ILCA Book

The Laser was launched just over 50 years ago and has now been renamed the ILCA dinghy and moved to multiple licensed builders. To reflect this change, the leading book on Laser Sailing since 1979, The Laser Book, has now been renamed The ILCA Book. In this latest update, it has also moved from a single author, with ILCA guru, Jon Emmett, joining the original author, Tim Davison. The ILCA Book covers the techniques and skills needed to succeed in ILCA sailing, for those starting out through to those striving to win their Club Championship. Whether you are a youngster moving up to an ILCA 4 or ILCA 6, or a club sailor looking to improve your results, the expert advice from the authors, plus contributions from Laser gold medallists, world champions and their coaches, will take your Laser sailing to the next level.

Beginning with setting up the boat, the book takes you through your early sailing experiences and caring for your Laser. Developing your skills on all points of sailing, you will then be introduced to race tuning and racing itself. This is detailed for all three rigs, including the latest sails and masts. Over 350 photographs show you exactly how it's done and 50 diagrams illustrate key boat parts, the different points of sailing and complex on-the-water scenarios with clarity. Whatever your background, your current level or the extent of your ambition, this book gives you all the tools you need to get out on the water and improve your ILCA sailing.

Praise for ILCA Book

"This book provides both the basics and so many of those details I spend my life looking for! This book tells you how. Jon Emmett has spent his life passionately involved in every level of the class. He has an unrivalled perspective on the class and what any sailor needs to know to improve. This latest ILCA Book provides excellent and up-to-date information that is valuable to any sailor … the best learning resource for the class."
— Micky Beckett, Team GBR ILCA 7 athlete, Paris 2024 Olympics

About the Authors

Tim Davison has owned 20 Lasers over 40 years and medalled at World and European championships. He has won the British Moth National Championships 5 times and cruised extensively from Sweden to Turkey and across the Atlantic. He is author of over 18 sailing books, with The Laser Book being his first and most successful, and the title that launched Fernhurst Books when first published in 1979.

Jon Emmett is a successful Laser Radial sailor, representing the UK internationally for over 15 years. A professional coach and expert dinghy sailor, he is a National, European and World champion, impressively having won the UK National Championships three times! He is also a yacht racing tactician who lectures on tactics and racing and is the training officer for the UK Laser Class Association. The British sailor coached Chinese Laser Radial sailing star Lijia Xu to a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

About Fernhurst Books

Fernhurst Books was founded in 1979, initially publishing books related to dinghy racing. The list soon expanded to include cruising and other watersports. In 2006 the business was sold to John Wiley, but in 2013 a group of sailing enthusiasts (including the original founder) bought the list and name back, once again creating an independent nautical publisher owned and run by sailors. Fernhurst continues to publish books that instruct, inform and inspire those with a passion on, in or under the water. Their 140+ titles range from how-to guides to narrative to coffee-table books, covering sailing, surfing, canoeing, kayaking, stand up paddleboarding, swimming, diving and fishing.