Hi,
I need some help with regard to choosing a Yacht, I have built several yachts of various types nothing too technical but practical.
I am at the point now where I need to move on and as far as I can imagine I rather fancy either a Laser or a Seawind.
I’m hoping that someone out there can offer some advice on which is the best yacht between these two craft, if not from a personal point of view,
perhaps from technical point of view.
I am aware of the differences between the to yachts , both are easy
to carry around thats my main concern.
Any help will be welcomed.
if you want my opinion. i would take the seawind over the laser. only because i had the same choice. but what i found out was . there is alot of surport of there for people who drive seawinds. and i like driving mine. it takes no time to set it up
just big enough to have fun with. yes small enough to transport
this boat is very good. and i have never regretted it
hope this helps:zbeer:
on the other hand, that laser fleet is the biggest in the world… you are bound to find people who are willing to be friendly in that calss too… also, the r/c laser is a pretty cool boat… but i am biased to the real thing…
Well I have 1 for and 1 against at the moment, like to have a few more, must be more users of both yachts out there somewhere.
If you want to race there is the old reply find out what they sail in your area. I had both but didn’t like the low freeboard on the front of the S/W. As soon as the wind picks up it nose dives. I put an angled plate on the deck that helped. If sailing against other US1M it needs their sail. The Laser is easier to rig and indestructable. I could stay mid fleet against our US1M’s.
Hi Thank you for that info about nose diving I had that on a one-design I had , it was most disconcerting, although I must admit it was cured by A RE-RIGGING FACTOR. NEVER THE LESS ITS A BAD POINT.
MORE PLEASE
Laser’s have gone through a morphing stage - in that the original Hitec drum winches are no longer made. I haven’t seen/heard what they are using now - but the original drum ( a 725 if I recall) was so sl-o-o-o-o-o-w - that it made sail trim after a mark rounding a process that you had to consider well in advance!
I thought the Laser sailed well, but I think the Seawind had a bit of agility over the Laser (it seemed the Laser was always a bit behind in response - perhaps only the winch). There is no building to the Laser - you insert the keel, snap on the rudder, stick the mast into it’s socket and attach your mainsheet. Turn on the radio and you are ready to go.
The Seawind does require a build/assembly and the vinyl bulb cover sucks - throw it away ! The Seawind also could use a nice set of sials, but class rules require factory sails so everyone has the same issue. Downwind there is a tendency to nosedive but sailing very deep reaches seems to cure that - no mast movement possible fore/aft. The costs are pretty close to the same to get either on the water. Look at about $475 or so for the Seawind “onthe-water” while the Laser is advertised at $400 - but if you buy all the rigs/sails, the carry bag and the shore side cradle you are pushing the $700 figure. (Both are costs new)
Hot pockets of class activity for both - check for your area as if one is popular, you will have guys who can give you tips and tuning pointers for either of them.
Laser allows several set of sails for different winds. When I sailed the one I borrowed, smaller sizes weren’t available, so it wasn’t fun if strong winds.
A lot of places will rent out the Laser - so that should give you an idea of the design and ability to take abuse. The Seawind is a bit more fragile - and also a bit lighter than the Laser.
Go with the Seawind if you want to decorate like an IACC or off-shore boat with advertising - the Laser only allows decals - no paint - unless they have since changed class rules.
Like a real Laser, downwind they can get “twitchy” and highside death-rolls are known to happen to the R/C Laser - like the big one. Because there is no weight to move around, getting it in proper trim for downwind sailing (Boom high and hull rolled to windward) isn’t possible.
Can’t think of anything else - except the assembly of the Seawind was a bit troublesome as directions weren’t that clear. If you know r/c boats - that shouldn’t matter much, though.
Hi Dick Lemke,
I really thank you for your reply to my quest, I found that most enlightening, from beginng to end, I really have no questions because is was exactly what I wanted to hear.
