The Laser (also known as: ILCA,Weekender, TGIF,Kirby Torch) is a class of single-handed, one-designsailing 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 and Hans Fogh designed sail with an emphasis on simplicity and performance.
The Laser is a widely produced class of dinghies. As of 2023, there were build more than 223000 boats worldwide.[1] 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 key pinnacles of the class with a 1970s boat being identical to a boat made today.
The International Laser Class Association (ILCA) defines the specifications and competition rules for the boat but requires authorisation by World Sailing, Performance Sailcraft Japan and PSA / Global Sailing who are known as legacy builders. The boats itself remains unchanged but is officially referred to as the ILCA Dinghy, due to a trademark dispute when the boat was called a Laser.
History
In 1967, Ian Bruce and his friend Bruce Kirby was working as industrial designers in Montreal. Ian realised that the cost of regatta sailing was beyond most people including himself. He decided to form a company called Performance Sailcraft and build inexpensive International 14 boat using Ian's boat as a mold. However after two years of work there was no success due to sophisticated and expensive design.
Before giving up, in 1969, Ian phoned his old friend and they met in yacht club in Ottawa. Ian asked him if he could make a new design. Later, during phone call, Kirby was doodling as always. 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 he went completely quiet. Ian asked him "Are you still there?" which he responded "Yes I'm here. I've got design." This sketch would be known as "the million dollar doodle".
The work on the prototype has begun. Designer incorporated Bruce Kirby Inc. as the company for his boat designs. They wanted to complete prototype before 1970 "America's Teacup", a regatta for boats under $1000 held by One-Design and Offshore Yachtsman magazine. The prototype was originally named the "Weekender", the sail held the letters TGIF, a common American abbreviation for "Thank God it's Friday". In the summer of 1970 Hans Fogh made the sail and helmed the prototype in the regatta. At the first day it placed at top 3. Hans wasn't satisfied about the performance, so he recuted the sail during the night. Next day Laser won all 2 races. That's when design caught attention. In December 1970 Dave Balfour, a McGill University engineering student, suggested the name Laser and contributed the Laser sunburst sail insignia. The Laser sailboat was officially unveiled at the New York Boat Show in 1971 where many purchase orders were placed.[2][3]
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.These new builders were granted a license to the confidential construction manual, which describes the technical specifications about how to build the boat, and also the rights to use the LASER trademark in certain territories.[4][5]
In 1972, the International Laser Class Association was established.
In 1974, The National Film Board of Canada produced a 28 minute documentary directed by Andy Thomson called "The Boat that Ian Built".
In early 1980's Performance Sailcraft International went bancrupt. Since than the construction manual came under joint control of ILCA, Bruce Kirby, and the licensed manufacturers that existed at that time. Each of the licensed manufacturers were allowed to acquire ownership of the LASER trademark in its territory.
In 1998, Performance Sailcraft Europe granted ILCA certain rights to use the Laser Trademark for its activities pursuant to an intellectual property license in the 1998 agreement.
In 2008, Kirby decided to sell his rights in Laser boat design and obligations under Builder Agreements to a Global Sailing Limited. However Bruce Kirby Inc. did not sell the "Bruce Kirby" trademark, but at that point GSL, Laser Performance Europe and Quarter Moon stopped paying royalties.
In 2010, Kirby requested that ILCA stop issue licence plaquets to LPE I QMI and the Builder Agreement was terminated, however manufacturers kept selling boats with his name as before.
This situation led to a lawsuit filed in March 2013 against LPE and QMI which ended compensation for trademark infringment and name misappropriating. ILCA and World Sailing eliminated requirement to have Bulider Agreement. Since than neither LPE nor QMI sold Lasers with plaques that bore the Kirby's name. Opposing to this action Global Sailing created separate class called Kirby Torch, which lasted to 2014.
In late 2010's European Commission along with several manufacturers pressured World Sailing and ILCA to implement antitrust review policy.
