Company history

One of the largest manufacturers of small yachts and shells for relaxation on the water is counting down its history from a blueprint for a dinghyboard that Canadian designer Bruce Kirby sketched during a phone conversation with his friend and rival in a sailing race Ian Bruce in 1969.

The Laser project was very simple and involved transporting a dinghy dinghy on the car roof from the beach to the beach. The boat made its debut in 1971 on the Laser.Yew York boat showand already in 1974, representatives from 24 countries gathered for the first world championship in the Laser class.

The creators of the project did not have the financial capacity to establish production and sales of lasers«,»so they distributed licenses to several companies around the world. In Europe, the rights were given to the British Performance Sailcraft. She aggressively took up the business by designing a number of derivative models such as Laser 2000, Bahia and Laser SB3 which were hugely successful.

But the lion’s share of the profits came from Laser when it entered the Olympic program in 1996.

Directly Laser Performance was created in 2007 after accession to the British company of the manufacturer of beach dinghies of class Sunfish – company Vanguard, founded by brothers Harken. The protection of patents and exclusive rights ensured the growth of sales. For 60 years of existence Sunfish has sold 300 thousand boats, and dinghies Laser has more than 200 thousand.

There’s been a lot of scandals. In 2012, Laser Performance ended its license to manufacture the monotype Laser SB3 dinghy, which was designed by Tony Castro. Laser Performance was accused of poor quality boats, and the British Sportsboat World» continued to produce sash«.

In 2013, Bruce Kirby himself demanded that Laser Performance be deprived of the rights to build his brainchild as the company allegedly stopped paying royalties. After a number of lawsuits, Laser Performance was able to defend its position and continue building a super-popular dinghy.

Status

It’s working.

Production .

The succession of mergers and acquisitions that led to the formation of Laser Performance has led to a constant movement of production. In the 70’s and 80’s these were facilities in the USA and Canada and until 1989 Laser production was located in South Africa. Today Laser Performance is headquartered in the USA and production is located in Long Buckby, UK.

Model range

Laser Performance manufactures a number of beach and sport dinghies such as Sunfish, the Laser project family (Pico, Bug, Bahia etc.), Club420, Dart catamarans. In addition, the company has paddleboards and boat components.

Features .

As in the far 70’s, Laser Performance has stamped hundreds of beach toys and club«racers in» fibreglass. The unifying feature of most models is their ease of use and versatility.