The Website of the Laser Class of South Africa - catering for Laser 4.7, Radial and Standard rig versions

Upcoming Laser Events

S.A.S. W. Cape Laser Regional Championships

6 - 9 April, 2012 (Easter) - Saldanha Bay

Laser National Championships 2012



Breaking News

Three Lighthouses Challenge


In Australia, one of their top Laser sailors, Michael Blackburn, sailed across the notorious Bass Straight from Tasmania to the Australian coast.

In the same vein, but on a slightly smaller scale, three Cape Town Laser sailors undertook a Three Lighthouse Challenge - sailing across the mouth of False Bay from Cape Hangklip lighthouse to Cape Point, then along the rugged eastern shore of the Peninsula to Roman Rock lighthouse off Simonstown. The first leg is 30Km (16nm) across open sea, the second is 20km(11nm).

Congratulations to Perry Hyde-Harrison, Paul Vivian and Paul Allardice who completed this marathon in an impressive time of 4 hours!

IC313 - December LaserWorld Now Available to Download and View Online

20 December 2011

The December 2011 edition of LaserWorld is now available for all Sailors and National Associations to download and view online. This issue has comments from Class President Heini Wellman on the ongoing legal dispute between the Laser manufaturers and the design rights holder, as well as the use of copy Laser parts, e.g. sails.

You can view the LaserWorld web page at:
http://www.laserinternational.org/info/laserworld

IC310 – Applications Open for the 2012 World Laser 4.7 Youth Championship, World Laser Standard Junior Under 21 Championship and World Laser Masters Championship

9th December 2011

The 2012 World Laser 4.7 Youth, World Laser Standard Junior Under 21 and World Laser Masters Championships have been opened to receive applications for entry from sailors in your District. For all of these championships the deadline for a sailor to submit an application is 10th January 2012.  For more information on the championships and to make application please see the championship websites below:

2012 World Laser Masters Championship Fri 9th March 2012 - Sat 17th March 2012 Brisbane, Australia

2012 World Laser 4.7 Youth Championship Sat 31st March 2012 - Sat 7th April 2012 Buenos Aires ARGENTINA

2012 World Laser Standard Junior Under 21 Championship Sun 8th April 2012 - Sun 15th April 2012

Buenos Aires ARGENTINA

If you require furtherexplanation for any of the above or would like assistance in accessing or using the ILCA system please contact the ILCA office either by email, office@laserinternational.org or telephone, +44 1326 315064.

Best regards,

Jeff Martin

Boskop Laser Grand Prix

Held as part of the Boskop Open Regatta, 15 Lasers sailed a leg of their Grand Prix series. Five races were completed.
The event was won by two Laser 4.7's sailing their first big Laser regatta! Recently graduated from Optimists, in first place was Tristan Rogotski, with Marcello Marcia in 2nd (on handicap). The following places were taken by the regular standard rigs - Rudolph Holm, Grant Caroline and Clive Whitburn.

SAS KZN Youth Regional Championships

Midmar 7 - 9 October 2011

11 Lasers entered the regatta and raced both on handicap and within their respective fleets. Siya Vato (PYC) sailed the sole Standard Rig Laser. The Radial fleet had 6 boats with PYC's Trent Bingham winning 5 of the 7 races, followed by Ruben Heard (ZYC) with 2 wins and Mike McNeill (PYC). There was close competition between the 4 boats in the Laser 4.7 fleet with Simon Jones and Emma Clark (1st Lady), both of Victoria Lake Club, finishing first and second respectively. They were followed by Sam Bronner and Eli Brophy-Tintinger, both of PYC. Trent Bingham won the Lasers on handicap followed by Ruben Heard and Siya Vato.

IC306 Clarification on the vote of the Fundamental Rule Change 19 September 2011

Please find below a message from the Class President.

Regards,
Jeff Martin Executive Secretary

Dear Laser friends,
Next Friday September 23 is the deadline for the vote on the fundamental rule change. The importance of this rule change triggered a lot of discussions between the Laser sailors and on the different web forums. These discussions were very healthy and contributed to a better understanding of all the different issues involved. Personally, I kept a certain restraint in order to allow an as free discussion as possible. For those who want to refresh their memories on the reasons of the rule change can go to www.laserinternational.org/rules2011.

