Engineering:Laser 2

Laser 2

Boat
Crew	2 (single trapeze)
Hull
Hull weight	76 kg (168 lb)
LOA	4,370 mm (14.34 ft)
Beam	1,420 mm (4.66 ft)
Sails
Mainsail area	8.90 m2 (95.8 sq ft)
Jib/genoa area	2.62 m2 (28.2 sq ft)
Spinnaker area	10.2 m2 (110 sq ft)
Upwind sail area	11.52 m2 (124.0 sq ft)
Racing
D-PN	92.8
RYA PN	1035

The Laser 2 is a double-handed version of the popular Laser one-design class of small sailing dinghy. It is a quick, planing dinghy that differs from the Laser in that it has a jib, symmetric spinnaker and a single trapeze for the crew in the racing "Regatta" version. It was designed by New Zealander Frank Bethwaite and was first launched as a product in Australia then North America in 1979 and in Europe in 1980.

It is designed to be a mid to high performance racer. As a strict one-design boat the Laser 2 was not available for amateur construction. The hull is made of GRP (glass reinforced plastic). The rig is a Bermudian rig sloop with spinnaker. A version known as the Laser Fun was available, the same hull but featuring a reefable mainsail and a roller furling jib, and with the option of an asymmetric spinnaker (Laser Fun New Wave).

In Britain, its most common current use is at university class in British University Sailing Association (BUSA) events.

The class was recognised by World Sailing from early 1980s to 2020 and used as equipment for the Class World Championships and World Sailing own Youth Sailing World Championships. The class had extensive use in Europe and North America as a school and college boat and used for team racing without the spinnaker and trapeze. With more than 10500 boats built production was discontinued in 2007 following merger of Performance Sailcraft Europe and Vanguard Sailboats into a combined entity Laser Performance.

While the class became known as the Laser 2 "Regatta" the Laser 2 "Fun" was also launched using the same hull but with brightly coloured less performance oriented sails and a bowsprit kit for an asymmetric spinnaker. The hull design for the Laser 2 was later then married to a new deck and rig to produce the Laser 3000 in 1996, which following being dropped by Laser became known just as the 3000 Class.

External links

• Official class website