Multiple Irish National Champion Gareth Flannigan is one of the leading contenders for the Laser Masters title when it is sailed on his home waters of Ballyholme Yacht Club in three weeks time (25/26th May).
Visitors from Scotland and England are swelling the fleet at Ballyholme to over 50 entries.
Four entries leave for warm weather training in Lake Garda this weekend, a sign of how competitive Laser sailing is in Ireland right now.
Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.
Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.
More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.
Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.
So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.
The ILCA, formerly known as the Laser, is the most produced boat in the world, with 220,000 units built since 1971.
It's easy to see why the single-handed dinghy has won the title of the most widely distributed boat of all time.
The Laser is a one-design dinghy, the hulls being identical but three rigs that can be used according to the size and weight of the sailor.
The class is international, with sailors from 120 countries. The boat has also been an Olympic class since 1996, being both the men's and women's singlehanded dinghy.
Three rigs are recognised by the International Laser Class Association (ILCA):
Designer Bruce Kirby & Ian Bruce
Year 1969
Crew 1
Draft 0.787 m (2 ft 7.0 in)
Hull weight 58.97 kg (130.0 lb)
LOA 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in)
LWL 3.81 m (12 ft 6 in)
Beam 1.39 m (4 ft 7 in)
Mainsail area 7.06 m2 (76.0 sq ft)
Racing D-PN 91.1 RYA PN 1088 PHRF 217
Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