During the last few weeks, however, a certain number of issues were brought up, which need clarifications:
The whole issue started when ILCA was advised by Global Sailing, who purports to be representing Kirby's interests, that as per July 11 2010 they had terminated the license agreement with Laser Performance Europe. ILCA is not a party to these agreements and does not even know their exact content. Therefore to pretend that the purpose of the rule change was to terminate the royalty payments to Global Sailing is not correct. The only reason of the rule change is to assure the supply of a sufficient quantity of new Laser boats compliant with the ILCA Class Rules available in Europe and other countries in 2011 and beyond to satisfy the demand of its current and future ILCA members.
1. We understand that currently negotiations might be under way between Bruce Kirby and Global Sailing for Bruce to get his rights back. Under the current ILCA Class Rules a valid builder agreement is required between the "design rights holder" and the licensed Laser builder. Who the owner is of the design rights is unimportant in this context. Since the licence agreement with Laser Performance Europe has been terminated, only a new (or the renewal of the old) licence agreement between the "design rights holder" and Laser Performance Europe would solve the issue and potentially make the rule change unnecessary. We have informed all parties involved (Global Sailing, Bruce Kirby and Laser Performance Europe) of that and have asked them to inform us if they had come to a new agreement. This has not been the case up until today.
2. ILCA has always preferred a peaceful solution. If all three parties are close to agree on a solution, we will not stay in their way and give them reasonable time to conclude their negotiations on a new licence agreement with Laser Performance Europe.
3. If you want to preserve the Laser Class in its current set-up you need to vote YES. If you vote NO the Class in its current set-up will soon cease to exist.

With best regards.
Heini Wellmann
President International Laser Class Association (ILCA)


-- International Laser Class Association Office
Tel: +44 (0)1326 315064 Office Fax: +44 (0)1326 318968
Website: http://www.laserinternational.org

Northern Region Upcoming Events

HI All

 
Well its time to think about planning your summer sailing. Below please find  a list of events.

Aeolians - LASER GP1,  24 & 25 September

Yes it normally is a long week end but this year Heritage day falls on a  Saturday so we all lose out on a day off to sail.

But as you are also aware this is the week end we normally have the  provincials, however 2011 / 2012 season provincials are still to be decided  when and where. Discussion to take place at VLC on Thursday 8 Sept. If you  want to come along to discuss the All class provincials on the Vaal Dam  please let Daphne know that you would like to attend.

Okay back to Aeolians, the Yacht club will supply braai's for Saturday night  and catering. BUT they need to know how many to cater for. So if you are  going to Aeolians and I know most of you will. Please let me know so that I  can pass on your name to the Club.

October 15, 16 is Boskop GP 2, always a "Opskop at Boskop" a fun regatta all  welcome.

November GP3 at VLC last week end of November 26 & 27.

December 26 to 29 (I Think) are the Natal all class provincials at Midmar.

As well as the Sprog Nationals. If we want the Natalians to come and compete  on the Highveld lets support them in their provincials, Midmar is not that  far and it is the holiday season. Look forward to seeing you there.

January 2012 GP4, Charity regatta at PSC

February 2012 GP5, Benoni Open

March TBC
 
April TBC
 
Even though March and April are "TBC" we will have a regatta somewhere,  maybe Witbank (Mpumalanga Champs?) Who knows watch this space.

Have a great Opening Cruise
 
Fair Winds
 
Martin, Leon, Carey & Phil
(Your Northvaal Laser Committee)

2011 Northern Region Laser Masters Regatta

It was a great week end at Witbank Yacht Club, 18 Lasers in total, all sorts of wind from 12 knots down to 2 knots. As well as the familiar names, the event attracted several newcomers to the ranks.

Colin the bridge officer managed to get 7 races in - 4 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.

Well Done to Leon De Raay, the new (old) Masters Champion, de throning Martin Jackson (last years Champion). Leon scored 5 firsts, allowing just one to go to another stalwart, Clive Whitburn (2nd) and one to Phil Bennett (3rd).



Results

IC303 - June LaserWorld Now Available to Download and View Online

27th July 2011
The June edition of LaserWorld is now available for all Sailors and National Associations to download and view online.

You can view the LaserWorld web page at:
http://www.laserinternational.org/info/laserworld

This issue has an article on St Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, host of the 2011 4.7 and Masters World Championships. Another article deals with measuring of Lasers at major events - items the measurers look out for.

IC301: 2012 Laser World Championship Calendar

The calendar for the 2012 Laser World Championships is available on the ILCA web site at:
www.laserinternational.org/info/yearviewcalendar

The calendar has information on the:

World Laser Masters Championship
Brisbane, Australia 12th - 19th March (Subject to agreement of the contract)

World Laser Standard Senior Championship
Boltenhagen, Germany 4th - 10th May

World Laser Radial Women's Championship
Boltenhagen, Germany 15th - 20th May

World Laser Radial Youth Championship
Brisbane, Australia 1st - 7th July

World Laser Radial Men's Championship
Brisbane, Australia 11th - 17th July

The venue for the World Laser 4.7 Youth & World Laser Standard Junior Championships has been selected as Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The dates for the championships are not yet confirmed.

As soon as the dates are finalised we will update the calendar and send a further circular.

