The Laser was sold for under $800 in the seventies and some of the older
sailors keep complaining about the $4000 price tag today.
Please look at your paychecks, your car prices, your record albums / CDs,
your candy bars and Cokes.
1. When Lasers came out I had a summer job for $1.72 an hour. My dad had
pulled strings at the Boat Factory to get me that great job. I had more money
that summer than any of my friends.
2. When Lasers came out Beatle albums sold for $1.99 and on sale Albums cost
under a buck. Compare that with Joe Rapsheet and the Barf Drinkers latest CD..
3. Tuition, room and board at Penn State was $1530 for my freshman year in
1970-71.
4. My 1972 Toyota Celica cost $3200 brand new.
5. The large size snickers bar that typically sells for $99 today at the
Seven Eleven was 19 cents.
6. In 1979 at the Seven Eleven, the Big Gulp was regularly on sale for 19
cents. now when it goes on sale it is for 99.
Lasers at $800 came with a crappy 3.2 ounce sail, crappy fuzzy lines, wood
tillers and dinky little aluminum extensions. The booms had no reinforcements
and the cleats were all plastic crap that slipped. The mast steps regularly
blew out and the decks delaminated in a couple years use. The gudgeons bent
easily. The boats did not come with bailers and the through hull was another
piece of plastic that broke in a few months. The traveler eyes were crappy
plastic. There was no swivel for the Boom vang. The gooseneck used to
fracture within a year of hard sailing.
Lasers were never "Cheap to purchase." Sailing has always been somewhat of
an elitist sport. Lasers brought real racing to a much lower income bracket
than had ever been able to afford the sport. Lasers were and still are the
least expensive racing boats. (in fact some would still say Lasers are the
only real racing boat)
That is why we are still the fastest growing class in the world. we sold
more new Lasers Last year than the Thistle, Snipe, Lightning, Fireball, 470
and J-24 class combined.
Most folks who can afford to sail, or play golf or ski have enough credit
limit on their credit cards to just buy a Laser on an impulse. The boats are
not expensive compared to 1970. In fact they are probably less expensive.
Fred Schroth
Executive Secretary North American Laser Class
5205 Beacon Drive, Austin Texas 78734-1418
Ph. 512-266-8254
Visit our website....www.Laser.org
JOIN THE LASERCLASS and SAIL WITH US
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