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The ILCA sailing dinghy was previously called the Laser.
And ILCA.nz was previously called The New Zealand Laser Association.
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Apprentice Masters age range now 30 to 44

Tue 16 Nov 2021 5:59pm

The ILCA Apprentice Masters age range is now from 30 to 44 years old. It previously started at 35.

This chnage will start from the 2022 NZ Laser Champs in Picton and the 2022 world champs.

More details
laserinternational.org/blog/2021/11/14/world-masters-apprentice-age-division-expanded-starting-2022/
 

2021 South Island Laser Champs Results & Report

Sun 31 Oct 2021 6:44pm

The 2021 South Island Laser Champs were held in the picturesque Marlborough Sounds out of Picton by the Queen Charlotte Yacht Club on the Saturday and Sunday over Labour Weekend.

The turnout again was good with 31 lasers competing, 10 full rigs and 21 Radials, with each fleet having their own start. It was good to see sailors coming from all over the South Island one making the drive up from Bluff. There was a good mix of ages, with the Youth well represented in the Radials and the Master dominating the Full Rig. 3 races each day were planned and completed in light to medium, north to northwest winds with just enough shifts to keep you on your toes.

Racing Saturday started in light winds after a 30-minute sail out from the club house down the sound and around marker buoys to take you safely across the ferry lanes to the racing area. The second and third races were sailed in slightly stronger winds as the wind increased during the afternoon. The day ended with Nelson YC and QCYC leading the placings.

The forecast for Sunday was no wind but after an hour’s delay and a tow to the race area the wind filled in with a steady 10 to 12 knots for 3 more back-to-back races. The slightly stronger winds created a few changes in the Radials standing with plenty of close racing. It was then back to Queen Charlotte Yacht Club’s New Club rooms for the prize giving and after race dinner.

In the Full Rig Fleet it was a repeat of 2020 with a win by Tim Pitcaithly (Nelson YC), followed by Mike Terry and Daryl Parkes.

In the Radials the girls led the way with Emily Overend having a good second day to lead Louie Poletti and Harry Edwards giving QCYC a clean sweep of the top 3 places. Jenny Armstrong was top master in 4th overall.

A pleasant weekend was had by all in picturesque part of the world with the New Club House situated a short walk from the centre of town and accommodation etc. I hope this great weekend bodes well for the Nationals that will be at the same venue in January.

Rob English

Waikato & BoP regions AGM Report

Mon 25 Oct 2021 8:25am
Reflections from Waikato & BoP regions.
 
Regional Congratulations:
Sam Meech finally put his name (TYPBC) on the National trophy in Jan 2021.
We’re also proud of him representing NZ at Olympics; which was a notoriously difficult event to prepare for.
 
Peter Thomas (TYPBC) took out 3rd Masters Radial against some pretty challenging winds & competitors.   Tauranga Harbour doesn’t quite have the waves of Worser Bay; but we do know he snuck out the Harbour entrance once to do some training.  Hopefully Queen Charlotte Sound is more like inner harbour waters?
 
George Lane (HYC) took out 3rd in the Open Radials.  After years away, we knew he was secretly making a comeback, trying to train on Hamilton Lake.  Not really waves training for Worser Bay; so a pretty impressive result.
 
Teagan Denny (TYPBC) held 3rd Youth Woman position. Teagan has benefitted from the AON training; and we appreciate her modelling pathways for our younger female sailors.
 
Congratulations also to the core faithful ILCA sailors that travel to regattas outside of our region, reminding others that we have a strong ILCA core here. They bring back such experiences to our club organisations, etc.
 
Around our Region Clubs
Networking between Clubs is something we’ve tried to develop. 
Queens Bday at Ohope  we tried to commit to getting to one another’s key regattas in some way. Unfortunately Covid has already knocked out Rotorua Sprints, and likely to impact other regattas.  Thanks to Pete Thomas for keeping up the email comms amidst our key regional ILCA folks.
We’d like to draw on some outside coaching, but Covid uncertainty has made that difficult to plan anything.
 
TYPBC:
Tauranga is enjoying a resurgence of ILCAs (referred to as Ironing Boards by the Zephyr old boys).
Over summer & winter the fleet grew to regularly 7-8 radials each Sunday; and 12 on the race list.
2 more youth have purchased ILCAs this spring, and we’re coaxing in the odd adult that happens to launch an old laser for a social sail.
We encourage the adults to sail radials to keep us together with youth as a single fleet.  Yes, even Kent Copplestone can be seen in a radial.
Over winter racing, informally there became jovial competition of masters v youth for top 3 placings each race.  We masters drew on our wisdom & experience to stay ahead of those young fit up & comings.
 
