Technology


Tailored solution


Improved hiking is perhaps the biggest single key to improving Laser/ ILCA sailor performance. Musto have tackled the task head-on with specific and focussed innovations


It is a fact that a large part of the global popularity of the ILCA, (formerly known as the Laser), comes down to a design that pits sailor against sailor in identical boats. But among those that compete in this class at the highest level, it is also common knowledge that modern technology can and does make a significant difference. For Musto it is the combination of these two key factors that is at the heart of what could be one of the biggest potential advances for ILCA sailors. For all the close scrutiny of


minute details that is required to get to and stay at the top, there is one unavoidable hard and fast rule to improving performance in this class – hiking harder and for longer makes you go faster. This is of course true in any boat


where hiking is allowed, but in the ILCA hiking hurts more than most thanks to side decks that have the ergonomics of a domestic ironing board, which, given its padding, is probably more comfortable. When the breeze gets up, some even refer to the ILCA as an instrument of torture. Yet love it or loathe it, the fact remains that ILCA-induced pain is the same for everyone. But Musto and the British Sailing


Team believed that this didn’t have to be the case and that even in a


58 SEAHORSE


class that is so strictly controlled, there was room and opportunity to create a legal advantage through helping sailors to generate more righting moment by hiking harder. ‘When I joined Musto it became


clear, very quickly that hiking pants are not something you can design and prototype within a few weeks before going into production,’ said Hugh Brayshaw, Musto’s marketing product manager. ‘The partnership with the British


team, who played an essential part in the development of these pants, started in 2018 although the original development began even earlier than that. So, it’s been a long road to this point but one that has delivered a product that is now proving itself on the race course.’ The recent Princesa Sofia Trophy


in Mallorca, Spain provided strong evidence following Micky Beckett’s impressive victory in the ILCA 7 fleet in what was a consistently breezy regatta. Beckett is one of a select group of sailors that have been working with Musto on the hiking pants and for him, the starting point is clear.


‘Success in the ILCA comes down


to getting the fundamentals right,’ he said. ‘This is a class that is not evolving on the technical front like, say, the Moth, so what matters is


racing


an ILCA (formerly known as the Laser dinghy) is notoriously and brutally hard on the legs. He or she who can hike hardest, for longest, frequently wins and so better hiking pants can deliver a real competitive advantage


precision in the small amount of kit that you can change and the precision in your own technique that will get you to the top. And that all takes time.’ In the women’s ILCA6 fleet


Hannah Snellgrove came away from Palma with a silver medal and was equally sure about the route to success in this fleet. ‘Today there are different builders


of the ILCA and people are talking about investing in trying different boats to see what they're like and what the measurements are. But at the end of the day, yes, there's a bit


LLOYD IMAGES/BRITISH SAILING TEAM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120