ILCA has strengthened its focus on, and resources in, its Technical Team. This now five person team’s responsibility is to ensure the class’ “Off the Shelf, Equal Performance, One Design Sailboat” concept is met in practice.
All ILCA dinghies should look and feel the same, regardless of which of the now ten builders worldwide make them. The same holds true for ILCA-approved spars, foils, and sails. By working with the manufacturers, the Technical Team aims to tighten the tolerances and continuously improve quality and consistency.
The ILCA Build Manual (IBM) is the basis for this one-design philosophy. It specifies the materials, procedures, and specifications that define an ILCA dinghy and the associated parts – foils, spars, and sails. This document has evolved as new manufacturing materials and techniques have become available, making the boat more robust, but the overall performance of the ILCA dinghy has remained constant over its many decades.
There is an ILCA post on the working of the Technical Team Here.
The photo here is of the new jig now used when deck and hull are mated. It provides greater consistency of alignment of these two elements.