The Navigator all the time know his position The sailor all the time know strenght and direction of apparent wind

When the boat lay still on the the water the true wind and the apparent wind are the same

When the boat takes off ther is a difference between true wind and apparent wind

Understanding the wind is what you lern very fast joining the Laser Class

My life with Laser in 47 years 1972 - 2019

Bo Österberg [email protected] My Life With Laser 1972 – 2019 Bo Osterberg Sweden [email protected] +46 702 309212

In the summer of 1969, the 14-foot sailor and boat builder, Ian Bruce of Montreal, Canada, made a phone call to the 14-foot champion and yacht designer, Bruce Kirby, in Connecticut. Bruce asked Kirby to design a single-handed dingy anyone could sail.

The boat should be simple to build, simple to rig, easy to be car topped, and have a mast in two sections. Two hours into the call a design sketch emerged creating the Laser. That drawing is framed and hanging in Bruce Kirby’s office. Ian Bruce built the boat and contacted the sailmaker, , to design the sail. Today there are 220,000 Lasers sailed in almost every country in the world.

Due to the original sail, unsuccessful test sailing occurred in spring 1970. After Fogh saw the mast, he redesigned the sail adding a casing to slip over the mast. Enthusiasm spread among the test sailors. Dave Belfour, a student at McGill University and Ian´s lawyer Ward Mc. Kim, looked at the project and they commented, “You are on the right track boys, but you cannot call the boat Thank God It’s Friday or Weekender. No boat will be sold. Call the boat Laser and it will sell.” Ian’s lawyer asked to register the name Laser worldwide as a sailing product and to help with financing.

Ian Bruce wasn’t convinced about the name and his wife looked in books to find a better name. Dave Belfour and the lawyer convinced Bruce that the laser beam is the future and with that, you can do anything. Plus, it can be red or green. They agreed on the name Laser, established drawings and created production files. After adjusting the bow height, a 6-boat stack fit into the new twenty-foot world standard shipping container. Montreal Canada was the production site where 12-packs of Lasers including sail, cover and trolley started their world journey.

The Laser premiered at the New York Boat Show in January 1971 with 144 boats sold. Laser sails were identical due to modern laser cutting. Their uniform design and the moderate price interested many sailors.

In August 1972, Ian Bruce and his lawyer had the ingenuity to ship three containers of Lasers to the Olympic Games in Kiel West Germany. Ian crewed in the Canadian boat. On rest days, the competitors sailed the Lasers for fun. If they liked, they could take a Laser home. The Lasers disappeared like butter in hot sun.

In two-weeks, 36 Lasers spread across the sailing world including Sweden.

Bengt Julin, member of the Swedish Olympic committee, put his hand on one boat. The price in Sweden including ratchet, sale figures, and vat should be under Swedish Crowns 2 900:-.The OK- dingy I had for the moment was 4 500:-. I had three children ready to leave the Optimist class and looked at my options.

In autumn 1971, I had read about the Laser dingy in the American magazine One Design and Offshore Yachtsman. When a Laser came to Salsjobaden Stockholm, I went and was mesmerized immediately. What a speed downwind!

The OK-dingy sailors of my club south of Stockholm were less enthusiastic and told me to send the Laser back the U.S. They chastised me that the boat with a sack for sail over an untapered tube could not perform upwind. I bit my tongue and believed in the stikt onedesign Laser.

Laser was now displayed under management of Bengt Julin at Osterman Marble Halls in center of Stockholm in the erly spring of 1973. Every day I went to see the sleek Laser.

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Also in autumn 1972, a second Laser factory opened in Banbury England. Manager Paul Davis and marketing manager, Renaud Langer of Switzerland, wanted Pelle Petterson in Gothenburg to sell the Laser in Sweden. Pelle liked the boat but Lars Wiklund, economy manager at Maxiboats, told Pelle that the profit on a Laser is too low with the retail price recommended by England.Wiklund said let Bo Osterberg take the agency to Stockholm.

