ILCA and Laser

In 2020 the Laser was rebranded as the ILCA. The reason for this is to do with problems with the european class builder (Laser Performance) and the designer (Bruce Kirby). It seems Laser Performance wasn’t paying class fees to Bruce Kirby and they also seemed to have issues with the Laser Class Building Regulations. As a consequence the Laser class is now known as the ILCA, and various new builders have been approved. What does this mean for sailors? If you sail an older boat and it has the correct class plaque for Laser then you can sail it in ILCA events. If you buy a new boat or equipment it will need to be marked with the new official ILCA logo. As part of the rebranding exercise the sails have also changed: the Standard rig is now known as the ILCA 7, Radial is the ILCA 6 and 4.7 is now ILCA 4. Ovington is approved as a UK builder, and they have a lot of experience with building high performance dinghies in the UK.