Best regards, The ILCA Team

-- International Laser Class Association Office Tel: +44 (0)1326 315064 Office Fax: +44 (0)1326 318968 Website: www.laserinternational.org

Uganda Nationals

South Africa had one entrant in the recent Uganda Laser Open held  18th to 20th March from Victoria Nyanza Yacht Club. Peter Unite took on the local ex-pats. His brief report:

I went and sailed in Uganda, two weekends and it was a memorable relaxed opportunity to see the lake and meet the sailors up there and also spend the week days exploring some of the country.

Some of you would want more competitive sailing but there were 15 or so boats on the water and some good sailors amongst the ordinary ones.

I have promised two things; firstly that there would be a few more of us there next year and second , that I would send them some dates for our provincial and national regattas in Cape Town particularly as there are some good sailors who`d like to come and join us.

Ken, I think we should look at going up together next year ?!

Cheers

Peter Unite




Laser Nationals 2011

A total of 38 Lasers competed in the 2011 Laser Nationals at Club Mykonos. Of these, 21 were in the Radial fleet, 15 in the Standard fleet and only two in the 4.7. Thus, especially in the standard and 4.7 fleets numbers were down. A partial reason could have been the separate W. Cape Championships the previous weekend.

On the first afternoon, two windward / leewards were held on the first afternoon in a light south easter. In these races, the legs were quite long and the races were over an hour each.

On days 2 and 3, the wind freshened and RO Alastair Peden introduced some triangles into the courses. No wind was forecast for the last day, but an unusual gusty NE set in, permitting two final races to total 10 and two discards.

In the Laser full rigs, Rudi McNeil was fairly consistent in first palce to be able to claim the gold medal and trophy, leaving it to Alastair Keytel and Craig Richards to fight for the other medals. Alastair was the early candidate for silver, but in the final set of races, it was Craig who was consistently ahead to be able to clinch second place ahead of Alastair.

In the Radials, the fight for first place was between Matthew Shaw and Stephano Marcia. These two generally generally secured first or second. On the last day, Stephano clinched things with two guns to win by 4 points.  Alex Thompson got 3rd place.



Sale *** Special offer *** Reduced to clear
Laser Shirts Mossel Bay Nationals 2 only R40.00 each
Club Mykonos Nationals 8 only XL, L, & M R50.00 each
Club Mykonos Nats Finns 1 only XL R60.00

Contact : Ron Keytel tel. 084 450 8450

Laser Pricelist

The S. A. Laser agent, Central Boating, has issued the latest pricelist for Laser boats, including the Pico, Vago, Bahia and Bug - click here.

Also available to browse or download is the Parts pricelist - click here

2011 ISAF World Championships
Perth, Australia 3 - 18 December 2011

S. A. Sailing has issued a document detailing the selection events and related criteria for the above event. For the category `Men's One Person Dinghy', the class is Laser. For the category `Women's One Person Dinghy', the class is Laser Radial. For these classes, the S. A. Sailing Laser National Championships scheduled for Langebaan 28 April to 1 May 2011 will be the selection event.

Thus, if you have aspirations on an international campaign, make sure you are at Laser Nationals!

For the full S. A. Sailing document, click here

IC299 - 2011 Rule Change Proposals including an IMPORTANT Fundamental Rule Change

IC299 - 2011 Rule Change Proposals including an IMPORTANT Fundamental Rule Change


23 March 2011

 The following letter has been approved by the Laser World Council and Advisory Council.

 Dear National Class Officer

For 40 years the ILCA Class Rules and associated agreements concerning the management of the class have given the sailing world the most successful youth and adult racing class in history with over 200,000 boats built and racing in over 125 countries.

This success, we believe, is based fundamentally on he ILCA Class Rules, which requires that a builder of class-legal boats must (among other things) (i) manufacture the hull, equipment, fittings, spars, sails and battens in strict adherence to the Construction Manual and (ii) have the Laser trademark rights.

In addition, a builder also needs a building agreement from Bruce Kirby or Bruce Kirby Inc. This provision is mostly historical. The rule was insti­tuted at a time when Bruce Kirby held certain design rights. The ILCA is not a party to any of these “Kirby” agree­ments.

Unfortunately, a dispute has arisen between parties who claim to be representing Kirby’s interests: a New Zealand company called Global Sailing; and Laser Performance Europe (LPE), one of the manufacturers, which holds the Laser trademark rights for Europe, South America, Africa and Asia (excluding trademark rights owned by Performance Sailcraft Japan for Japan and South Korea). The dispute centers on whether a valid “design rights holder” agreement exists with LPE. Under the current ILCA Class Rules, if there is not a valid building agreement, then a manufacturer, even a trademark owner, would not meet the requirements to be an International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and International Laser Class Association (ILCA) approved builder.

Each of the parties to the conflict has threatened ILCA in various ways – Global Sailing has said it may form a new class association for a “Kirby Sailboat”. LPE informed the ILCA that it intends to form its own “Laser” class. We may therefore end up with three different classes and may lose the Olympic status. The “one design / out of the box principle” would also be threatened.