HYC
Hamilton continues to hold a strong core of masters sailors (that also hold the club flag officer roles, etc). They still travel to key regattas, including the odd event in Auckland.  QCYC bookings have already been done for this group.  At the club we’re nurturing a new group of youth that have done LTS and are moving into starlings & old lasers. We’re hoping to expand them out to some regional regatta events.  Who knows in Covid times though?
 
LTYC
Taupo has seen a regrowth in radial sailors, having purchased some second-hand ILCAs. Thanks to Mike Pasco (NZsailing) for buying in trade-ins & getting them back out to our clubs market.  LTYC have been building a good relationship with junior sailing families in Napier; but I wasn’t able to tap into any Napier ILCA sailors through them.
 
POYC
Ohope hosted their regular QB regatta enjoying faithful support from around our region.
 
RSC
Rotorua has a couple of ILCA sailors, that we’re trying to keep links with.
 
Raglan Sailing Club
Although Raglan is not formally YNZ affiliated, we continue to dialogue with key people there. Charlie Watts is a local, also a membership at HYC, that attended Nats in New Plymouth. We hope to get him back to Nats at QCYC.  A few of their youth are now moving into ILCAs, and we hope to encourage our regional youth interacting with one another.
 
Cambridge Yacht Club
Cambridge continues to be led by Chris Raynes, an ILCA sailor.  He got 3 ILCAs over to TYPBC’s regatta in March.
 
Lake Ngaroto Yacht Club
A few hardy locals still pull out their old lasers sometimes.  Some HYCers try to attend some of their events, but the converse aren’t travelling much now.  WTYA Youth program is a strong focus there.
 
Waikato Thames Yachting Association regatta is scheduled for Ngaroto end of Nov (Same weekend as NIs in Napier unfortunately, but Covid may eliminate the clash?)  It’s an opportunity to keep the networking alive in the Waikato region so we’re working collaboratively.  Covid may eliminate the clash anyway.
 
Looking Ahead to the Upcoming Season
Waikato is now in L3, and not allowed out sailing. Its taking a toll on not getting our LTS programs up and running.
At least in Auckland L3 step 1, some training is happening. We may need some way to advocate for a Step 1 in Waikato?
So far BoP has dodged the Covid bullet and are underway with summer racing. 
 
Women in ILCAs in our Region
As above, Teagan Denney (TYPBC) has benefitted from AON Training and we hope this will have a flow on effect for younger females up & coming.
LTYC has a couple of females amidst their ILCA fleet. 
HYC has a core of ILCA sailors. We note there is a near 50% female participation across various club roles & levels of our sailing.
HYC was hoping to host a Women on Water series this term using our Quests.  It could have potential to offer individual coaching done in club lasers for any women interested.   Covid has other ideas!
 
Thanks again for the collegial support of Pete Thomas, as we share enthusiasm in the region.
Thanks to Nick P, Jenny A, and others that share enthusiasm for nurturing ILCA sailing at grassroots Club levels.  We look forward to what Jenny may bring to her new role working with women in sailing, esp ILCAs.
 
Helen Spencer
 

Dunedin's Laser 50th Birthday Regatta

Sun 12 Sep 2021 7:28pm

Dunedin celebrated the 50th Laser birthday on Saturday 11th September.

 
With Covid and a mixed forecast we were more than pleased when we got 18 boats on the water, exceeding our wildest expectations. Numbers were boosted by a few out of towner from central Otago.
 
We ran 5 short races in the upper harbour in the centre of town out of Vauxhall Yacht club. We captured the spirt of the laser with all sail sizes present, a mixture of abilities, ages from teens to Grand masters and both genders present. Sailing was in a mixtures of wind strength catching even the best out. This was followed by some food a short talk by Eric Stibbe and a birthday Cake.
 
To those in Auckland, Stay Safe, to everyone else Happy sailing.
 
Rob English

Wellington's Laser 50th Birthday

Sun 12 Sep 2021 7:28pm

Seven Lasers enjoyed a typical benign Wellington weather pattern on our 50th Anniversary Celebration Sail. 

 
Departing Worser Bay soon after 12 noon, we had a mock start off the WBBC clubhouse then headed north into Scorching Bay in a light northerly breeze. The fleet then continued north around to a marker buoy in Kau Bay then a down wind slide back home.
 
