The Laser Pico

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

is a small sailboat designed by Jo Richards in the mid-1990s and used primarily for training and day sailing. It can be crewed by one or two children or an adult. Current models come equipped with both a

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot i ...

and a

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsail ...

, the jib however mainly functions as a training tool and provides little to no contribution to speed. The Pico functions mainly as a training boat for younger children because of its very durable nature and has little to no racing events dedicated to it. The hull is of

thermoplastic A thermoplastic, or thermosoft plastic, is any plastic polymer material that becomes pliable or moldable at a certain elevated temperature and solidifies upon cooling. Most thermoplastics have a high molecular weight. The polymer chains associate ...

sandwich construction, providing strength, stiffness, and built-in buoyancy. The cockpit is self-draining. The boat comes equipped with an aluminium two-piece mast, an aluminium boom, and a lifting rudder. A sport version is available which includes a battened Mylar sail and upgraded running rigging. The Portsmouth Yardstick handicap system does not differentiate the sport version, or appear in the Limited Data list. Laser Performance, used to be the manufacturer of the Pico, sold over 15,000 of these boats, but stopped supplying in 2022. The RS Marine Group under the brand name Ocean Play is now supplying the Pico. Ocean Play was founded in 2022 after Jo Richards (designer of the four boats) approached RS to take up the production challenge. Besides the Pico, Ocean Play also produces other products that were originally sold by Laser Performance. The first UK National championships were held on 27–29 May 2006 at Gurnard Sailing Club on the Isle of Wight, the Pico's spiritual home. The Laser Pico has no active Class Association with the last remnants of the website being removed in 2013.

Specifications

*Length: *Beam: *Hull weight: *Mainsail: *Sport mainsail: *Jib: *RYA Portsmouth Yardstick: 1330 * D-PN: 104.6

References

External links

Laser PicoClass Association
Dinghies 1990s sailboat type designs Sailboat type designs by Jo Richards- Sailboat types built by LaserPerformance {{ship-type-stub