About Us
This is the web site of the Australian ILCA Association. We are the peak organisation co-ordinating the activities and supporting sailing of ILCA dinghies in Australia. Our members are the state based districts which directly provide events, training and information for over 2,000 ILCA dinghy sailors in Australia.
We are co-organisers of the annual Australian Open and Youth Championships which are run on rotation by state districts. The Australian Masters Championships are run in rotation between the east coast mainland states. The rotation sequence is:
| Open & Youth | Masters | |
| Year | 1-8 January | |
| 2021 | No Event | No Event |
| 2022 | WALA (Fremantle SC – cancelled) | VLA (Westernport YC) 25-28 February |
| 2023 | NSW & ACT (Georges River SC) | NSW & ACT (BSC Port Stephens) 10-13 March |
| 2024 | SALA (Adelaide Sailing Club) | QLA (RQYS Brisbane) 12-15 April |
| 2025 | QLA | VLA |
| 2026 | TDLA | NSW & ACT |
| 2027 | VLA | QLA |
You can see the ILCA national and international calendar of events, governance and contact information as well as class news on this site.
About the Laser/ILCA
The Laser was designed by Canadian Bruce Kirby. Over 200,000 Lasers have been built since it was first launched at the New York Boat Show in 1971. You can see all about the origins of the Laser here.
The Laser hull is 4.23 metres long, with a waterline length of 3.81 m. The hull weight is 56.7 Kg and the Standard Laser has a sail area of 7.06 square metres.
The Laser is a strict one design boat. All aspect of its design and construction are controlled by agreements between the licensed manufacturers, the International Laser Class Association ILCA and World Sailing.
The Laser Class is administered by the ILCA which is headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA. The ILCA also manages the running of the many international Laser events. There are around 14,000 members of ILCA and over 40,000 sailors of Laser/ILCA dinghies in 120 countries around the World.
Recently the Laser has been renamed ILCA as part of a strategy to introduce additional class builders and retain Olympic class status. The Laser Standard is now ILCA 7, Radial ILCA 6 and 4.7 ILCA 4. There are now eight class builders distributed around the world using ILCA supplied moulds.
Lasers are included in national and state youth championships and are very actively sailed by men and women in all age brackets at club, district, national and international levels. The Laser has been used in the Olympics for men in the Standard Rig from 1996 (Atlanta) and for women in the Radial Rig from 2008 (Beijing).
All the information about the Laser is in the Laser Handbook which you can view online or download here.
The Laser Formula
By changing only the sail and the lower mast the laser can be sailed comfortably in all wind conditions and provide exciting but controlled sailing for any sailor weighting as little as 45kg. The Laser Formula ia a 3 rig option that has been adopted by a number of sailing schools as a simple and economical way to keep sailing in all winds and reduce the amount of “down time”.
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The Laser 4.7 (ILCA 4) uses short pre-bent lower mast to maintain a balanced helm and a sail area that is 35% smaller than the Laser Standard (ILCA 7) . It is ideal for learning to sail or for the lighter weight sailor graduating from a Optimist.
The Laser Radial is the next step up. It uses a more flexible and slightly shorter lower mast together with a sail area 18% smaller than a Laser Standard.
The Laser Radial has a large following with national and international regattas and World Open & Youth Championships attracting as many countries and competitors as the Laser Standard Rig. As well as a strong following amongst lighter weight sailors the Laser Radial is also used for youth, women & masters racing.
Many countries now support a full Laser Radial Youth program and in a survey of national yachting authorities conducted by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF now named World Sailing) the majority replied that the Laser Radial was their preferred youth boat.
The Laser Standard can be sailed by persons of any weight in light winds, but as the wind increases it is better suited to higher weighted sailors.