The Laser 4.7 or ILCA 4 is a

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 ...

dinghy class in the

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

series and is a one-design class of sailboat. All Lasers are built to the same specifications. The Laser is 4.06 m (13 ft 10 in) 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 3.81 m (12 ft 6 in). The hull weight is 59 kg (130 lb). The boat is manufactured by ILCA and World Sailing approved builders. Lasers are

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 ...

, meaning they have only one sail. The 4.7 uses the same hull and top mast section as the

, but has a different, shorter bottom mast section as well as a smaller sail. The bottom mast section is pre-bent which effectively reduces the power of the rig, and the sail is only 4.7 square meters, as opposed to 7 for the

Laser Standard The Laser Standard or ILCA 7 is a popular one-design class of single-handed sailing dinghy, originally built by Performance Sailcraft Canada. The laser is cat rigged, with a single mainsail and is a simple, light and fast boat to sail. The Laser ...

or 5.7 for 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 ...

. (ILCA 6) The smaller sail means that the 4.7 can be easily sailed by sailors weighing only 50–65 kg (110–145 lb), though this boat can still be sailed competitively at all levels under and over the ideal weights.

Description

The Laser 4.7 has been increasing in popularity around the world since the late 1990s. In some areas it is less popular than the

Byte The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...

dinghy, a very similar class also designed as a youth single-handed racing trainer, but the interchangeability of the rigs of the Laser series has always made them popular. It is popular among youth sailors graduating from the

Optimist Optimism is the attitude or mindset of expecting events to lead to particularly positive, favorable, desirable, and hopeful outcomes. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled with water to the halfway poin ...

sailing dinghy and also the

Topper (dinghy) The Topper is an 11 foot (approx. 3.3m) sailing dinghy designed by Ian Proctor. The Topper was a one-design boat until 2023 when a new version was produced, and is sailed mostly around the British Isles. It was recognised as a World Sailing Cl ...

, and many 4.7 sailors graduate to the Laser Radial (ILCA 6) as they progress their sailing abilitie and size. The Laser 4.7 is also sailed widely at a club level as the smaller rig suits the more inexperienced sailors.

Events

World Championships

Boys

Girls

References

External links

Manufacturers websiteGuide to the various sizes of Laser sailboats
{{Sailing Dinghies and Skiffs