Bruce J escorted us in his keeler and took some great photos which captured the occasion.
More photos taken on the downwind  from onboard my Laser.
 
A nice laidback way to celebrate the 50th anniversary and a good start to our season (official opening next weekend - Sat 18th September).
 
Michael Gray

Auckland's Laser 50th Birthday Regatta

Thu 5 Aug 2021 12:28am

Auckland Laser sailors celebrated the Laser's 50th birthday

with a quiet walk, by oursleves :(

Why the Laser has been renamed the ILCA

Wed 21 Jul 2021 9:50pm

Commercial problems with the Laser trademarks mean that the Laser classes are being renamed.
With the new logo shown above.
New Name Previous Name
ILCA 7 Laser Standard
ILCA 6 Laser Radial
ILCA 4 Laser 4.7
ILCA 7 Masters Laser Standard Masters
ILCA 6 Masters Laser Radial Masters

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Laser class. Over that time the class has become synonymous with single handed dinghy sailing worldwide, from mucking around off the beach to the absolute peak of competition, the Olympics, and pretty much everything in between. While the hull and the basic design of the boat has remained unchanged for 50 years the class has progressively introduced new rigs; the Radial and 4.7, and developed an extremely strong worldwide Masters division to widen its appeal. It now has a worldwide following of sailors from under 12 to over 80 years of age. About 220,000 Lasers have been built and it is a measure of the success of the design that most of these are still sailing.
 
In spite of all this success there have been many changes to the commercial background of the class over the years, with a litany of manufacturer changes, trademark ownership changes etc, but through all that turbulence the fundamental brilliance of the boat has seen its success continue and its status as the preeminent dinghy class in the world grow.
 
Unfortunately, one side effect of the latest commercial ruckus is that there has been what has proven to be an unresolvable dispute between the owner of the Laser trademarks in most of the world, excluding Oceania, and the international class and World Sailing. This now requires the class to change its sail logo and rig identifications as listed above. While this problem does not apply directly to New Zealand (or Australia) we have made the decision to move with the rest of the world and change to the new logo and naming conventions.

There is absolutely no need to change any existing class legal equipment but all class legal sails and equipment sold from now on and all future official class correspondence will use the new logo and conventions. You may have already seen the new ILCA logo appearing on sails and from now on will see that and the new rig naming convention on boats and at regattas around the country. Its only a name and logo change, there is no change to the boats. The new naming conventions use the new class name and approximate sail area of each rig.

 
Its still the boat we all know and love, it will just have a different symbol on the sail and a different names in the headlines. So don't worry, its still the largest adult dinghy class in the world, its still the mens and womens single handed Olympic boat and the World Youth single handed boat for both boys and girls. It will still have the most World Championships of any class with the largest number of sailors and you will still see lots of them at pretty much every regatta in New Zealand. 
 
It's just got some new names.

Nick Page

Some ILCA Worlds venues changed and 2022 dates set

Wed 21 Jul 2021 9:44pm

The 2021 ILCA 6 Men’s and Women’s World Championships is being relocated to Mussanah, OMAN, hosted by the Oman Maritime Sports Committee at the Barcelo Hotel.  The event dates have been changed to 29 November to 06 December 2021.  Additional information will be posted as it is available.

 

We apologize for the late announcement, but disruptions of the global supply chain, specifically shipping, have made it logistically impossible to have the charter boats delivered to the original host venue (Houston, USA) from Asia in time for the event.  Oman has offered to host this event, although at a later date.

 

Given this change, we have extended the application deadline to 30 August 2021, after which you will be asked to approve and rank your sailors.  All existing applications for this event remain valid, although we understand that some sailors may cancel due to the date and venue change.

 

Also, the dates and locations for several 2022 World Championships have been set  These are:

- 2022 ILCA 6 Masters World Championship – 09-17 June 2022 at the Vallarta Yacht Club in Nuevo Vallarta, MEXICO

- 2022 ILCA 4 Youth World Championships – 13-20 August 2022 at the Capable Planet Clube Nautico in Vilamoura, PORTUGAL

- 2022 ILCA U21 World Championships – 21-28 August 2022 at the Capable Planet Clube Nautico in Vilamoura, PORTUGAL

 

Please share this information with the sailors in your District.

 

Best regards,

The ILCA Team

 

International Laser Class Association
Website: http://www.laserinternational.org

 
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