In the face of strong competition, the Royal Varuna Yacht Club (RVYC) has secured the rights to hold the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 Masters Worlds in Pattaya, Thailand, in 2023: unbelievably 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 local area and 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 HERE.

The Master sailors from RVYC are stepping up to the challenge and are organizing training weekends once a month (usually one of the last two weekends of the month) for the remainder of 2022. The sailors have been promised Masters-specific coaching from K. Veerasit (Lim), who represented Thailand in the Laser class at the Sydney Olympics 2000, supplemented by guest coaches. So far, 22 participants are registered, but numbers are expected to grow from September onwards now that it is easy to travel to Thailand again. As of May, fully-vaccinated international travellers are welcome in Thailand, with no other pre-conditions required for entry to The Land of Smiles.

These training weekends are open for all Masters ILCA sailors (age 30+), for the modest fee of THB 1,200 (USD 35) for a two-day weekend or THB 1,800 (USD 52) for 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 training weekend might consist of longer courses/exercises on Friday; working on starts and specific skills over two sessions on Saturday; and racing/individual coaching on Sunday. In the initial months of the programme, training 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.