The Laser, an Olympic 1-person dinghy, was designed in 1970 by American Bruce Kirby. The goal was to create a boat for the recreational sailor, which combines the lowest possible purchase, and maintenance costs with a lot of sailing fun. The Laser is technically quite simple, but still relatively sensitive. As a standard class, almost all fittings must be the same in every boat. So the Laser is optimal as a training and racing boat in the single-handed sector.

The Laser is among the most popular adult boat class in the worldBecause of the relatively low price and high sailing fun at that time, the Laser has spread very quickly and thus also became Olympic. Currently, the Laser is the most popular adult boat class in the world. Since 2008, the Laser Radial has been the Olympic women's single-handed class.

The variable mast-sail system makes the boat very suitable for most weight classes. The same hull is always used, only different mast parts and different sail sizes are used for the different classes. The hull is built of GRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic), has a length of 3 m and a width of 7 m. Thus it is well transportable on the car roof.

The Laser Standard has a mast height of 7 m, a sail area of 6 square meters and a weight of 65 kg. The Laser Radial has the same mast height but a more flexible bottom section. The sail area is square meters.

The Laser 4,7 has a sail area of 4,7 sqm and is mainly moved by young people and very lightweight sailors.