Performance Sailcraft Australia (PSA) has lost its International Laser Class Association (ILCA) approved builder status.
In a statement, ILCA says it has exercised its right to withdraw PSA’s builder approval with immediate effect following contractual breaches by PSA.
As a result, PSA is no longer an ILCA-approved builder and can no longer build and sell class-legal boats and equipment.
In addition, PSA is no longer eligible to receive World Sailing plaques, which must be obtained through ILCA and affixed to all new boats built under the ILCA Class Rules.
However, PSA has hit back and says the action was not the result of PSA failing in its obligations.
Misleading sailors and consumers
Instead, PSA says it was the result of its refusal to mislead sailors and consumers regarding the integrity of new ILCA moulds that were introduced by ILCA in 2020.
PSA says it has built dinghies to the Bruce Kirby one-design standard for 55 years and the boats are built with accuracy, transparency, and respect for the principle of one-design sailing.
But the boatbuilder says the ILCA 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 received new moulds supplied by ILCA in November 2024, however technical staff identified that the hulls produced from these moulds were shorter and materially different from those built under the original licensed Bruce Kirby tooling.
Moulds remain inconsistent
PSA says it has since engaged with ILCA in discussions, but ILCA has not taken corrective action.
“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,” said PSA’s statement.
“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.”
The statement continued: “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.”
Consumer protection
The matter 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, says PSA.
The statement concluded: “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.”
The Laser, now known as the ILCA Dinghy, is the largest dinghy class in the world with more than 200,000 boats in circulation.
8,000 boats ‘do not conform’
PSA alleges that since ILCA began issuing the non-compliant moulds in 2020, more than 8,000 boats have been built by other builders using the tooling.
The boats do not conform to the original class specification whichprevents like-for-like sailing and fair competition which is essential for a one class design.
Existing boats with a valid World Sailing plaque on the aft cockpit face remains class-legal and fully eligible for ILCA-sanctioned racing, says ILCA.
