The RBYC laser fleet (“The Laser Squadron”) has grown strongly again this season with over 30 sailors participating in club racing, state championships, national regattas and international events. Our fleet includes current and past world champions, along with regular club racers and sailors who are beginning their laser sailing journey.
Laser sailors from around the bay are attracted by RBYCs competitive fleet and comradery. New-to-Laser sailors are also joining from other classes and keel boats and being supported by the squadron’s experienced sailors.
The fleet sail on Thursday evenings during daylight savings, and are part of the off-the-beach (OTB) fleet at RBYC.
WHY IS THE LASER NOW CALLED THE ILCA?
ILCA stands for the International Laser Class Association. It’s the organisation that oversees and promotes the world’s most popular single-handed racing dinghy, known as the ILCA. Previously, this boat was known as the Laser, but ILCA became the official name for the class after the Laser Performance company, a previous builder, was no longer authorised to produce class-legal hulls and sails.
WHICH ILCA IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
There are 3 rig formats for the ILCA. Other than the mast & sail format, all ILCA are identical. It makes the class affordable and accessible for sailors of every ability.
ILCA 4: Ideal for the lighter-weight sailor graduating from Optimist. The sail area is 35% smaller than the ILCA 7.
ILCA 6: is the next step up in size. It has a sail area 18% smaller than the ILCA 7. The ILCA 6 has a large following with national and international regattas and World Championships for men, women, and youth. The ILCA 6 is the women’s single-handed dinghy at the Olympic Games.
ILCA 7: Considered the standard Laser, ILCA7 is the men’s single-handed dinghy at the Olympic Games.
BOOSTING FEMALE LASER SAILING AT RBYC
An information session is scheduled for May 21st to gauge interest from female sailors to boost female laser sailing participation and explore interest in forming a female Laser sailing group. We will share learnings from the NSW sailing fleets which have larger proportion of female sailors. Sailors of all ages and experience levels are encouraged to attend the information session or enquire as per below.
If you are interested in learning more about laser Sailing at RBYC contact RBYC Laser Class Captain: Damon Cook on [email protected]
RBYC LASER SAILOR SPOTTED SURFING OFF SOUTH HEAD SYDNEY
One of RBYC’s laser sailing fleet, Hamish Gilsenen surfing Sydney’s South Head last week. Hamish was training with a group of young high-performance sailors and reported “it got a bit hectic out there”.
