Is a 1988 Laser II for $1000 a Good Deal ?

[Green23]

I dont know much about boats or sailign yet so I thought I'd ask the experts. It apparently has some wear and tear, but overall it's in good shape and the lines are all new last year.

I'm looking to get into sailing and decided I'd like to learn on the Laser with two sails. Seemed like a great opportunity and a lot of fun, but is it a good deal?

Let me know,

green

[GordMay]

Depending upon how it's rigged, and what comes with it, $1K is either too little or too much.
Oops, that's not very helpful; but I think it may be a decent price.
Goto ➭ North American Laser 2 Class

[Green23]

Here's the ad, below. Apparently it's fully equipped. Why would $1000 be too little?

"This is a 1988 Laser II, fully equipped and ready to sail.
A bit of wear and tear but overall a great boat - sailed it all last summer with no problems. comes with one set of sails, blades and all new lines too." No trailer.

[Green23]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Depending upon how it's rigged, and what comes with it, $1K is either too little or too much.
Oops, that's not very helpful; but I think it may be a decent price.
Goto ➭ North American Laser 2 Class

Oh, I'll check out the line. Didn't notice it the first time...thought it was part of your sig or something. Could you let me know what you think of the ad? I included it above.

Here's some pics:

[David M]

If all the parts are there and the hull and rig are in sound condition, then yes, its a good deal. I sold my 1985 Laser last fall for $1200.

[sailstoo]

If you're not planning on racing it and just want to play in the water, it's tough to go wrong for 1G. It's no longer a popular one-design (if it ever was) so prices are depressed.

[Boracay]

The Laser is still to heavy to pick up and carry with one hand so unless you have somewhere to keep it near the water a trailer of some kind will be needed.

A deal that includes a trailer may be better value.

[Green23]

Originally Posted by sailstoo

If you're not planning on racing it and just want to play in the water, it's tough to go wrong for 1G. It's no longer a popular one-design (if it ever was) so prices are depressed.

Yeah, this is just to play around in the water. Best way I could think to start learning the basics of sailing.

Re: the design, my friend said it would be a good one to learn on cuz it's got the two sails to play with rather than just one on some other Lasers, I guess.

[sww914]

That's what I learned to sail at Club Med. You can hardly hurt the thing and you can't sink it. Perfect for learning as long as the water is warm. If you're not a kid anymore you may want to move up to something bigger and more comfortable (and more expensive) after awhile but you can't really lose money on a boat like that, relative to bigger boats. The beauty is that if it's stored well it won't ever cost you another penny unless you break something or want to upgrade. A 30 footer will cost you $1000.00 every 1-2-3-4 months for berthing whether you use it or not. Looks like an inexpensive way to learn to sail.
If you keep the wind at your back you can learn to go back and forth, back and forth all day long in 5 minutes. Other points of sail can be mixed in as soon as you're comfortable and you're sailing!

[Green23]

Originally Posted by sww914

That's what I learned to sail at Club Med. You can hardly hurt the thing and you can't sink it. Perfect for learning as long as the water is warm. If you're not a kid anymore you may want to move up to something bigger and more comfortable (and more expensive) after awhile but you can't really lose money on a boat like that, relative to bigger boats. The beauty is that if it's stored well it won't ever cost you another penny unless you break something or want to upgrade. A 30 footer will cost you $1000.00 every 1-2-3-4 months for berthing whether you use it or not. Looks like an inexpensive way to learn to sail.
If you keep the wind at your back you can learn to go back and forth, back and forth all day long in 5 minutes. Other points of sail can be mixed in as soon as you're comfortable and you're sailing!

Sounds perfect! Wish I was learning in Club Med though...the waters here aren't so warm, that's for sure.

[S/V Illusion]

Used to have one. bought it holed for $500 well-equipped and sold it repaired for $2200 with trailer. Great boat in which to learn, fast, well-built and lots of fun unless you have a bad back...

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by Green23

Yeah, this is just to play around in the water. Best way I could think to start learning the basics of sailing.

Re: the design, my friend said it would be a good one to learn on cuz it's got the two sails to play with rather than just one on some other Lasers, I guess.

The Laser is designed to be sailed by one person. The Laser 2 is designed to be sailed by 2 people. The Laser 2 can be sailed with just one person but not everything is conveniently placed for one person, and it will be overpowered in big winds for one person. All the above said, the occassional time I take out my club's Laser 2 is usually by myself in moderate to light air because of the power available and my weight.

Laser - one person boat - 76 ft^2 sail area
Finn - one person Olympic class boat for >200 lb person - 115 ft^2
Laser 2 - two person boat - 125 ft^2


John

[SkiprJohn]

The Laser II is a great boat to learn on for the following reasons:
You can learn to sail by yourself just using the mainsail until you are very comfortable with it.
Then you can rig the jib and learn how it is controlled while having a knowlegable crewmember aboard.
Then you can learn to operate the main and jib by yourself.
It is cartopable or can be trailered (preferrable).
Here are the disadvantages: It is very tender and will get you wet nearly every time you go sailing until you get your balance and sort out jibing and tacking and weight distribution for each.
Previous owners may have run her up on the beach with the daggerboard still down so there might be some injuries around the daggerboard trunk that could leak.
It is lightly built fiberglass so care must be taken not to come in contact with anything hard, i. e. rocks, coral, concrete, rebar, etc..
$1000 is a good price if everything is there and there isn't too much damage to the hull.
regards,