The International Laser Class Association (ILCA) is pleased to confirm that Ovington Boats Ltd. is fully approved as our newest builder of class-legal boats. The UK based company has completed the rigorous builder approval process and has received approval from both the ILCA and World Sailing technical departments to begin production immediately.
Expect to see the first ILCA class-legal boats by Ovington at the UK Nationals, to be held 24-29 August at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, complete with World Sailing plaques — meaning these boats are legal for all class-sanctioned events including world and Olympic qualifiers. Boats will be manufactured from molds made from ILCA master tooling.
Over the five-month approval process, Ovington has proven its capability to manufacture boats in strict compliance with the Construction Manual, verified by a producing production sample in accordance with an over 150 point checklist.
Ovington’s approval comes in accordance with World Sailing’s Olympic Equipment Policy, which states that any interested and qualified manufacturer must have the opportunity to become a builder of Olympic equipment. To comply with this policy the International Laser Class boats built by Ovington and other new manufacturers will be sold under the ILCA brand in order to allow builders to sell boats in any part of the world without trademark restrictions.
About Ovington Boats
Ovington Boats was founded by Dave Ovington in 1975. Dave started off building traditional wooden boats and, in particular, race-winning Enterprises. With the search for lighter boats, Dave progressed to using glass fibre and developed the application of vacuum bagged foam sandwich construction. Sadly, in March 2005 Dave died suddenly – but his legacy lives on in the business and the people who have worked at Ovington Boats for many years.
Ovington Boats has become successful in the small boat building businesses specializing in the high-performance dinghy market. With a strong reputation for quality and service across a wide range of products including the manufacture of the Olympic Class 49er, ILCA is confident that Ovington will be a strong partner in building the class on a worldwide basis.
