New owner here! =]

Rename the boat safely http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/rename.htm

Check for loose bolts and leaks on the engine. Change the fluids, filters, hoses, and impeller. You need to bleed the fuel line after changing the filter.
Check the holding tank and head lines; they might all need replacing.
Check the wiring and the function of the lights and instruments.

These were the first things I had to address, along with a good cleaning, including under the floor, before we could think about boating.

You certainly have to check for any structural problems and spend some time below during a rain storm to check for leaks from bedded deck hardware, stanchions, etc.

Clean and shiny is a good place to start. Freshen the bottom if she needs it and tune the rig properly for maximum enjoyment. js

anyone have a tuning guide for the standing rigging, Loos specs, baselines, starting points?

My advice for new a new owner would be:
1.      When you have time, browse through this forum and print any information you find useful. Keep this in a safe place. You never know when this web site might disappear. (In fact, there used to be another excellent Laser 28 web site that is no longer available.)
2.     The best advice I have found for tuning the rig can be found here: http://www.laser28.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11&PID=37#37 Once you do this a few times it’s really not hard.   
3.     When you race you need a lot of weight on the boat. In light air, I’ve never felt excess weight slowed me down. But in medium weight I’ve often felt suffered by not having enough weight on the boat. In 10-kts and above you need 6.
4.     Assuming the boat is stock, the single most important modification you can make is to change the existing traveler / mainsheet set up to Harken’s windward sheeting car. If you search the forums you’ll find plenty of advice on how to do this.
5.     If you wish, you can PM me your e-mail address and I can send you a PDF manual, PDF engine manual, and some other goodies I got off the now defunct L28 web site before it closed down.
6.     I stress the importance of number one above.
Good luck.

Check your Whale bilge pump hook-ups. #109 and #169 were hooked up so pumping would fill the boat rather than empty it. Chek by putting pump hose into a bucket of water and pumping the cockpit pump handle.

I wonder if the first 60-70 boats had the pump plumbing messed up because when you crawl back there, it is pretty easy to see a logical (illogical) hose runs into and out of the pump that minimize hose lengths but are backwards.

we are in the water! Sailing daily, what a great boat!