Thanks for all of the responses - one thing I am quickly learning about sailing is there are as many opinions about how to go about things as there are choices in boats!
I suppose I really need to have more of a look at what is available for a first boat. As I said the only real reason I was looking at Lasers was because they seem to be ubiquitous when searching for information about
dinghies - that and there is not much choice over here. Almost everybody seems to be interested in powerboats and PWC when it comes to
watersports in Japan...
By the way Sasha - where abouts in Australia are you from? I am from Melbourne originally. Kind of wishing I was there now.