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The Laser is a class of single-handed,
one-design One-design racing is a racing method which may be adopted in sports using complex equipment, whereby all vehicles have identical or very similar designs or models, avoiding the need for a Handicapping, handicap system. Motorsport One-make racing ...
sailing dinghies using a common hull design with three interchangeable rigs of different sail areas, appropriate to a given combination of wind strength and crew weight. Ian Bruce and Bruce Kirby designed the Laser in 1970 with an emphasis on simplicity and performance. The Laser is a widely produced class of dinghies. As of 2018, there were more than 215,000 boats worldwide. It is an international class with sailors in 120 countries, and an Olympic class since 1996. Its wide acceptance is attributable to its robust construction, simple rig and ease of sailing that offer competitive racing due to tight class association controls which eliminate differences in hull, sails, and equipment. The International Laser Class Association (ILCA) defines the specifications and competition rules for the boat, which is officially referred to as the ILCA Dinghy, due to a trademark dispute.


Production

The ILCA is manufactured by a number of different companies. As of April 2023 these were Devoti Sailing s.r.o., Czech Republic, Element 6 Evolution Co., Ltd., Thailand, Far East Boats, P. R. China, Nautivela srl, Italy, Ovington Boats Ltd, Great Britain, Performance Sailcraft Australia, Performance Sailcraft Japan, Rio Tecna srl, Argentina, and Qingdao Zou Inter Marine Co., Ltd., China. Laser dinghies are also manufactured by Laser Performance Europe in Portugal, but these boats are not licensed by World Sailing or the ILCA and are not eligible for ILCA events or the Olympic Games.


Design

The boat's design began in 1969 with a phone call between Canadians Bruce Kirby and Ian Bruce. While discussing the possibility of a car-topped dinghy (a boat small enough to be carried on a roof rack of a typical car) for a line of camping equipment, Bruce Kirby sketched what would be known as "the million dollar doodle". The plans stayed with Kirby until 1970 when One Design and Offshore Yachtsman magazine held a regatta for boats under $1000, called "America's Teacup". Hans Fogh made the sail and helmed the prototype in the regatta. After a few sail modifications, the Laser easily won its class. The prototype was originally named the "Weekender"; the sail held the letters TGIF, a common American abbreviation for "Thank God it's Friday". In December 1970 Dave Balfour, a McGill engineering student, suggested the name Laser and contributed the Laser sail insignia. The Laser sailboat was officially unveiled at the New York Boat Show in 1971 where many purchase orders were placed. Bruce and Kirby agreed to put the boat into production with Bruce manufacturing the craft and Kirby receiving royalties on each unit. As world-wide demand grew, they realized that regional licensing the manufacturing would deliver boats more economically than exporting them from Canada. The Laser hull accommodates interchangeable rigs with different sail areas. This allows for a wide range of sailors to sail and compete in a range of wind conditions despite the Laser's small ideal crew weight range for a given rig. Three rigs are recognised by the International Laser Association: original Laser Standard with a sail area of 7.06 m²; the
Laser Radial The Laser Radial or ILCA 6 is a popular one-design class of small sailing dinghy, originally built by Laser Performance and World sailing approved manufactures. It is a singlehanded boat, meaning that it is sailed by one person. The Laser Rad ...
with a sail area of 5.76 m²; and the Laser 4.7 with a sail area of 4.7 m². The Laser's hull is constructed from
fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...
. The deck has a foam layer underneath for strength and buoyancy. The
daggerboard A daggerboard is a retractable centreboard used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, co ...
is removable for storage and transport. The dinghy is manufactured by independent companies under licence in different parts of the world, including Performance Sailcraft Australia (Oceania) and Performance Sailcraft Japan. As a one-design class of sailboat, all Lasers are built to the same specifications specified in the Laser Construction Manual. The association carries out inspections on manufacturers to ensure that boats are being made to the correct design. These factory specifications are the measurement of boats in a traditional sense. Sailors are prohibited from making any changes to the hull, sail, and spars unless specifically and positively permitted by the rules and are only allowed to use original parts. At regattas, boats are not measured, but rather inspected to ensure conformity with the rules. The Laser hull is long, with a
waterline length A vessel's length at the waterline (abbreviated to L.W.L) is the length of a ship or boat at the level where it sits in the water (the ''waterline''). The LWL will be shorter than the length of the boat overall (''length overall'' or LOA) as mos ...
of . The hull weight is , which makes the boat light enough to lift onto a car-top rack. The various sizes of Laser are all
cat-rigged A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat) is a sailboat with a single sail on a single mast (sailing), mast set well forward in the Bow (ship), bow of a very Glossary of nautical terms (A-L)#beam, beamy and (usually) shallow Draft (hull), draft hul ...
. The Laser Standard sail has a sail area of . The Laser is designed to be sailed single-handed although class rules permit two sailors.


Variants

Lasers can be rigged with a variety of rigs. Three of these rigs, the Standard, Radial and 4.7 are recognised by the International Laser Association, while other rigs have also been developed by third parties and are also available.


