The Laser is the most popular sailing dinghy that has ever been produced. There are now over 200,000 boats world-wide. At the highest level it is an Olympic class for single handed men and women and the UK has a very good standing within the world. Ben Ainslie and Paul Goodison have both achieved gold at Olympic level. Several ex Laser sailors have also won gold in other classes such as Iain Percy, Shirley Robertson, Sarah Ayton, and Sarah Webb. Both 2016 Olympic representatives, Nick Thompson and Ali Young are current (2016) Laser World Champions and several of the other 2016 Olympic representatives in other classes have transitioned through Laser.
