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ILCA.nz News

All the news that's fit to print for New Zealand ILCA racers.

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

 

Chairman's May 2020 Update

Tue 26 May 2020 7:24pm
Hi Everyone,
 
Well we've all learn a new language and made it to what we all now know as level 2, so we can try and ignore the disasters that is the rest of the world and go sailing. So here are a few updates and thoughts….
 
As I said in my last website post SUPPORT CLUB SAILING. We may not have the opportunity to travel much for a while but all the more strength to club sailing. For those in the north winter racing at Tamaki and Pupuke is getting underway over the next fortnight and I am sure that there are many other clubs where there will be some racing starting over the next few weeks so make the effort, get out there and join in. If anyone is interested in the class sponsored coaching at your club later in the year please contact us and we will try and set it up for you.
 
Next seasons programme is being finalised. As well as supporting club sailing look forward to a full programme of inter club regattas and YNZ training programmes. Anyone is welcome to let us know of any event you would like considered for the program but certainly it will feature the usual popular events including the NI's in Napier and SI's in November, Nationals at Worser Bay in January and Auckland Champs and Masters at Tamaki at the end of the season.
 
On the world scene ILCA has 6 new builders appointed and working through the pre production approval process and we expect to see them starting to sell boats and equipment very soon. This will be a fundamental change for the class and is bound to take a while to settle down but expect to see marketing from new builders starting to appear over the next few months. With the new builders now coming on stream ILCA is able to extend its focus and commence the second part of the World Sailing required FRAND changes, introduction of new supplier. This process will allow new sailmakers, spar suppliers and foil suppliers to produce ILCA equipment and should further improve the competitiveness of the class parts market in the future. All of this will be strictly controlled by ILCA's technical team to ensure that the strict one design principles on which the class is based are maintained.
 
Also on the world scene, some of you who were planning trips to World Championships will be well aware that all the remaining planned 2020 Laser World Championships have had to be cancelled due to the virus. ILCA has in place a full schedule of championships planned for 2021, so we can only hope that a vaccine is developed and international travel restarted for those of us who fancy a world trip before then.
 
If anyone wants more info on any Laser issues please feel free to get in touch but in the meantime stay safe, enjoy time on the water and I look forward to seeing all of you at regattas next season.
 
Nick Page
NZLA Chairman

Chairmans Report - 2019 NZ Laser Association AGM

Tue 22 Oct 2019 1:31am
Yes, 2019 has again been a good year for Laser in NZ with good turnouts nationally at regattas, particularly in the Youth fleet, and success on the international stage for our Olympic sailors. 
 
The core of the success of the class however remains attracting and retaining new sailors at all levels. It has been pleasing to see strong club fleets in many regions but it remains a challenge for the class to retain numbers as longstanding members of the masters fleet become less active and youth sailors move on to new challenges if they are not looking at Olympic campaigns.
 
After a very challenging couple of years for the class, the Laser and the Laser Radial have been confirmed by World Sailing as the single handed classes for men and women for the 2024 Olympics. I believe this is great news for the class and its future. Part of World Sailing’s requirements for Olympic selection was that the class adopt a policy to allow new manufacturers to enter the Laser market. The class has agreed to this and is just commencing the appointment process. In NZ we do not expect any rapid change to the market for boats and equipment but in the medium term we hope that the scope of the class will expand and that this will lead to more competitive pricing for boats and equipment in the future.
 
Congratulations to George Gautrey and Sam Meech, whos results on the world stage this year have continued to demonstrate the strength of our Men’s Laser squad and the talent of our sailors. Of particularly note are George’s podium finish in the worlds in Japan and Sam’s consistency and No1 World Ranking. Our women sailors have also competed internationally and have been successful in qualifying NZ for an Olympic spot in 2024 if they are able to meet the NZ Olympic committee selection criteria.
 
Congratulations also to Dave Ridley and Scott Leith for their recent victories in the World Masters in Holland. There were also many other solid performances from our top Youth, Open and Masters sailors at international regattas.
 
The Nationals at Manly was again a success, with good numbers in the Masters and Youths. It was extremely well run by Manly and the fleet again enjoyed a great variety of conditions. We trust that this years nationals in New Plymouth will be well supported and we look forward to some awesome sailing at this iconic venue.
 
Our grants and coaching initiatives have continued and NZLA will continue to encourage and sponsor coaching this season for any club or group of Laser sailors.  I think this is a great opportunity for clubs and would encourage any club to get in touch to see how we can assist.
 
Financially we again had a satisfactory year and the Association remains in good financial health. We again had a small loss but this was within the committees comfort zone, given the cash resources of the Association. We are however continuing to look at options for a fundraising initiative to bolster the Associations coffers and ensure its ongoing financial health.
 
Internationally ILCA continues to try and work with the manufacturers on the ongoing equipment issues. We understand that approval of the carbon alternative for the Radial bottom section imminent. Unfortunately the issues with the European Laser manufacturers have continued, but with the introduction of the WS FRAND policy this year we are hopeful that these too are nearing resolution. 
 
Thanks again to Karen who has continued to do a great job as our secretary and to all our committee for their input this year. 
 
If anyone would like to join the committee or propose or discuss any Laser issue you are always welcome to contact me or any member of the committee via the NZLA website e mail contacts
 
Thanks 
Nick Page 
Chairman NZLA
 

2 NZ Champions - Laser Masters Worlds 2019

Sun 15 Sep 2019 7:46am

Great effort by NZ sailors at the 2019 Laser Master Worlds at Port Zelande, Netherlands.

With Dave Ridley winning the Standard Apprentice Masters only securing the win on the last day after and epic battle with Eduardo Van Vianan (NED) and Jared West (ESP).

And Scott Leith won yet again in the Radial Masters, holding the lead from the 2nd day of the regatta to beat Anders Mattsson (SWE) and Ledet Jean-Christophe (FRA).

Rounding put the NZ tean were Andrew Dellabarca, Cris Brodie and Luuk Van Basten Battenburg now living and sailing for the Netherlands.

It was a tricky regatta with big wind shifts in some races, catching out even some of the big names.


George Cautrey's Bronze at the 2019 Laser World Champs

Tue 16 Jul 2019 7:48am


Photo: Junichi Hirai / Bulkhead Magazine

Read more at YNZ about George Cautrey's fabulous podium finish at the 2019 Laser World Champs. Including a knee dislocation!

https://www.yachtingnz.org.nz/news/gautrey-snares-bronze-laser-world-champs

The event was at Miho Bay, Sakaiminato, Japan and George in 3rd was followed by Sam Meech in 4th and a 10th for Thomas Saunders.
Aussies Tom Burton & Matt Wern were 1st an 2nd.

All results at
https://2019worlds.laserjapan.org/standard/results/
 

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