Laser to ILCA Dinghy
on Thursday February 11, 2021 05:20PM
The boat we have all sailed and loved has changed little in the past nearly 50 years. The racing has remained the same yet the sails have gotten more durable, the lines and rigging easier to adjust, and now the name we’ve all been used to is changing as well. The boat is going to start being referred to as the ILCA Dinghy as part of the ILCA Class. Any boat that was sold as a Laser before 2020 can race as an ILCA Dinghy and new ILCA Dinghies are now becoming available from multiple builders. There will still be standard, radial, and 4.7 rigs.
What does that mean for us? Very little in terms of the racing on the water. It does mean that our events will be listed for the ILCA Dinghy class. To make the transition easier for those less familiar with the change our events are going to be listed with both names this year. On the event list look for ‘ILCA Dinghy/Laser Regatta’. In time we’ll transition to just the single name.
Why this is happening is a long history of conflicts over the trademark and the build process and would probably take more than one beer to walk through. Laser has been a great name for the boat and we’ll be sad to transition to something else. This step forward is necessary to stay in compliance with World Sailing, honor EU anti-trust laws and enables a multitude of builders to ensure equipment availability around the world.