January 17, 2022

2022 World Championships
While we are looking to receive applications from those who earned a berth through the qualifier regattas in 2021, it is still possible to get a spot! Reasons to still apply:

Not everyone who qualifies, will apply. The Grand Prix Rankings are used to fill vacant berths. Read up on the Qualification System and Grand Prix Rules (2021 GP Rankings).
North America is a big region and we sometimes get extra berths from ILCA. This especially happens when other regions don't send enough sailors.

Important Application Dates Ahead:

ILCA 7 Men's - Open for Late applications: 19 January 2022, 00:01 US Central Time
ILCA 7 Masters - Close of applications for initial ranking and allocation of places: 25 January 2022, 23:59 US Central Time
ILCA 6 Masters - Close of applications for initial ranking and allocation of places: 1 February 2022, 23:59 US Central Time
ILCA 6 Youth - Applications open: 24 January 2022, 00:01 US Central Time
ILCA 4 Youth - Applications open: 14 February 2022, 00:01 US Central Time
ILCA U-21 - Applications open: 22 February 2022, 00:01 US Central Time
ILCA 6 Women's - Applications open: 7 April 2022, 00:01 US Central Time
ILCA 6 Men's - Applications open: 7 April 2022, 00:01 US Central Time

Learn more about the 2022 ILCA World Championships.

December 27, 2021

Happy Holidays ILCA North America!

The 2021 Grand Prix Rankings are complete. Review the rules and final scores!

Congratualations to all competitors! Choice awards are being prepared for the top 3 competitors in each division and the competitor with the most sailed events. Thank you US ONE DESIGN for donating the prizes!

Looking ahead, sailors have earned berths for all 2022 ILCA World Championships. Review the qualification system and who has the earned berths!

November 23, 2021

Proposed changes to the ILCA Constitution

Overview of changes:

1. The class name has been updated.
2. Changes to the makeup of the ILCA World Council
3. It is proposed that all World Council members must explicitly comply with the ILCA conflict of interest policy.
4. The proposed wording formalizes that the annual accounts are reviewed annually by an independent party prior to publication.
5. The wording of the disciplinary provisions of the constitution is proposed to be updated.
6. It is proposed that the voting period for subsequent amendments to the ILCA Constitution is shortened from 6 months to 3 months.
7. Other grammatical and minor wording changes have been proposed throughout the document to aid in readability and clarity.

Review the complete details and vote online through the ILCA website here.

Voting remains available for the next six months.

Please note that only paid ILCA members may vote. ILCA-NA Membership will be verified when the votes are tabulated.

November 13, 2021

Welcome Hoover ILCA Fleet!

District 18 has grown to include a new ILCA Fleet out of the Hoover Sailing Club. HSC is a one-design club situated on the southern end of the Hoover Reservoir, north of Columbus, OH. Most of the club's sanctioned fleets enjoy the normal sailing season each year, but earlier this fall a group of sailors decided there was room for more. Deputising one of their own, Ed Spengeman, became the point of contact for an enthusiastic group of 35 sailors and the Hoover ILCA Fleet was born!

In October Ed started a weekend frostbite series and plans to have the fleet sail as much as possible before the lake freezes over. After the thaw, Ed hopes to continue the moment with a weekly series that works well with the other activities at HSC.

Nice work Ed! A package of giveaways, complete with a 50th Anniversary ILCA Burgee, is heading your way to help you grow fleet spirit. Please keep us posted on the Hoover ILCA Fleet. We look forward to hearing more!

If you want to start a fleet in your district, please reach out to the ILCA-NA Office to learn more.

November 5, 2021

Apprentice Masters - Now Ages 30-44

In the near future the ILCA will be formerly announcing an expansion of the Apprentice Masters age group to 30-44 years of age (from 35-44). This will be effective beginning at the 2022 ILCA Masters World Championships in Nuevo Vallarta Mexico (ILCA 7: 5/30 - 6/7/2022 & ILCA 6: 6/9 - 17/2022 - more details online.

The ILCA World Council recently approved this change with the intent to "broaden the tent" by providing the opportunity for more adult sailors to compete in our Masters World championships.

- Andy Roy, ILCA North America Regional Chairman

November 4, 2021

Grand Prix 2021

We've had little issues, in general, with getting all events successfully hosted in 2021. The Gulf Coast Championships (December 10-12) is the last major event for points on the 2021 calendar, but also note the district championships coming up! Make your plans to sail and keep track of the Grand Prix Standings as we finish up 2021!

How do Grand Prix Points Work?

The point values are in the regatta titles listed online and are also in the spreadsheet column titles of the current standings. Each competing sailor earns more points the better they sail.

For example: all district championships are given 20 points, where first place is awarded 20 points, 2nd place is awarded 19 points, 3rd... 17 points, and so on. The Major ILCA-NA regattas work the same, although some have more points than others. Note: sailors with current ILCA memberships, at the time of an event, are competing for the Grand Prix.

The sailors with the highest points will win... 1st, 2nd, 3rd in each division (ILCA-7, 6, 4). ILCA-NA will also recognize the sailor, across all divisions, who attends the most events. In total, there will be 10 awards for the 2021 ILCA-NA Grand Prix, which will be provided by US ONE-DESIGN. Check out their website and ILCA rigging solutions, parts, sails, etc. Thank you US ONE-DESIGN!

