Sexy boats have no appeal for Laser

The Laser Centre is leaving the racy end of the dinghy market to other players while it focuses on entry-level boats, Andy Rice reports

The Laser Centre has decided to turn its attention away from the high-profile but small volume market of fast dinghy racing and is focusing almost purely on grass roots sailing.

Sales director Adrian Jones told madforsailing: "We've decided to leave the fight for the fast end of the market to RS and Ovington. There aren't really any new people coming into sailing through the new classes, it's just a situation of churning."

The Laser 5000 was at the vanguard of the dinghy revolution of the 90s but has since lost out to the newer kids on the block - first the 49er and more recently the RS800. The Laser 4000 class has held its own, but there is certainly a lot of competition out there now.

But Jones isn't worried. He's happy to leave the other two big brands to fight it out for what he sees as a very limited market. "There's been quite a big change of emphasis at Laser," he explained. "You're looking at a classic pyramid shape in our market, and we're not going to chase the top of the pyramid anymore. We're looking at expanding the base of the pyramid by bringing new people into the sport."

There is a renewed focus on the good old Laser single-hander, with the Laser Centre working closely with Mark Littlejohn on his nationwide coaching tour to encourage more kids into the boat, a project which madforsailing covered last week. Jones said the company was also building a custom trailer for the Laser Simulator, which went down a storm at the London Boat Show earlier this month. The Simulator will now be going on a roadshow around the country, again to encourage people into the sport.

Jones added: "We had the best Boat Show ever. The Vortex has taken off a storm, with 40 on order in the first quarter of this year, and you can't get one now until April." The Vortex won the Boat of the Year category at the recent BT Nautical Awards. Designed by Olympic medallist Jo Richards, the trapeze single-hander looks like no other - it is half mono-hull, half catamaran.

It is not pretty, but it is fast and more stable than an RS600 or Musto Skiff, which makes for better racing, points out Jones. "The Vortex gives you fast but good tactical racing. If you fall in during an RS600 race your chances of winning are over. Because the Vortex is stable you are unlikely to fall in so you have all the speed of some of the other new single-handers, but all the close tactics that you would associate with traditional Laser racing."

As for the Laser 2000, who knows what it looks like? No, it is not high profile, admits Jones, "but we've sold 260 of them". Jones likens it to a modern-day Enterprise, a middle-of-the-road hiking double-hander. It may not be sexy, but it has a wider appeal than many of the new boats coming on the market. Comparing a Laser 2000 with an RS800 would be like comparing a Ford with a Ferrari, but Jones knows where he would rather be.