta.
June
7: Launching
and, at 2:00 pm, an on-the-water
clinic with Ian Bruce.
June
8 and 9: 3-5 races (6 —
8 mile races)
US
Nationals
Estimated
attendance 15 — 20 boats Cleveland, July 12, 13 and 14
Hosts:
Edgewater Yacht Club, Cleveland. Regatta run in conjunction
with Cleveland Race Week, July 12—21.
July
12: Laser
28 Class runs three moderate length triangular courses of
its own.
July
13: Cleveland
Race Week starts. Laser 28’s start in PHRF Fleet. Approximately
17 mile race.
July
14: Laser
28’s start in PH RE. Approximately 17 mile race. This
is end of US Nationals, but Cleveland Race Week continues
through the 21st for those Laser 28 sailors who wish to compete
in the week.
North
American Championships
Estimated
attendance 30 boats.
Kingston,
Ontario — August 16 — 22
Run
as part of the CORK Offshore Regatta
August
16: Launching
and Registration.
August
17: Laser 28 Class runs three short triangular races of
about 8 miles on inside course.
August
18 and 19: 28’s start with CORK Offshore PHRF Fleet.
15 —
30 mile races each day.
August
20: Start
1 70 mile Long Distance Race. This is not counted as part of
Laser 28 North American Championships, although many will take
part who are competing for the CORK trophies. The Class Association
is organizing a cruise to the 1000 Islands on the 20th and 2lstforthe
remainder of the fleet.
August
22: Final
CORK PHRF race. 15 — 30 mile course race.
PHRF
Ratings
There
is no question asked more frequently of us than “what
is the PHRF of the Laser 28?” The answer, of course,
varies for each area of the country but the profile across
North America looks like this:
| St. Lawrence
Valley YRA |
120 |
| Lake Ontario |
126 |
| Lake Erie |
129 |
| Long Island
Sound |
120 |
| Naragansett
Bay |
126 |
| Chesapeake
Bay |
117 |
| Galveston
Bay |
117 |
| Dallas |
126 |
| Los Angeles |
120 |
| Vancouver |
132 |
| Average |
123 |
It
should be borne in mind that some of the low numbers are a
result of a single boat being sailed by an exceptional sailor
and it is highly unlikely that an average club sailor could
sail to these numbers. A case in point is the 117 that our
Rep. O.J.Young in Houston has been given. O.J. is not your
average sailor having won SORC, the J24 Mid Winters, and a
host of other championships too numerous to mention. In his
first outings in the Laser 28 he won the Clear Lake R.A. December
Series and tied for first in the Houston Y.C. Turkey Day.
I am confident however, that over a season the Laser 28 cannot
sail to this number. An educated guess after sailing the prototypes
and the production boat for four years is that the boat will
eventually settle down with a 1 26. (Note: Just before printing,
the Galveston Bay Cruising Association raised the Laser 28
to 120.)
News Snippets from Around the Country
Robert
Dunkley of Nassau, Bahamas, took delivery of his boat on Saturday
morning in Ft. Lauderdale, put the sail up and sailed straight
to Nassau with two friends. (That’s putting a lot of
pressure on your builder, Robert!) They sailed through 30
knot north winds in the Gulf Stream with 10-15 foot waves.
When asked if there were any problems, two surfaced: the Compass
gimbal had been broken in transit from Montreal and when they
arrived in Nassau “the rigging was slack”! (This
would be normal after the first few times of even normal sailing
as all toggles, shroud attachment recess, etc., bed in.) Please,
don’t anyone else do that!
Judy
and Frank Button from Vancouver sailed their Laser 28 to a
fourth straight win in the IYC winter series. Judy, the skipper,
has only been racing two years having raced their Tanzer 7.5
for the first two years. Boats in the fleet include: Dash
34, C & C 33, C & C 34, Mirage 33, Reliant 37. Frank
and Judy are moving back east to Grimsby, Ontario and plan
on attending the Quebec Open in June.
Paul
Kaplan, well known sailor on San Francisco Bay and our Rep
for that area, singlehanding his Laser 28 on only its fourth
outing sailed to a first in class and first overall in a 38
boat fleet in San Francisco’s Singlehanded Sailing Society’s
“Three Bridge Fiasco Race”. Paul’s only comment
— ‘The boat is outstanding!” His wife, Chris, meanwhile, sailed the
Laser 28 with an all girl crew to third overall in their Women’s
Racing Association winter series.
Nearly
50 percent of the boats sold so far have been sold with trailers.
At $2,450 US or $3,000 Can. the trailer pays for itself quickly,
especially if the owner picks up his own boat. Add to this
the saving of a yard cradle and the ability to store the boat
on one’s own property or in some other non-revenue location
and it pays for itself in a couple of years. The Laser 28
will be a very mobile class.
The
Laser 28 is the only true one-design racer/cruiser on the
water today. It is the only racing/cruising class with one
design sails where the test is not going to be who has the
latest cut, but rather who is the best sailor. The sails were
developed over five years by Hans Fogh of North Sails, Olympic
Medalist and World Champion, working hand in hand with Bruce
Farr and myself as we slowly perfected the rig. Not only are
they perfectly cut for the Laser 28’s simple, lightly
tensioned rig, they use cloth materials selected to last for
the longest possible time (one of the final prototype mains
is going into its fourth season). Thirty, identical Laser
28’s at CORK with identical sails will be a first in
yachting. (The IOD is the only other keel boat to our knowledge
that has onedesign sails but it does not qualify as a cruising
boat.)
Good
sailing!
Ian
Bruce
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