Laser Performance Dinghies for Sale

Laser

Back in 1969, Canadian Bruce Kirby simply wanted a sailing dinghy he could easily carry on the roof of his car. Kirby sketched out a few ideas, and his buddy Ian Bruce built the first Laser. In the beginning it was still called "Weekender TGIF" – Thank God it's Friday!

The success story

With the Olympic single-handed Laser sailing dinghy (Standard and Radial rig) and the single-handed fun dinghy Sunfish, Laser Performance produced the largest boat classes in the world.

Simple, tough and warm-hearted

The Laser was, is and will remain wonderfully simple. It needs only a few pieces of equipment, is rigged in next to no time, is easy to transport (not just on the car roof – trailers are fine too) and sails in a remarkably sporty way. From the very start, the "under-1,000-dollar boat" of the day was a bestseller. The first World Championships were held in Bermuda as early as 1974, in 1996 the Standard (original) version became an Olympic class for men, and in 2008 the Laser Radial version, fitted with slightly smaller sails, was also admitted to the Olympic circus for women.

A new lifestyle brand

After their "million-dollar idea", neither Bruce nor Kirby had the financial or manufacturing resources to mass-produce and market the boat. They therefore sold production licenses to existing boat manufacturers, each of which was given an exclusive geographical sales region. Performance Sailcraft in England was responsible for Europe, Vanguard Sailboats in Portsmouth for the USA. In 2007 the two yards merged to form the company Laser Performance. The business model thus shifted towards a lifestyle brand under which not only all the original Lasers but also newer models such as the Laser 2000, 4000, 5000, the Laser Bahia and the Laser SB3, as well as Dart catamarans and the already highly successful Sunfish, are produced, marketed and sold.

One-design in danger

On the other hand, as the only producer of the original Laser, Laser Performance ensured the strictly uniform design. A feature of the Olympic class that is valued and upheld by almost all Laser sailors. In 2018/2019 the International Laser Class Association ILCA took action against Laser Performance over patent and production rights and proposed nine further yards worldwide that were said to be capable of meeting the one-design requirements. In response, European Laser sailors founded their own class association, among other things to give Laser Performance their backing.