Laser Wars: Australian builder rejects 48hr ultimatum and loses licence

2025 ILCA Under-21 World Championships Day 5 © David Branigan / Oceansport

Performance Sailcraft Australia have amplified their original statement and comments of the withdrawal of the Builders Licence by the International Laser Class Association (ILCA).

In an update issued over night Performance SailCraft Australia (PSA) claims boats to the new moulds will be shorter than the current class. PSA has recently opened a new build facility dedicated to the manufacture and supply of ILCA dinghies, formerly known as the Laser class.

In the statement the Australian builder now part of the UK owned Performance Marine Group, claims that the new moulds would produce a boat that was shorter than those from the original moulding that has been used since the class was launched in 1972 by Bruce Kirby and Ian Bruce who established the original Performance Sailcraft to control the build and supply of the single manufacturer one design (SMOD) class.

The discrepancy in the length of the hull is believed to be 1cm, which is negligible in terms of speed of the hull through the water, but is a significant gap to be closed out during the hull and deck joining process. The solution was for builders to use a "gluing jig" which held/stretched the hull shell so that it met the deck during the gluing process. But as anyone who has tried building with a hull shell, it has to be held in perfect shape otherwise it distorts, and the boat may fail class measurement requirements, where hull templates or a measuring jig is used. The ILCA, formerly the Laser, has historically been supplied on the basis that all hull tooling comes from a common male plug, which is carefully protected, and from which all female moulds are taken.

Performance Sailcraft Australia Official Statement 29th August 2025

On the incorrect statement by ILCA of Termination of Our 2022 Builder Agreement and the matter of the Integrity of the Laser/ILCA One-Design Principle today

Intro

For more than fifty-five years, Performance Sailcraft Australia (PSA) has built championship-winning dinghies to the Bruce Kirby one-design standard, including the boat that Ben Ainslie sailed to Olympic gold in Sydney 2000. Our boats have been trusted by club sailors and Olympic champions alike because they are built with accuracy, transparency, and respect for the principle of one-design sailing.

ILCA has now announced the termination of our builder status. This action was not the result of PSA failing in its obligations. It was the result of our refusal to mislead sailors and consumers regarding the integrity of new ILCA moulds that were introduced by ILCA in 2020.

These moulds do not conform to the original specifications recognised by the International Olympic Committee and World Sailing as the basis of the class’s Olympic status, a standard further confirmed by PSA’s continued use of the original Bruce Kirby plug purchased in 1998. PSA will not compromise our duty and integrity to the worldwide sailing community we serve.

Discovery

In November 2024, PSA received new moulds supplied by ILCA. Our technical staff, in working with and listening to advice from ILCA’s own technical representatives, identified that the hulls produced from these moulds were shorter and materially different from those built under the original licensed Bruce Kirby tooling. Since identifying this discrepancy, PSA has engaged with ILCA in discussions, yet ILCA has failed to meet its responsibility to the sailors of the class by taking corrective action or making any appropriate disclosure. The boats produced from these moulds remain inconsistent with the one-design principle and the contractual technical documentation that has defined the class since its inception. These differences are also inconsistent with the one-design principle, the ILCA contractual and technical documentation and the Bruce Kirby design that has defines the class.

Our duty

When we raised these discrepancies, ILCA removed the published dimensional drawings from its website and refused to confirm that its new moulds met the World Sailing specified standard. This week PSA was then given forty-eight hours to accept the moulds without dimensional confirmation and use them or lose its builder licence. To accept this would have been to misrepresent the product and deceive consumers. We refused and will not be a party to this deception, nor are we prepared to breach a contract that was executed in 2024. We required ILCA to confirm that their moulds could build the boat specified and documented in the 2024 contract and they refused to do so and have terminated the 2024 Agreement, whilst our 2022 Builders Agreement remains in force. This is a material breach by ILCA of their own agreements where a minimum of seven days’ notice is required, not withstanding that PSA was not in default of any contractual condition.

Integrity

This matter is not a commercial dispute. It concerns the governance of the class, the protection of consumers, and the preservation of Olympic integrity created by Bruce Kirby and the one-class design. The Laser, now known as the ILCA Dinghy, is the largest dinghy class in the world with more than 200,000 boats in circulation. Its reputation depends entirely on the assurance that every boat is identical. The Laser is the Olympic class, but the new ILCA moulds are dimensionally different to the standard that was approved.

Since ILCA began issuing the non-compliant moulds in 2020, more than 8,000 boats have been built by other builders using this tooling. These boats do not conform to the original class specification. This prevents like-for-like sailing and fair competition which is essential for a one class design.

Anyone who has purchased one of these boats believing it to be class legal based upon information that was published on the ILCA website may, under consumer protection law, have grounds to seek a refund or compensation. This is not just a technical issue, it is a matter of product integrity, consumer rights, and class-wide honesty and transparency and appropriate independent governance.

Our position

PSA will not compromise its principles. We will not mislead consumers. We will not build boats from moulds that violate the one-design rule.

Every boat we build continues to come from original Kirby-licensed moulds, preserving the one-design standard. We build the Laser design which World Sailing recognises under the FRAND agreement and we do not hold a mandate to deviate from that specification. Nor did ILCA hold a mandate to deviate from that specification in 2020. We remain committed to our duty of honesty and transparency to our sailors and to the legacy of Bruce Kirby.

In 2020 ILCA could have used the opportunity to make changes to the design. Contractually and until 2024 this required the consent of Global Sailing and PSA. No design change requests were made and none were granted.

Conclusion

The controversy surrounding ILCA’s moulds highlights the importance of strong and impartial governance in an international sports governing body. Restoring confidence requires transparency, independent verification of class dimensions, and urgent governance reforms consistent with the International Olympic Committee standards.

PSA was not seeking any advantage of any commercial or market position in this matter . We only expect everyone in the boat park to know that they can compete equally, and the only variance is their skill as a sailor. PSA calls upon sailors, coaches, national authorities, and governing bodies to insist upon this accountability, now and petition ILCA before the November AGM to open that meeting to the whole class to address this and other concerns.

Next Steps

We have advised ILCA that we have no issue with the termination of the 2024 contract as neither they, or PSA can perform to the obligations based upon the defective ILCA moulds. ILCA has no right or reason to terminate our 2022 Builders contract, and we have proposed that during the next twelve months a committee is formed that would include World Sailing technical oversight to set and establish the build parameters for the fleet moving forward. This discussion has to start from and recognise that there are at least four different variations of the ILCA dingy already in the marketplace since 2020.

In the interim PSA will continue as planned with its sponsorship of ILCA Oceania, including the 2026 solidarity program in Tasmania, and the ILCA Under 21 Worlds in Melbourne in 2027 and the current UK ILCA Grand Prix series which were thrown into confusion following the inaccurate announcements by ILCA today and PSA will operate as usual under the existing and in force 2022 Builders Agreement.

In this matter, our only duty is to the sailors. We will always choose integrity as opposed to following an alternative course. We remain the custodians of the one-design tradition and stand firmly behind all the sailors who just want to have fun, compete honestly and of course win fairly.