Laser Name Change and New Builders: Is There a Plan B?

In 2012, there was a plan for a complete overhaul of the Laser with a new name - the Kirby Torch - and with new builders. The plan failed. In 2018, the plan became to rename the Laser as an « ILCA » and, again, to have new builders. Will this new effort succeed? And if not, is there a Plan B?

See also our Update dated May 17 -- ILCA to Seek a Solution with LaserPerformance - but Only After the Vote for the 2024 Olympics, following the release of a new document by the Laser class.

Flashback: the Torch Experiment

The 2012 attempt to change the name of the Laser has similarities with the current one. « After numerous attempts, Bruce Kirby felt he had no choice but to withdraw Laser brand building rights in North America and Europe. » states the Website http://www.kirbytorch.com/ 

« After exhaustive negotiations failed to resolve the continuing unauthorized manufacture of Bruce Kirby’s sailboat design, Bruce Kirby Inc. took the carefully considered step of terminating the builder agreements in Europe and North America late in 2012.  The decision was not an easy one to make, but Bruce had been through a similar situation back in 1983 and the continued deterioration of the class and sailors' best interests demanded action. » explains the Torch Website.

« Early in 2013, Bruce Kirby Inc executed new builder agreements and rechristened his beloved "car-topper" the Kirby Torch.  This new chapter of his venerable racing sailboat design looks every bit as promising as the period following the last upheaval in the class some 30 years ago. »

Under this Torch plan, both LaserPerformance Europe and Performance Sailcraft Japan had been supposedly terminated as licensed  builders. There were 3 builders: Torch Performance Sailcraft North America, Inc., located in Midland, Ontario, for the Americas; Orange Performance Sailcraft B.V., located in the Netherlands, for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and PerformanceSailcraft Pty Limited in Australia, for Asia and Oceania. The two first were not real builders yet, and the addresses correspond to residential homes.

The Torch attempt failed in court and never became a reality. Even if there were reportedly still court hearings a few days ago, the Laser will never be called the Kirby Torch.

But will it become the ILCA, or the ILCA Dinghy?

New Name Change Attempt

On April 6 2019, the international Laser class ILCA made public its plans to change the name of the Laser. In « Frequently Asked Questions Regarding ILCA Approved Builders, » it announced that the Laser name would be changed, without mentioning the new name.

This followed the decertification by the international Laser class ILCA of LaserPerformance as an approved builder, announced by ILCA on March 27.

« We’re disappointed to see such a long and productive relationship come to an end, but we had to move ahead in order to protect the level of competition and the investment for the 14,000 members of the International Laser Class and the more than 50,000 sailors around the world who regularly sail the Laser dinghy,” said Class President Tracy Usher. »

« With its UK-based manufacturing facility, LPE was the ILCA-approved builder that produced boats for most of Europe, Asia and the Americas until earlier this week, when Usher says the class terminated the LCMA with respect to LPE after the builder’s refusal to allow inspection of the boats being built in their manufacturing facility as required by that contract. » stated the announcement.

Note that ILCA did not question the compliance of the boats produced by LaserPerformance, and simply requested World Sailing to stop issuing new plaques.

While there was a rumor that the new Laser name would be the « Gamma, » for which trademarks had been initiated by a Rhodes Island « Weather Helm » corporation on behalf of the Laser class, we broke the news of the new laser name - ILCA - after finding that a trademark for this new name was already active in Europe, and in the process of being completed in the US, again through this very marine corporate name « Weather Helm. »

The European trademark provided some insights. No, the new name of the Laser was not identified after the decertification of LaserPerformance.

The European trademark application for the ILCA - as a boat - is indeed dated June 8 2018.  The plan to change the name of the Laser to ILCA dates at least a year back, yet was announced to the sailors, to the membership, only on April 25 2019 (see below)

Growing Boat Shortages

The announcement by ILCA (the class) to change the Laser name, and to decertify LaserPerformance, raises many problems. In Europe and North America, there are already shortages of boats, for charters and for purchases.  Indeed, LaserPerformance was, until it got decertified, by far the largest builder of Lasers world wide, with about 80% of the global production.

In addition, the two remaining builders, Performance Sailcraft Australia and Performance Sailcraft Japan, have a limited ability to supply hulls in 2019 and 2020, not only because they are not allowed to supply dealers in regions such as Europe and the Americas, but also because they are busy building boats for the 2020 Worlds in Melbourne Australia, and the 2020 Olympics in Enoshima, Japan.

