The Royal Varuna Yacht Club (RVYC) has secured the rights to hold ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 Masters Worlds in Pattaya, Thailand, in February 2023 - and that's only 8 months away.
ILCA 6 and 7 are the classes which were previously called Laser Radial and Laser Standard. It is expected that between 150-200 sailors will attend each event, so it will be huge, even by the lofty standards of past RVYC events. Having these numbers of competitors in Thailand will, of course, bring benefits to the area and potentially the country, as many will undoubtably take the opportunity to see other parts of Thailand when they are here to race.
ILCA 6 Masters Worlds starts on Wednesday February 8, 2023, with ILCA 7 following suit on Saturday February 18. Full details will be posted at sailing.laserinternational.org/site/events-list when available.
The Master sailors from RVYC are stepping up to the challenge by organizing 2/3 day training weekends on the third or fourth weekend of each month for the remainder of 2022. The sailors have been promised Masters-specific coaching from Veerasit Puangnak (Lim) who represented Thailand in the Laser class at the Sydney Olympics 2000, supplemented by guest coaches. So far the maximum number of participants is 22, but numbers are expected to grow from September onwards, now that it is easy to travel to Thailand again. For those not quite up to date - since 01 May, international travellers are welcome in Thailand as long as they are fully vaccinated. There are no other pre-conditions for entry to The Land of Smiles.
These weekends are open for all Masters ILCA sailors (age 30+), for the modest fee of 1,200 baht (USD 35) for a two-day weekend or 1,800 baht (USD 52) on a three-day weekend. Charter boats are available, either for the weekends, or for the entire training period, with or without the Masters Worlds events.
A typical weekend could consist of longer courses/exercises (Friday); working on starts and specific skills (Saturday, two sessions), and racing/individual coaching (Sunday). Over the 13 months the programme is running, training has already started with particular focus on boat handling and skills development, and will move towards starts, speed, and race craft closer to the Worlds. It will also be feasible to participate in two or three major Thai races throughout the year, not to mention the Thailand Nationals which will be scheduled immediately prior to the Masters Worlds in order to encourage more international competitors to participate.
Highly convenient accommodation is available at RVYC at very reasonable rates, and - most importantly - there will be free refreshments at the RVYC Beach Bar after each Saturday's de-brief.
If you want to take part in the coaching, contact the Varuna sailors on masters.coaching@varuna.org
For questions on participation in the Masters Worlds, please contact event.rvyc@gmail.com