Europeans Outline Way Forward for the Laser Class
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| Lasers 4.7 at the 2019 Europeans in Hyères, France Source & more pictures: https://eurilca.smugmug.com |
The circular, addressed to the Laser class district officers in Europe, explains first the relative silence of the Europeans in the past weeks, despite all the actions taken by the international Laser class ILCA, including the termination of the world’s largest Laser builder LaserPerformance and the name change operated by ILCA.
« EurILCA didn’t make a lot of communications during the last weeks regarding the termination of Laser Performance as a party to the LCMA (Laser Construction Manual Agreement) and the action done by the ILCA executives. The reason for our silence was to preserve the class and to not have a negative impact on the voting for the Olympics. »
The document acknowledges that the vote by the World Council of World Sailing was just a first step towards seeing the Laser at the 2024 Olympics.
« The positive voting of the World Sailing World Council was only the first step. A FRAND (Fair Reasonable And Non Discriminatory) agreement must be adopted by the 1st of August in order that the Laser Standard and Radial stay Olympic (condition imposed by World Sailing Council). »
The document indicates that it was upon the request of EurILCA that a conciliatory meeting took place at World Sailing on May 22nd.
Read our article about this meeting: « Laser Kumbaya: One Week After »
« After the meeting and after having met with LP and World Sailing in preparation of the meeting we are optimistic that a FRAND agreement can be reached between World Sailing and the three existing boat builders. »
The document calls for a European, Beat Heinz, from Switzerland, to be the official representative of ILCA at future negotiations with World Sailing and the builders.
« After the long-term history of the dispute between ILCA and LP as well as our recent failed attempts to mediate between ILCA and Laser Performance, we believe that the current ILCA leadership will not be able to facilitate the re-instatement of LP as a party to the LCMA and sign the license agreement with LP. »
« We also believe that it would be beneficial for the process of reaching a FRAND agreement between World Sailing and the three existing boat builders if a class representative familiar with all the parties and their interests but not involved in the long-term dispute between ILCA and LP was present. »
Regarding the name change, the document notes that the Europeans did not endorse the name change orchestrated by the ILCA leadership and that the vote at the level of ILCA’s World Council only related to removing the obligation for builders to own the trademark.
The document stresses that miscommunications in the past months have had a negative impact on the Laser class.
« A lot of miscommunication has been done the past months from ILCA and has cruelly affected the Laser class. So only a new person or team can achieve our next goal to have all the documents signed by the 1st of August if we want the Laser stays at the Olympics. »
« Consequently, we are requesting the class representative, Beat Heinz, to be nominated to participate in the discussions between the three builders and World Sailing on ILCA’s behalf. »
The EurILCA circular also indicates that the organization has pushed for a solution to avoid shortages of boats. While the precise nature of the deal is not revealed, the circular notes:
« EurILCA had pushed for supplying plaques at least for boats built prior to the termination of Laser Performance as a party to the LCMA. Upon intervention of World Sailing, a solution has been found to supply Laser Performance with enough plaques to make sure boats are available for the next couple of months. »
EurILCA's Demands
The circular calls for « a more democratic, transparent ILCA that will concentrate on serving the sailors. »
The European demands include:
- NAME: keep the Laser name (i.e. no name change any longer to ILCA Dinghy)
- RIGS: help introducing the 4.7 rig where it’s not so popular instead of trying to replace it by new equipment
- DEMOCRACY: achieve a better representation of the Laser population in the ILCA World Council (i.e. a larger European representation)
- BUDGET: spend on projects that are important to the sailors and not on legal fights
- SOLIDARITY: Start a solidarity program like in Europe for 4.7 sailors and others
- SUSTAINABILITY: build a strong sustainability program for the Laser class
The Europeans insist on due process to be followed, via membership voting.
« We also made clear, by certified letter to the Class President and the executive secretary, that any change to the class rules and the constitution must follow the proper path for any change (consultation of the Laser Class members). »
Source: May 30 2019 EurILCA Circular