October 13, 2021 (updated 10/24)

Executive Committee Election!

It's time once again to formally elect the executive committee for ILCA North America. The slate has not changed, except for two candidates for Member at Large. Take a moment to review the bios of your 2021 Executive Committee, who are ready to continue serving for another 12 months, as well as the candidates for Member at Large. In accordance with our bylaws, District Secretaries will vote to elect your 2021-2022 ILCA-NA Executive Committee (October 20-23, 2021).

10/24 UPDATE:

Voting has ended and the results are in!

17 out of 22 eligible District Secretaries voted. (Note: District Secretaries must have current ILCA-NA Memberships to vote).

16 voted to reinstate our 2020-21 Executive Committee for another 12 months.

10 out of 17 voted for John Pearce to join the committee as Member at Large: welcome John!

Thank you to all who participated in the election and congratulations to our 2021-22 Executive Committee!

September 10, 2021

Weekender - Laser - ILCA Dinghy: a look back at the beginning of the world's largest one design!

In the spring of 2016 I attended Ian Bruce's celebration of life at the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club in Montreal. I was fortunate to have known Ian and learned much from competing against him in a number of Laser regattas back in the mid-late 1970's and at the 351-boat 1980 Laser World Championships held in Kingston, Ontario. Ian was a passionate and accomplished sailor who won many regatta titles and represented Canada twice at the Olympics. But of course he is best known for innovating a new class of small sailing dinghies, designed for the mass market but fast enough to interest the world’s top sailors.

At the celebration of life I noticed a VHS video playing on a small TV in the yacht club. It was a 1974 film called 'The Boat that Ian Built' featuring the amazing success story of the Laser, and of Performance Sailcraft, the company Ian formed to produce and market the boat. Simply designed by Ian's friend, Bruce Kirby, durably built, fast and fun, it is a pleasure craft that has brought recreational sailing, club racing and high intensity Olympic competition for sailors of all ages and both genders.

I set out to find out how I could obtain the rights to release the film for viewing around the world. It took a while, but I thank the National Film Board of Canada, who held the rights to the film, for allowing its release to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the International Laser Class Association. The movie has fantastic footage of one of the first ever big fleet Laser regattas held at Association Island, New York on Lake Ontario near Kingston (with Ian Bruce competing!). The movie has interviews with Ian, Bruce Kirby and Laser sail designer Hans Fogh and shots of Lasers being produced in Ian's factory. You'll also see amazing footage (that I previously didn't know existed) of Hans Fogh helming the prototype Laser in an October 1970 regatta held for boats under $1000 at the Playboy Club at Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. It was called 'The America's Teacup Regatta'. Ian and Hans decided to call the prototype the 'Weekender' with sail number TGIF, the abbreviation for 'Thank God It's Friday'. The Weekender prototype had never been in the water before that regatta. Hans and the Weekender went on to win the event and the rest is history. (Full story on that regatta with photos can be found here: https://www.sail-world.com/Australia/The-American-Tea-Cup-Regatta-where-it-all-began/-76372)

So get together with a few sailing friends and enjoy the film!

Here's the link: https://www.onf.ca/film/boat-that-ian-built/

Andy Roy
ILCA North America Regional Chairman

July 19, 2021

Eight Bells: Bruce Kirby

Sailing legend Bruce Kirby passed away July 18, 2021. He was 92 years of age.

Bruce was a newspaper man in Ottawa and Montreal before he became a yacht designer. A competitive sailor in International 14 dinghies from age 15, his focus was on making the boats faster. After being beaten in a regatta at Cowes in heavy wind, he drew the Kirby Mark I on a piece of shelf paper. It was fast upwind in a breeze. He sold 30 of the Mark I. Read the full story on Scuttlebutt.

July 18th UPDATE - After 10 races, congratulations to the top finishers of the 2021 ILCA North Americans at St. Francis YC!

Leo Boucher, 1st ILCA 7
Charlotte Rose, 1st ILCA 6 (Gold Fleet)
Ethan Sargent, 1st ILCA 6 (Silver Fleet)
Matheo Capasso, 1st ILCA 4

See the full results online.

This championship regatta also served as a qualifier for the US Sailing Junior Pan-American Team, with the top eligible finisher from the ILCA 7 (Leo Boucher) and ILCA 6 (Charlotte Rose) qualifying. Sail fast Leo and Charlotte!

July 14, 2021

125 Sailors Converge at StFYC for ILCA North Americans

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) — On July 14–18, 2021, St. Francis Yacht Club will welcome 125 sailors for four days of racing in the ILCA North American Championships on San Francisco Bay. Delayed for a year due to the global pandemic, sailors from all points of the continent plus several nations will be in attendance, competing in ILCA 4 (formerly known as Laser 4.7), ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) and ILCA 7 (Laser Standard) rigs. Read the full announcement.

March, 2021

ILCA Launches 50th Anniversary Celebration

From the Weekender to the Laser to the ILCA Dinghy

The world’s largest one-design racing class turns 50 this year, with over 218,000 boats built and passionate devotees racing in over 140 countries. In 2021, ILCA will celebrate the many achievements of this remarkable five-decade run. Read the full announcement, get your ILCA 50 Swag, and learn how to join the celebration.

Hosting an event? Access the ILCA50 Logo to include with your NoR and regatta swag!

Engage online with others celebrating!

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