Hans Holmstrom, “Hasse Hairdresser” with business at Heden, Ljungskile and Fjallbacka began strongly promoting Laser.

Also, Christer Bath, racing FD with his brother Pelle, started competing in the Laser Class.

Bermuda hosted the first World Championship in 1974. Twenty-eight sailors participated with Peter Comette from the USA winning.

Together with Sven Thornmark and some more enthusiasts from the Malmo Sailing Club, we now founded The Swedish Laser Association and applied for the European Championship held in Malmo August 1974. That Championship was a great success with over ninety competitors. Another fan of the new class was Lasse Molse of Gothenburg. This was the starting point of Laser Sweden 20-24 August.

The International Laser Association had an energetic secretary named Jeff Martin from Falmouth, UK. He debuted in Malmo pointing out the strict class rules needed better wording to make the Laser class successful. He wanted lawyers to protect the Laser from piracy. He also wanted quality held at an acceptable level. Chris Tunstall in Banbury and later Gogol Kafi managed to do this. Lastly for the Laser, were sensitive negotiations with The International Sailing Association in London to obtain Olympic status. Tim Coventry, CEO of Performance Sailcraft, achieved that in the 1980’s.

Tim Coventry built a strong network of energetic Laser dealers that were also good sailors. He wanted hard working dealers supportive of ads and boat shows.

Mange Olsson, training the National 505 Team in Nynashamn, borrowed a Laser from me on a bad weather day and returned saying, “This boat can use heavy air!” The first club that fully recommended Laser was Malarhojdens Kanotsallskap Stockholm. Sailors Pelle Ek, Rolf Lundstrom, Olle Wenrup and Ebbe Rosén came for a test ride in Nynashamn. One young man named Birger Thornkvist, the present Laser dealer, also wanted a boat but all in stock were sold so he had to drive to Vastervik. The family Holm was the first in Nynashamn Yacht Club that liked a cheap boat where all were identical and ready to sail at delivery. We soon had over twenty Lasers in my club.

The Royal Yacht Club KSSS in Saltsjobaden, Stockholm arranged the first Laser race in October 1974. I was excited at the sight of seventeen Lasers at the starting line. I have the trophy from that race on my desk. The 1975 Alvsjo Boat Show now exhibited the Laser Class. One club after another started arranging regattas. Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo, Vastervik, Norrkoping and Vasteras were hot places.

I left my job as chief inspector for a military electronic company in Nynashamn and started selling and racing Laser fulltime. I registered my company, Jollesport KB, in 1972.

Six months later, Performance Sail Craft made me responsible for Scandinavia including Finland and Iceland under the name of Norden Laser KB. In Denmark, I changed Paul Elfstrom with his interest only in Trapez and -dingy, to Anders Myralf. In Finland I replaced the Tallberg family with Derk Breitenstein. In Norway Knut Frederik Horn took over from Odd Roar Lofterod. It did not help; none of the other countries took off like Sweden. In Iceland, I sold one container to Bjarne Gudmundson on Gensaksvej in Reykarvik. In summer it blows 30 knots and winter 40 knots and most of the time water is 4 degrees centigrade. 2

Thomas Rudewald took over as chairman of Laser Sweden and introduced Laser Grand Prix with Helly Hansen as sponsor. It concluded with a regatta at Riddarfjorden in the center of Stockholm every year. Sailors teased us when we rounded outside the City Hall saying, “Nice club house you have.”

The Laser Class gathered sailors with the same demand on social arrangements that they used during races or at the starting line. Simply put—evening parties were more important than polishing the hull.

Are Ski Yachting became a popular competition with two slalom races at Tvaravalvet and two Laser races at the Are Lake followed by an enticing party at the Tott Hotel.

