Optimist, Open Skiff, Youth & Olympic Sailing Blog

At today’s General Assembly of World Sailing, a detailed presentation was made about an Events Committee proposal for future Olympics, that would meet the “IOC conditions” for sailing competitions.  The proposal was not voted upon, yet it was mentioned it had been unanimously approved by the Events Committee members and the represented athletes. The proposal is rather complex, to be tested, and to be voted upon, as such or amended, at a future special council meeting.  “Between now and the end of April 2026, as many Olympic class and multi class regattas as possible conduct structured trials of the recommended formats” notes, the PowerPoint presentation. “Testing should cover the complet set of recommendations … so that the full package can be validated in practice.”   https://dinghysailing.substack.com/p/world-sailing-to-test-very-short-races-for-olympics  

  With Performance Sailcraft Australia now re-instated as an ILCA-approved builder, it appears that only an intervention by World Sailing will permit a rapid resolution of the ILCA/PSA imbroglio   https://dinghysailing.substack.com/p/world-sailing-and-the-ilca-psa-imbroglio     

    A New Zealand Court has prohibited the International Laser Class Association from taking any steps to implement the termination of the Australian ILCA builder   See article at https://dinghysailing.substack.com/p/court-orders-psa-to-be-reinstated   

  A key decision to be made at the upcoming World Sailing meeting is to select at least four Olympic sailing events to place under review for the 2032 Olympic Games.    A key decision point under Regulation 11, at the forthcoming World Sailing Annual Conference and General Assembly in November, is to select at least four Olympic sailing events to place under review for the 2032 Olympic Games (Brisbane). Because Olympic sailing has so many implications for sailing development generally, and youth sailing development in particular, this is worth having a discussion about how the 2032 Olympic sailing competition should look like.   Article at https://dinghysailing.substack.com/p/future-olympic-sailing-how-could-it-look-like      

Discussions have taken place for years to attempt making sailing a more attractive Olympic discipline, without convincing results. Here is a realistic proposal for a different and exciting format.   Check article: https://dinghysailing.substack.com/p/sailing-racing-format-for-the-olympics

 With legal action having been started in the ILCA/PSA dispute, a central issue will be the tolerance of significant differences in measurements between hulls. The dispute between Performance Sailcraft and the International Laser Class Association pertains to a variety of the boat measurements, including the length, the beam and the daggerboard width. The IlCA (ex-Laser) is supposed to be an “off the shelf, equal performance, one-design sailboat” — a term created by the International Laser Class Association, that draws from a term used by Takao Atani in the 1970s, that the Laser should be an “affordable, off the shelf, equal performance, one-design sailboat,”  Note that the word affordable has interestingly been dropped. A Laser, at the beginning, did cost US$1000; today it’s about US$10,000.  The official measurements of the Laser were, from the very beginning, 423 cm of length and 137 cm of beam, according to Kirby’s drawings. These remain the official measurements of t...

 Many of us have a more or less old Laser in our garage, with some blades, mast sections, boom, sails etc. Can this be transitioned towards a "Turbo Laser" at reasonable cost? Many of us have a more or less old Laser in our garage, with some blades, mast sections, boom, sails etc. And because of all the small incremental changes/enhancements brought to the boat, and the associated obsolescence, the equipment is no longer competitive, except maybe at the club / local level.   For sure, you can use that equipment, and still have fun. But what about putting a powerful turbo to this equipment, at reasonable cost? Currently, a class legal boat retails at approximately 8500 - 10,000 US$, depending on the chosen options. Recent second-hand boats, ex-charter and others, can sell for 6000 - 8000 US$, approximately.   But what about getting a boat that is much faster, thanks to a brand new high performance hull, at a more affordable price?   This may become a reality very soon...