Boat shortages have just started to appear, but they may become a major issue in the upcoming months. Indeed, new boats are typically provided at international events as charters, and then are sold at a somewhat reduced price. The system, to function, obviously needs a constant supply of boats. And this is not the case any longer, with sailors and organizers complaining in countries such as Spain and Canada. Soon, it’s expected to be about impossible for most to get a new boat.

Challenges with New Builders

ILCA (the class) has announced that it would soon approve new builders. And there are rumors of several  builders having expressed interest in building Lasers, including in Europe and North America. Yet, it’s not clear when new builders will become operational. The builders need first to be approved by both ILCA and World Sailing.

In addition, consistency among hulls will certainly be an issue if new builders are involved. There is a history of inconsistent Laser hull production, that was highlighted by a Defect Notice by ILCA (the class) according to which 2280 non-compliant boats were produced between 2006 and 2015.

Of importance is also the recommendation by the World Sailing evaluation panel - for the selection of a single-handed dinghy for the 2024 Olympics - to have tighter tolerances for the Laser.

The report notes: « the presented tolerances were considered by the Evaluation Panel as too high » and « tighter tolerances and higher controls are deemed required. » This requires a major revision of the Laser Building Manual, which needs to be approved by all the builders, ILCA (the class) and World Sailing.

Note that, at the sea trials, for the Laser, « the equipment presented at the Sea Trials was used equipment from the 2018 World Sailing World Championships in Aarhus. »

This means that the evaluation was done on boats from now decertified LaserPerformance. Boats produced by the two current builders, in Australia and Japan, were not even inspected by the World Sailing evaluation panel.

Laser Name Change Announced, but not Completed

Somewhat hidden in the middle of the April 6 2019 announcement by ILCA (the class) titled « Frequently Asked Questions Regarding ILCA Approved Builders, » there was the bombshell that the Laser name would be changed.

« Q: Will boats from the newly-named builders be sold under the LASER brand? »

« A:  No.  In order to avoid trade mark issues and to comply with the requirements of European competition law, all current and future ILCA-approved builders will sell boats under a new brand name. ILCA and the current approved builders are finalizing the intellectual property details for the new brand, … »

Of course, this was not a frequently asked question. Nobody, except very few people at the level of ILCA (the class) were in the know.

While ILCA misleadingly announced on April 25 2019 that the « Olympic One-Person Sailing Dinghy Completes Name Change » and that the « “ILCA Dinghy” Is New Face of World’s Most Popular Racing Boat, » it issued clarifications on May 4th, as the name change had in fact barely been initiated.

Yet, ILCA (the class) reiterated its plans: « Changing the brand name for the class dinghy is a necessary step to ensure the ongoing supply of class-legal equipment and to improve availability worldwide while addressing trademark considerations. »

World Sailing Uneasy Position

World Sailing had actually indicated its unease with the steps taken by the Laser class. On a week-end, it released an announcement on April 27, clarifying its own position on the ILCA / LaserPerformance dispute.

« World Sailing is aware of the current dispute between the international class association (ILCA) and its main manufacturer (Laser Performance). » …

« However, World Sailing is concerned that recent public statements overstate conversations with World Sailing officials. World Sailing has not endorsed or pre-approved the proposed name change of the Laser to the ILCA Dinghy. »

« World Sailing will deal with any applications for class rule changes when they are made by ILCA to World Sailing. To date, World Sailing has received no class rule change requests related to the name of the boat and, if formally made, World Sailing will process any applications in accordance with the relevant World Sailing Regulations. »

Uncertain Membership Vote Outcome

In the May 4 ILCA (the class) announcement, it could be read that «  ILCA emphasizes that all necessary votes and approvals of the class members and World Sailing will be obtained before the changeover is completed. »

There was indeed a request by the European Laser associations for a vote - and there had not been prior reassurances by the international Laser class that the membership would be consulted.

The Laser boat and the class are governed by two key documents: the Constitution and the Class Rules. For both the Constitution and the Class Rules, any change must be approved by two third of the membership. For the Constitution, the ballot has a duration of 6 months, while for the Class Rules, it is just one month.

Given the time frame, it’s likely that ILCA (the class) will attempt to only modify the class rules.  Indeed, a vote on the constitution would be complete only after the World Sailing Bermuda annual conference.  Yet, to get this right, a constitution amendment seems necessary.