Thomas Rudewald, Jonas Bohlin and undersigned started a newsletter, The Laser News. Our Class had 1 800 paying members. The Laser News printed as most 5500 copies and went out to many clubs. Advertisements paid for printing and postage. The printer was my neighbour and the post office was one block away. Many good writers and cartoonists joined the production. When you visit Birger, Konrad and Desiree at Sjoboden in Lidingo, look for copies of The Laser News including the first one.

The 1977 Swedish Nationals in Kullavik drew 155 entries. The new world champion in the Olympic Finn-Dingy, Magnus Ohlin, won in hard competition against Christer Bath. Stig Falkesater, the new chairman of Laser Sweden, finally arranged for an official Swedish Championship.

One month later, almost the same number of sailors came to The Nordic Championship in Allingsas. Odd Roar Lofterod won in hard competition against Christer Bath. World champion, John Bertrand from USA, finished fourth.

Each of the seven years between 1975 and 1981 sold an unbelievable 500 Lasers. The peak year, 1976, sold 561! In 1982, the introduction of windsurfing in Sweden dropped Laser sales by 40—90 boats annually over the next ten years.

I did not despair and bought out my dealers to continue alone in Sweden. The support from Laser Sweden declined and I had to put out a newsletter myself called, The Laser Sailor. Olympic status for men in 1966 helped sales somewhat.

A great sailor, Marit Soderstrom from Vasteras, took two Ladies World Championships.

Form my yacht club in Nynashamn, Lennart Jansson from Dalaro BK, Staffan Larswall KSSS Saltsjobaden and myself arranged The Baltic Laser Race starting in 1991. The grand prize, spon- sored by Spendrups Beer, was a new Laser. In the following years, our sponsors sold beer, concrete, phones, yogurt and IT-services. Helly Hansen sponsored one more time.

The Baltic Laser Race was sailed non-stop 45 nautical miles or ten hours in the south Stockholm Archipelago. There were no race cancellations despite the long distance.

In 1995, Paul Henderson, Chairman of The International Sailing Association, visited our club the day before the start of The Baltic Laser Race to “examine” Sweden for the next Olympic Games. He told Bjorn Unger, “I’m going to the beach to chat with the sailors competing tomorrow. I am a Cana- dian Laser sailor and have sailed Laser No.1.” Preparing his boat at the beach, a sailor confirmed to Henderson that the race distance was 45-miles non-stop. Henderson later commented, “That was an impressive race.” He carried a BLR medal around his neck all evening.

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The Baltic Laser Race attracted competitors from Sweden, Norway, Finland and one year, from Italy. Sometimes we started from Rosenon at Dalaro and sometimes we sailed Nynashamn –Sandhamn and Nynashamn-Saltsjöbaden. The Swedish Navy supported with divers and rescue boats. Lage Larsson made the weather prognosis. A Marine helicopter shot images of the race.

In 1984, Laser introduced a new class—Laser Masters for 35-year-old sailors. That year in Ljungby, nine participants came then declined to just four in 1985. The class rapidly grew because Leif Calmeus in Kullavik and Lars G Theletam from Stockholm, established four age groups: 35, 45, 55 and 65+ years. Over ninety competitors came to the 1995 Swedish Masters. First prize for 55-year-old men, a beautiful painting from Marstrand, hangs in my living room.

The Leif Calmeus Cup is wondering on by the years. In 2001, more than 145 sailors came to Mar- strand and that established a competitor limit.

On 17 April 2000, after twenty-nine-years as a Laser dealer in Sweden, Birger Thornkvist took over my Laser agency.

At that date, a total of 4 182 Lasers sold from Nynäshamn, Sweden. All boats first appear in a type- written register dated 1972—1981. Starting in 1982, I listed the boats in a DOS based file with seven registers including the buyer’s name, postcode, boat number and city. For a private owner to replace a transom bung, he contacted me with the boat number and I sent him the part. With that information, I recorded the used market until the year 2000. You can see the registers at Sjoboden in Lidingo.

