Tom Higgins of the Royal St. George Yacht Club
Royal St. George Yacht Club sailor Tom Higgins from Dun Laoghaire Harbour has finished the opening day of racing in the Men's Laser Radial fleet of the European Championships second place overall.
The Polish-based championship in Gdansk is led by local sailor Filip Ciszkiewicz POL (6-1) with 7 points, closely followed by Higgins IRL (4-4) and Dutch helmsman Paul Hameeteman NED (7-3).
30 sailors are competing.
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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
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