How could ILCA (the class) govern the ILCA (the dinghy) with by-laws including articles such as « 1. The name of the Association shall be the INTERNATIONAL LASER CLASS ASSOCIATION … »  and  « 2. The emblem of the Class shall be the recognized Laser symbol, and the insignia of the officers shall be those prescribed by By-Law. » ?

Yet, whatever formula ILCA (the class) decides for implementing a membership vote, a two third majority will need to be reached, i.e. not just 50%, but 66.6%.

The odds for such a 66.6% majority to be reached are pretty slim, especially as there is little support in Europe for the steps taken by ILCA (the class).

The European branch of ILCA, EurILCA noted in its April 3 announcement: « Europe represents almost 70 % of the sailors of the Laser class members and big European districts like Germany or Italy have almost the same number of members as North American region (USA and Canada together). »

The EurILCA announcement had been made following the decertification of LaserPerformance, which they said came as «  a surprise for a lot of sailors, class officers and Laser dealers. »

As previously reported, EuriLCA had offered to find a negotiated solution, but it was rejected by the international Laser class. 

« We are sorry about the situation and regret that our proposal for mediation, which we believe would have been in the best interest of the European sailors, was rejected. » stated EurILCA in its April 3 announcement.

Since then, two major Laser class associations - from Italy and Spain - have called for the resignation of the President and the General Manager of ILCA.

Given the likely opposition of many Laser sailors, i.e. members of ILCA, to a Laser name change, and to the decertification of LaserPerformance, achieving a 66% vote is highly uncertain.

The likelihood of a successful vote is in fact pretty slim.

There is also the question of the rigs in the background. ILCA (the class) is planning to replace the existing Standard, Radial and 4.7 rigs, but such rig changes seem to have so far little support among sailors.

Towards Torch Like Litigation?

Even in the case of a successful vote, there is probably ground for LaserPerformance to sue. LaserPeformance has already stated that some actions by ILCA (the class) are illegal.  The company, which has many detractors, but much fewer detractors in Europe than in the rest of the world, may defend itself in the courts, especially as they have been attacked on two fronts: their industrial production and their trademark ownership.

And the outcome may be years of litigation before the name ILCA can be used for the boat and new builders are appointed outside Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea - where there is actually no need for new builders. Remember, the Torch litigation seems not over, and it started some 7 years ago.

And to be kept in mind is that, under the current system, dealers in Europe, North America, South America, etc. cannot secure boats from those two builders. LaserPerformance actually mentioned that it successfully sued a Belgian dealer who imported boats from Australia.

There was major litigation involved in the case of the Kirby Torch attempt to take over the Laser. It’s pretty clear that the risks are pretty high with this new attempt too.

Is There a Plan B?

What’s totally unclear is what is the Plan B for the Laser.

If the membership vote for name change and other changes to the class rules and/or constitution does not achieve a two third majority, what will happen?

What seems clear is that, from August 31 2019, ILCA (the class) will not be allowed to use the Laser name any longer, as the 1998 trademark agreement under which it granted the usage of the Laser name, expires by that date.

No Laser event may be organized by ILCA from September 2019. This year, the World Masters in Port Zélande in the Netherlands, and the U21 Laser World Championships in Split, Croatia, may be in jeopardy.

At the same time, the Laser may still hold the Laser name by that time, as it all depends on a successful membership vote. If the ILCA (the class) has no right to use the Laser name, a possible scenario is that a new class will emerge.

And unless LaserPerformance is re-authorized to build boats, it’s pretty likely that the shortages of new boats, for sale and for charter, will continue to grow in Europe and elsewhere.

Through negotiation, a solution may be found, but ILCA (the class) has rejected such negotiation, despite the several demands by the EurILCA.

It seems that a conciliatory meeting is to convene within a week, gathering LaserPerformance, ILCA and other interested parties, but only after the voting this week-end on the equipment for the 2024 Olympics.

Yet, with over 30 years of such issues plaguing the Laser, it would be a quasi-miracle for a quick solution to be found.

The question remains. Is there a Plan B?

It may be a good question to keep in mind when voting for the single-handed equipment for the 2024 Olympics.

What to Make of This?

In light of the uncertainties with the Laser, and the findings of the World Sailing report, the undersigned recommends to adopt the RS Aero with a 6 square meter rig for women, and  to wait for the November / December 2019 annual meeting in Bermuda to confirm the Laser for men.

Click here to access an executive summary of the recommandations.

Click here to access the article outlining the detailed recommendations.

© Jean-Pierre Kiekens. 2019. All Rights Reserved.