Sometimes police call me saying they found a drifting laser hull on a beach. I ask them to look for the number under the bow eye or in the cockpit and with that I can tell the hull colour and the last owner. The police say that is a great service.

When Birger Thornkvist took over the agency, the club MKS/Alsten got much better service than the one from Nynashamn. That resulted in Alsten sales increasing from two to seventy Lasers over ten years. Also, Malarhojden got a swing up with 50 to 70 Lasers racing every Wednesday most of the year. Of what we know, Barcelona, Spain, is the only city coming close to that in weekly races.

I am happy to say that the Banbury Hull Factory made improvements for 2019. A hardwood backing replaces the nylon grommets on the fitting grab rails and the weight spread of the hull is almost zero. Responsible for Swan Close Road hull produktion in Banbury UK is Gogol Kafi making a great job.

In the future with the Radial rig Olympic for women and the 4.7 rig being a recommended junior boat, I wish that women and junior sailors receive more support from the Swedish Yacht and Boat Clubs.

Rasmus Myrgren, from GKSS Gothenburg, is the only Swedish Laser sailor with Olympic Medal. Bronze in London 2012. Who will be next?

Bo Osterberg Januari 2019 [email protected] +46 702 309212 www.nordenlaser.se

Laser imported by Norden Laser KB, Bo Österberg [email protected] When changing dealers in Denmark, Finland and Norway 20 and 40 foot containers where taken ower by Norden Laser KB to Sweden calendar Laser lowest highest number total in hull age 2019-02-02 year year number number sold Sweden 2019 remark 1972 1 3104 3171 22 22 48 Hull number under Bow Eye 1973 2 6453 7259 55 77 47 1974 3 9779 13345 77 154 46 1975 4 20654 27905 385 539 45 1976 5 30505 44071 561 1100 44 1977 6 45833 50720 517 1617 43 1978 7 53833 67948 396 2013 42 1979 8 67954 74371 506 2519 41 1980 9 74412 89596 495 3014 40 1981 10 91794 96035 386 3400 39 1982 11 102576 108307 99 3499 38 Windsurfers introduced in Sweden 1983 12 109007 117355 88 3587 37 1984 13 118056 120553 55 3642 36 Quality inproved from hull no 120.000 *) 1985 14 120955 122084 33 3675 35 Hull number in cockpit 1986 15 123912 126095 33 3708 34 Code number at transom 1987 16 127002 132042 33 3741 33 1988 17 132302 134960 33 3774 32 1989 18 135415 138101 44 3818 31 1990 19 139950 142072 77 3895 30 1991 20 142876 144177 44 3939 29 1992 21 144491 146830 22 3961 28 1993 22 147904 150733 36 3997 27 1994 23 151178 153734 26 4023 26 1995 24 154932 157363 28 4051 25 1996 25 158004 159655 34 4085 24 Laser standard Olympic for men 1997 26 160588 162727 22 4107 23 1998 27 163646 165388 38 4145 22 1999 28 165550 168710 35 4180 21 2000 29 169142 169143 2 4182 20 Sjoboden Jollesport AB, Birger Tornqvist 2001 30 19 new Laser dealer from 17 April 2000 2002 31 18 2003 32 17 2004 33 16 2005 34 15 2006 35 14 2007 36 13 2008 37 12 Laser radial Olympic for women 2009 38 11 2010 39 10 Sjöboden dealer in Norway also 2011 40 9 2012 41 8 Laser 4.7 recommended junior boat 2013 42 7 2014 43 6 2015 44 5 2016 45 4 Grabrail backing wood instead of nylon grommets 2017 46 3 General improvment of quality one more step by Swan 2018 47 215254 2 close road factory. Weight spread almost zero 2019 48 1 2020 49 2021 50 *) Aluminum cup in mast step, all screws changed fom PH2 to PZ2 among the improvements! Norden Laser KB, Försäter 119, SE-81961 SKÄRPLINGE Sweden +46 702 309212, [email protected]