Since you have so much knowledge on the subject wonder if I might ask you one question,
How would you compare these two craft with the IOM particuly the Victor, but also to another maker of that craft.
I understand if you would rather send me a private email on that answer.
Dear Foresail,
As far as I know, Victor do not build an IOM. They make many model sailboats. Which one are you thinking of?
In terms of a general comparison between the two classes you are considering and the IOM - there are significant differences. Both the RC Laser and Seawind are one-design boats - with all boats (and peripherals) coming from a single manufacturer. The IOM is a restricted class, and there are many different designs and builders within the class.
Although both the RC Laser a Seawind have racing fleets, they also attract a large number of sailors who do not intend to race. The IOM on the other hand tends to attract sailors who want to race. The Seawind and the RC Laser are semi-scale boats. The IOM has no pretensions to scale, and is a pure RC sailboat.
A new IOM, ready to sail, will cost much more than either of the other two.
In terms of performance, and IOM will beat a Seawind in most conditions. I’ve never seen and IOM sail against an RC Laser so cannot comment.
I hope this helps.
Hello Muzza,
Sorry I’m new to this sailing art, I’m an old Flyer with a certain illness that makes it impossible to fly any more.
I’m sailing at the moment a Victoria which is OK but a little to small for my liking, I have an Old Oliver Lee Squiblet Marblehead which is a pussy cat to play around with but I just really thought I would like a change.
I was looking at the Victor Soling which I thought was a IOM.
I did n’t realize that there were two versions or craft.
My reason for these questions is The Laser and the Seawind seem to be a well loved yachts, and I felt were reasonably priced, then I saw the Soling IOM that victor sell.
Any help to go with those reasons would be appreciated,
The Soling One Meter is not an IOM, but is a very popular boat (largest number of registrations in the AMYA). I haven’t sailed one myself, so will leave the comments to others.
The VICTOR MFG. Soling is also a fairly strict one-design, 1 meter boat. It is the largest class within AMYA and lots of clubs all over the country use it as their entry level boat - but from friendship with a good east coast 1 meter sailor, it seems it can be as difficult to twwitch and tune as any developmental class boat. VICTOR MFG. also has an extensive line of boats of various lenghts and performance options. Some are drawn to their 12 meter design, while others prefer the more modern IACC (America’s Cup) design - both are also 1 meter in length.
The intent of the capitalization is to differentiate between VICTOR MFG. and Victoria (Thunder Tiger) which is a smaller sized boat. I feel there may be a misunderstanding going on here. Also - to Foresail - take a look at the AMYA web page that compares all boat sizes via photo which may help define what it is you are looking for. There is a Soling 1 meter, The Seawind One Meter, the Victor Cup CLass One Meter, an ODOM (One Design One Meter), a US1M (US 1 Meter) and the IOM (International One Meter) - and if you want multihulls - there is a MultiONE class too. As you can see, getting name, manufactureer and size confused can be easy to do.
In general (opening up a can of worms here) the weight of the boat, size and sail area all contribute to boat speed. The final ingedient is always the skippers ability. The Laser is much larger than any of the above boats but depending on wind and skipper skills, could be competitive - or not. While slow on the reflexes (winch), the Laser is by far the more rugged and “bulllet-proof” of the bunch. I just feel that a lighter weight, but slightly smaller boat might prove to be serious competition for the Laser - I could be wrong, but base my thoughts on local Lasers (not well sailed) that are often pushed by boats 36 inches long (CR914) and 36/600’s at our local regatta site.
Hope this clarifies a bit to allow you to focus the questions or thoughts you have so we can offer opinions. Need to be sure that you have in mind what it is you want or are looking at.
ADDED: I “thought” it was largest AMYA class while IOM is the fastest “growing” class. I could be wrong, and Muzza might be correct.
Nothing to correct Dick. You are quite right as far as I know. I think my post agrees with you - the S1M has the largest number of regos. (Edited for clarification).