One other possible result of this conflict is that due to uncertainty over ISAF and ILCA approval, there may not be a sufficient quantity of new Laser boats compliant with the ILCA Class Rules available in Europe and other countries in 2011 and beyond to satisfy the demand of its current and future ILCA members.

The class officers made numerous attempts to get the two conflicting parties to end their dispute: meetings were held in different parts of the world and written compromise proposals were made, unfortunately with no success. While discussions between the two parties continue we are unsure of the outcome and running out of time.

We also took legal advice. The above rule changes were deemed the only possible solution in order to promote the uninterrupted supply of class legal Laser boats and to maintain ILCA in its current set-up. The lawyers also informed us that the Kirby design patents had in fact expired.

Therefore, we are proposing to change the rule to eliminate the “building agreement from Bruce Kirby or Bruce Kirby Inc” requirement. Manufacturers who have trademark rights and who build in strict adherence to the ILCA Rules and to the Construction Manual, which is controlled by ILCA, will continue to have the right to build Class legal boats. We believe that this change will eliminate uncertainty over ISAF and ILCA approval, give manufacturers continued reasons to support the class and satisfy the demands of current and future class members.

Why should you vote YES?

1. To promote the uninterrupted supply of class-legal Laser boats all over the world to meet the demands of current and future sailors.

2. To maintain the International Laser Class Association in its current set-up.

3. To preserve the “one design / out of the box” principle, which is assured by the mandatory adherence to the Laser Construction Manual by all builders as defined in the fundamental rule.

4. To maintain ISAF recognition and Olympic status.

 

Class Rule changes to the Fundamental Rule

It is proposed that the following rule changes be adopted. The additions are underlined. The deletions are crossed through (strike through).  They are:

 

CLASS RULES, PART ONE

FUNDAMENTAL RULE

Present Rule:

The Laser shall be raced in accordance with these rules, with only the hull, equipment, fittings, spars, sail and battens manufactured by a licensed builder in accordance with the Laser design specification (known as the Construction Manual) which is registered with ISAF.

Proposed new rule with changes:

The Laser shall be raced in accordance with these Rules, with only the hull, equipment, fittings, spars, sail and battens manufactured by a licensed an International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and International Laser Class Association (ILCA) approved builder in accordance with strict adherence to the Laser design specification (known as the Construction Manual) which is registered with ISAF.

DEFINITION OF BUILDER (part of Fundamental Rule)

Present Rule:

A Builder is a manufacturer that has a building agreement from Bruce Kirby or Bruce Kirby Inc. to build the Laser and has the rights to use a Laser trademark and has been approved as a Laser Builder by each of the International Sailing Federation and the International Laser Class Association.

Proposed new rule with changes:

A Builder is a manufacturer that has a building agreement from Bruce Kirby or Bruce Kirby Inc. to build the Laser and has the rights to use a Laser trademark, is manufacturing the hull, equipment, fittings, spars, sails and battens in strict adherence to the Construction Manual, and has been approved as a Laser Builder by each of the International Sailing Federation and the International Laser Class Association.

 

To vote please visit:

http://www.laserinternational.org/rules2011

 

The above letter together with the proposed rule changes  are published on our website at:

http://www.laserinternational.org/rules2011

 

Also at the same link is an ‘on line’ electronic voting form.

 

Please draw the attention of your members to these proposed rule changes and how to vote by publishing the details on your national web site and in any electronic newsletters you can send to your members encouraging them to vote early through our web site.

 

5 other rule changes relating to technical rules are also detailed at the above link after a vote on the fundamental rule is completed.  The World Council consider that the technical changes are minor and do not affect the one design nature of the Laser.

 

Thank you for your help and support

Best regards

 

Heini Wellmann and Jeff Martin

President and Executive Secretary ILCA

SAS Development Squad

SAS will be selecting the top 3 boys and top 2 girls in the Laser class at the Youth Nationals for the 2011 Development Squad - which involves structured training programmes with high performance coaching and sports science support throughout the year funded by the Department of Sports and Recreation.
 
The winner of the Laser Radial class at the SAS Youth Nationals will be selected to represent SA at the ISAF Youth Worlds in Croatia in July 2011. We may select the first girl, but this is not guaranteed (there does need to be some level of higher standard amongst the girls and adequate representation at the youth nationals).

Laser N. Region Grand Prix - Boskop

A fleet of 17 Lasers formed the largest class at the annual Boskop club regatta. Three races were sailed on Saturday in gusty, switchy conditions. For the more experienced sailors, it was better on Sunday, with a consistent, strong north wester and another three races were completed.

Stefano Marcia completely dominated by winning all the races, His closest rival was Tim Gibbons, with Clive Whitburn taking 3rd place. Shellee Nel was first lady, finishing fifth.