World Sailing and Olympic sailors pay tribute to Bruce Kirby

Sailors racing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition have paid tribute to Bruce Kirby, the designer of the Laser / ILCA boat after he passed away at the age of 92.

Kirby is one of the best-known names in sailing and was involved at the sport at all levels including the Olympic Games and the America’s Cup. He represented Canada at three Olympic Games with his last coming at the Tokyo 1964 Games in Enoshima, the venue of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Very much the founding father of the Laser / ILCA, his famed first rough sketch was done whilst he was on the phone and after its launch in 1971, more than 220,000 Laser hulls have been built worldwide with 44 Laser Radial / ILCA 6 and 35 Laser / ILCA 7 of those in Enoshima. Being relatively affordable, the Laser fleet is the biggest in the world among the Olympic classes and is used for the Emerging Nations Program of World Sailing.

President of World Sailing, Quanhai Li, led the tributes, commenting, “On behalf of World Sailing, I would like to send my condolences to Bruce Kirby’s family and friends. He was a tremendous ambassador for the sport and very much paved the way for generations of sailors who raced and enjoyed his creations. His efforts both on and off the water have ensured his legacy in the sport will live on.”

Sailors on-site at Tokyo 2020 gathered to pay their respects around one of the Laser boats that will start racing at Tokyo 2020 on Sunday 25 July. Pavlos Kontides from Cyprus highlighted some of the assets of this one-design class, the first of the single manufacturer one designs that are now prolific in the sport, “Even though it is a bit oldish, because it was designed in the 70s, the Laser is a wonderful and enjoyable boat. The equipment at the Olympics is supplied by the organisation, so the competition is really testing the sailors’ skills, which harvests the true spirit of the Olympics.”

“Bruce Kirby did not just design a boat, he created the Laser family,” German sailor Philipp Buhl affirmed.

Lola Moreira from Uruguay commented that the sailing world has lost one of its figures. “He was three times Olympian and sailed in the same waters of Enoshima where we will be competing from Sunday, so I hope we can well honour him with good and exciting racing.”

Racing in the Laser and Laser Radial starts on Sunday 25 July and runs through to Sunday 1 August with the Medal Races.

By Daniel Smith and Neus Jordi – World Sailing