The Laser Vortex is a high performance sailing

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 ...

tunnel hull A tunnel hull is a type of boat hull that uses two typically planing hulls with a solid centre that traps air. This entrapment then creates aerodynamic lift in addition to the planing (hydrodynamic) lift from the hulls. Many times this is attribute ...

ed single hander that has a

trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

and an optional

asymmetrical spinnaker An asymmetrical spinnaker is a sail used when sailing downwind. Also known as an "asym", "aspin", or "A-sail" it can be described as a cross between a genoa jib and a spinnaker. It is asymmetric like a genoa, but, the asymmetrical spinnaker is not ...

. It is manufactured by White Formula UK Ltd under licence from a consortium headed up by Jonathan Carter. Jo Richard remains the owner of the design. Laser Performance are no longer involved with the Vortex. In 2013 the decision was made to drop 'Laser' from the name, the boat is now known only as the Vortex. The development of the Asymmetric 'kit' by Association Chairman and keen Vortex enthusiast Keith Escritt has brought new life to the class, with over 100 boats now flying the asymmetric option. In handicap racing the Vortex sails off a

Portsmouth Yardstick The Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a term used for a number of related systems of empirical handicapping used primarily in small sailboat racing. The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the han ...

of 925 in the UK (960 without spinnaker) and 86.8 in the USA .

References

External links

Laser Vortex Association WebsiteLaser Vortex Builders Website
Dinghies 2000s sailboat type designs Sailboat types built by LaserPerformance {{ship-type-stub