Laser (racing yacht class)

In 1969, Canadian yachtsman and yacht designer Bruce Kirby thought about creating a small dinghy that could be easily transported on the roof of a car. He coped with the task, and the “Laser” was born - a light, cheap and dynamic yacht.

For its time, "Laser" had a revolutionary design. This yacht has a completely sealed hull with a volume of several hundred liters and a small cockpit. The hull weight of about 60 kg provides the Laser with a large supply of buoyancy, so this dinghy can be easily restored to its original position after overturning.

The yacht is armed with one sail (armament kat) and is designed for one person. It is distinguished by a simpler design and a smaller number of sail adjustments and settings from the older Olympic single-player dinghy Finn. However, the management of "Laser", especially in the fresh wind, requires good steering, reaction and coordination from the helmsman.

The mast is made of a composite of two parts of aluminum pipes to facilitate transportation. Before going out, the yachtsman connects the two parts of the mast, inserts it into a special sleeve on the sail and sets the mast with the sail into a special glass in the hull. You can equip the “Laser” to the racing state after transportation in just a few minutes. This simplicity has greatly helped “Laser” to become popular: today it is the most numerous Olympic class in the world. “Laser” is a strict monotype: all hulls are made absolutely identical, and the sails are tailored to the same patterns with an accuracy of a fraction of a millimeter. This circumstance leads to a very dense struggle at a distance.

"Laser" very quickly became a popular yacht for both beach lovers and more professional yachtsmen. Back in the 1980s, the American Finns actively trained on the “Laser”: the “Laser” is a lighter and agile boat than the “Finn” , which is why in this way the Olympians trained their reaction and coordination. Although physically "Finn" - a much heavier class.

The first world championship in the class "Laser" was held in 1974 in Bermuda and gathered representatives from 24 countries. In 1996, the Laser debuted at the Olympic Games in Atlanta as a new Olympic class for men. Unlike Finn, where, with rare exceptions, the weight of a yachtsman who counts on success must be greater than 85 kg, in Lazer you can achieve a good result even with a weight of 70 kilograms. Therefore, since 1996, light lone athletes also had the opportunity to perform well at the Olympics. The first Olympic champion in the new class was the young Brazilian Robert Scheidt , who at that time was already a three-time world champion in this class.

Since 2008, the women's Olympic class “Europe” for singles has been replaced by a modification of the standard “Laser” - “Laser Radial”. "Radial" has absolutely the same body as the standard "Laser", with the only difference that its mast is lower and the sail is slightly smaller - 5.76 m² against 7.06 m² in standard. "Laser Radial" is most suitable for athletes weighing 60-65 kilograms and therefore was recommended as a new Olympic class for women. The first Olympic champion in the "Radial" was the American .

• Laser Standard
• Laser 2
• Laser 4.7
• Laser 4000
• Laser picot
• Laser Radial
• Laser vortex

• International Class Association "Laser"
• Revision "Laser" - the secret of popularity // Boats and yachts: the magazine. - 1977. - № 6 (70) . - pp . 72-76 .