Laser Standard

The Laser Standard, or ILCA 7, is the original Laser rig. It has been sailed as the Olympic men's singlehanded dinghy since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.The Standard Laser uses a Portsmouth Yardstick of 1101for racing involving other classes.
US Sailing The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing) is the national governing body for sailing in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Bristol, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offe ...
sets its North American yardstick at DPN = 91.1.


Laser Radial

In Europe the smaller Laser Radial, or ILCA 6, has surpassed the original Laser Standard sail in popularity and replaced the Europe Dinghy as the Women's Singlehanded Dinghy for the 2008 Olympics. The Radial uses the same hull and fittings as the Laser Standard, but has a smaller sail (5.8 m2) than the Standard with a different cut, and has a shorter lower mast section. Optimal weight for this rig is . The Laser Radial rig has a UK Portsmouth Yardstick number of 1150. Its DPN is 96.7.


Laser 4.7

A smaller sail plan for the Laser, the Laser 4.7 or ILCA 4, was developed about a decade after the Laser Radial. The sail area was reduced by 35% from the Standard (from ) with a shorter, pre-bent bottom mast section, allowing even lighter sailors to sail it. The same formula as the Radial is kept. The hull is the same as the Standard and Radial. The optimal weight for this rig is , thus becoming an ideal boat for young sailors moving from the Optimist/ RS Tera who are still too light for a normal Laser. The Laser 4.7 rig has a UK Portsmouth Yardstick number of 1210. Its DPN is 95.4.


Operational history

The Laser is raced worldwide from club levels to international and Olympic competitions. Laser world championships are held in all three rigs and across junior, open, and masters age groups. In total in 2019, the Laser class association awarded 11 world championships. Places for world championships are limited due to high demand and are allotted to countries on the basis of the number of paid association members in each country. In the Olympics, men race in Laser Standards and women race in Laser Radials.


Class association

The International Laser Class Association (ILCA) governs boat specifications and competition. The class association operates on four levels: the world level; a regional level based around continents; a district level based around states in the USA and Australia, and nations elsewhere; and at a local fleet level. The association plays a major role in ensuring conformity to Laser class rules worldwide.


Litigation

Bruce Kirby withdrew the license he had issued to LaserPerformance and later filed a lawsuit against LaserPerformance and Farzad Rastegar on March 4, 2013, claiming non-payment of design royalties. Kirby also claims that the LaserPerformance boats have had issues with quality and parts availability. Kirby required the
International Sailing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
on March 25, 2013, to ask the International Laser Class Association to stop issuing ISAF license plaques to LaserPerformance (Europe) Limited, claiming that LaserPerformance were no longer a licensed builder. Instead ISAF and the ILCA issued a new plaque design, and changed the class rules so that a builder no longer needed to be licensed by Bruce Kirby. In 2019 the ILCA moved against Laser Performance Europe (the UK licensed builder which is part of a group that also owned the trademark on the Laser name in much of the world) and withdrew its right to build officially measured boats. The ILCA has chosen the new name of "ILCA Dinghy" for the boat. In 2020, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut found boat builder Quarter Moon (QMI) and LaserPerformance (Europe) Limited (LPE) liable for a sum of $6,857,736, payable to Kirby.


See also

* Laser 2, a double-handed dinghy. *
LaserPerformance LaserPerformance is an United Kingdom, Anglo-United States, American Sailing dinghy, dinghy manufacturer. LaserPerformance manufactures many sailboats including: Laser (dinghy), Laser, Sunfish (sailboat), Sunfish, Bug, Laser Vago, Laser Bahia, F ...
, the manufacturer of many dinghies such as Laser Pico, Laser Stratos and the Laser. * Laser Pico, a small double-handed dinghy designed by Jo Richards in the 1990s mainly for family use * Laser 4.7 *
Laser 28 The Laser 28 is a Canadian-built sailboat designed by New Zealander Bruce Farr and first produced in 1984. Production The boat was built by Performance Sailcraft, the builder of the Laser dinghy, in Canada from 1984 until 1990, but it is no ...
*
Laser Radial The Laser Radial or ILCA 6 is a popular one-design class of small sailing dinghy, originally built by Laser Performance and World sailing approved manufactures. It is a singlehanded boat, meaning that it is sailed by one person. The Laser Rad ...
*
Laser World Championships The ILCA 7 World Championship, until 2020 the Laser World Championship, has been held every year since 1974, organized by the World Sailing. Laser is an Olympic sailing class. Editions Medalists Multiple medallist See also * ISAF Sailing W ...


Similar boats

*
Impulse (dinghy) The Impulse is an Australian sailing dinghy that was designed by Arthur Caldwell (naval architect), Arthur Caldwell as a one-design Sailing (sport), racer and first built in 1975. Production The design was originally intended as a wooden boat ...
*
RS Aero The RS Aero is a British sailing dinghy that was designed by Jo Richards as a one-design racer and first built in 2014. Production The design is marketed and distributed by RS Sailing of Romsey, United Kingdom. Design The RS Aero is a singl ...
* Phantom (dinghy) * Force 5


References


External links


ILCA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laser (Dinghy) Dinghies Olympic sailing classes Classes of World Sailing 1960s sailboat type designs Sailboat type designs by Bruce Kirby Sailboat types built by Performance Sailcraft