In 2018, Laser Performance was seeking a renewal of the 1998 Agreement and refusing to seek new manufacturers in their territory without consent. They accused Performance Sailcraft Australia of illegally importing their products into LP operational territory. At the end of the year LP refused to have ILCA undertake an inspection due to ILCA refusing to renew its license under the 1998 Agreement. This lead to revoking license as of 27 March 2019.[6] In result, LP created The Laser Class in opposition to ILCA, which lasted to 2024.
Due to trademark agreement expiration and antimonopoly policies (i.e. FRAND), since 2019 all new class legal boats, sails and equipment is sold under ILCA name. The design also appears to have changed as boats now are up to 40mm shorter than the 220,000 boats in existence. Important to note, the FRAND vote was a name change but it appears there’s a design change too.
In 2019, Laser Performance introduced ARC1 and ARC2 rigs designed by Scott Ferguson and sails by Robbie Doyle, the ARC Rigs.
In 2025, Performance Sailcraft Australia license was revoke after refusing to use new ILCA issued molds. As they do not match the original design which would mean 220,000 boats would become obsolete as opposed to the 8,000 ILCAs made incorrectly.
(1970-1985) Performance Sailcraft International (Canada, USA, South Africa)
(1989-1991) Laser International (Canada) - reestablished PSI
(1989-1991) Pearson Small Boats (USA) - bancrupcy and separation of Sunfish Laser
(1991-1997) Sunfish Laser - aquired by Vanguard Sailboats
(1997-2007) Vanguard Sailboats/Quarter Moon (USA) - acquired by Laser Performance[7]
(1972-2019) Performence Sailcraft Europe / Laser Performance (UK) - licence revoked as of 27 March 2019[6]
(1972-2025) Performance Sailcraft Australia - licence revoked as of 27 August 2025 over one design dispute[8]
Laser in original colours, as delivered in the 1970sSailor hiking out on a Laser Radial
After 2013 lawsuit Laser dinghies were manufactured under the company and name Kirby Torch.
After 2019 laser dinghies were still manufactured by Laser Performance, 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 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 with a sail area of 5.76 m²; and the Laser 4.7 with a sail area of 4.7 m².[9][10]
The Laser's hull is constructed from fibreglass. The deck has a foam layer underneath for strength and buoyancy. The daggerboard 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.[10]
The Laser hull is 4.23m (13.88ft) long, with a waterline length of 3.96m (12.99ft). The hull weight is 59kg (130lb), which makes the boat light enough to lift onto a car-top rack.[11]
The various sizes of Laser are all cat-rigged. The Laser Standard sail has a sail area of 7.06m2 (76.0sqft).[11]
The Laser is designed to be sailed single-handed although class rules permit two sailors.[10]
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.
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 1101[clarification needed]for racing involving other classes.[12]US Sailing sets its North American yardstick at DPN = 91.1.[13]
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 121 to 159 pounds (55 to 72kg). The Laser Radial rig has a UK Portsmouth Yardstick number of 1150.[12] Its DPN is 96.7.[13]
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 7 to 4.7 square metres (75 to 51sqft)) 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 110–145 pounds (50–66kg), 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.[12] Its DPN is 95.4.[13]
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.[10]
In the Olympics, men race in Laser Standards and women race in Laser Radials.[14]
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.[10]
Litigation
Bruce Kirby withdrew the license he had issued to LaserPerformance and later filed a lawsuit against LaserPerformance and Farzad Rastegar[15] on March 4, 2013, claiming non-payment of design royalties.[16] Kirby also claims that the LaserPerformance boats have had issues with quality and parts availability.[17] Kirby required the International Sailing Federation 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.[18] Instead ISAF and the ILCA issued a new plaque design,[19] and changed the class rules so that a builder no longer needed to be licensed by Bruce Kirby.[20]
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.[21]
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.[22][23]
1 2 3 4 Royal Yachting Association (February 2024). "Portsmouth Number List 2024". Royal Yachting Association. Archived(PDF) from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
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