Saturday 16 October 2010

Old Lasers never die

Over at that excellent blog Proper Course, world master Laser sailor Tillerman has been agonising over his poor showing at Hayling Island recently.
This is clearly the way forward for him:
Gavin Atkin spotted this Laser converted to oars at Orford, Suffolk, recently (thanks for the pic, Gav!). It has a sliding seat and everything, which seems a bit over the top for a hull that will do 5 knots if you really thrash it, but if you have the hull, why the hell not?

7 comments:

Tillerman said...

Brilliant. Given that in the last few years I have broken my rudder once, damaged my daggerboard many times, broken a mast, bent the replacement mast, and it's only a matter of time before my old corroded boom breaks... it may be time to convert my old Laser hull into a rowboat.

ChrisC said...

I have always thought that a Fireball hull would make a great rowing boat or maybe a Finn?

O Docker said...

Wondering if the former sailor was fed up with capsizing.

Bursledon Blogger said...

Have you heard of anyone fitting a laser sail to a chippendale skiff??

Chris Partridge said...

What a brilliant idea. As the Chippendale Sprite has no centerboard or rudder, you would have to steer by moving round the boat, like the St Lawrence Skiff. It would need total balance and knife-sharp reaction times. Niether of which I have, so a sailing Sprite would be a recipe for instant immersion.

O Docker said...

The standard rig Laser is a recipe for instant immersion.

Gavin Atkin said...

@ O'D - Yersss - as I am about to be reminded. My kids will be even more thoroughly washed when I get my kids the Laser they've been asking for, since they weigh about half what I do!