The Difference Between the Laser M Rig and the Radial

Horizon

Active Member
There appears to be some confusion about the difference between the Laser M and the Laser Radial rigs.

Both rigs were designed to achieve the same thing - a smaller, more easily handled sailplan for smaller sailors, however the two rigs were unrelated and went about their aim in very different ways.

The Laser M was introduced in the mid 70's (I am uncertain of the exact date).

The M rig was designed with a smaller top section and used the standard bottom section. The top section had a fairlead and clam cleat at the top so it could be hoisted on a halyard. The actual sleeve of the sail was slightly larger than the standard rig, so the sail could be raised and lowered whilst on the mast.

The Laser M sail used standard 36" sailcloth oriented horizontally as with the normal sail. It used 3 battens identical to the standard sail.

The M rig could be easily differentiated from the standard sail not only because of the lower aspect ratio of the M rig, but also because their was an "M" next to the insignia in the second panel from the head of the sail.

Although most of the insignias were red, some sails were made with green insignia. The sail label at the tack of the sail was often green as well.

The problem with the M rig was that it was very hard to de-power because of the stiffness of the mast due to the standard bottom section and smaller top-section and large sail panels. This led to its ultimate demise and replacement by the very different radial rig.

The M rig continued into the early eighties and despite its drawbacks still became quite popular, selling over 20,000 rigs. Beam Reach (the ILCA newsletter from 1977 to 1985 and predecessor of Laser World) reported in issue 11 that a North American Midwinter championship was held in 1981. It was won by Chris Larsen. Ed Baird, then reigning world champion won the standard rig at the same regatta.

The ILCA class rules were actually amended to include by-laws relating to the use of the M rig in racing.

The M rig was made with both all white sails and coloured sails which had two coloured panels.

The Radial was introduced in 1983 and was designed by Hans Fogh, designer of the original standard rig sail.

The Radial approached the problem of producing a rig with less sail area and which was more easily de-powered very differently to the M Rig.

The Radial was designed with all the sail panels radiating from the clew of the sail. A shorter bottom section was designed which was more flexible than that used for the standard rig.

The Radial was also originally designed to be used with a halyard. As the top section was the same as for the standard sail, this necessitated the use of a sock or clamp device which fitted to the top of the top section and incorporated a fairlead so that the sail could be raised or lowered on a halyard.

(If any reader has a copy of Tim Davison's "The Laser Book" 2nd Edition from 1987, has a page on rigging the Radial with a halyard in it - page 54).

The Radial continued to be produced with a halyard until the early 1990's.

The Radial was made in a number of different colour combinations up to about 1998 after which it has been produced solely in white. (Although of course, the latest Mk 6 version has the dark blue corners)

The first Laser Radial world championship was held in 1989 in conjunction with the standard rig worlds in Aarhuus in Denmark.

The attachments show:

Pictures of a coloured M Rig with red insignia and a picture of a white M Rig with Green Insignia

Picture of the Laser Radial Halyard Device to be fitted to the top of the top Section.

(These previous 2 pictures came from Ebay, so thanks and acknowledgements to the anonymous sellers for their pictures)

Laser M brochure

Laser M by laws

Laser Radial Brochure from 1983 when it was introduced.

Laser Radial Brochure from 1988 when it was still using halyards.

Factory Brochure from 1983 showing all 3 rigs together
 

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  • My Old M Rig.jpg
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  • M Rig with Green Insignia.jpg
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  • Laser M Brochure.jpg
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  • Original 1983 Radial Brochure.jpg
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  • Radial 1988 Brochure.jpg
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  • Radial Halyard Fitting.jpg
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  • 1983 Factory Brochure.jpg
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  • Laser M By-Laws.jpg
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Thanks for this detailed post. I think a copy of it belongs in the Laser Wiki, so I'll work on copying it there.
 
Don't think I'll be trading in my Radial for an M-rig anytime soon.

The Radial sails color-coordinated with the hull actually look pretty good.
 

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