In the Olympic Games, 'Laser' (now called ILCA) is a class of boat used in which sport?

The Laser is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy (a boat sailed by one person). It has been used as an Olympic sailing class since 1996 for men and 2008 for women. Since the 2024 Paris Olympics, the boats are officially known by the class name "ILCA", after the International Laser Class Association.

Laser/ILCA classes:

• ILCA 7 (earlier called the Laser Standard): used in the men's one-person dinghy event.
• ILCA 6 (earlier called the Laser Radial): uses a smaller sail and is used in the women's one-person dinghy event.

The boat is about 4.2 m (13 feet 10 inches) long, with a single sail. It was designed by Bruce Kirby of Canada in 1970.

The Laser is one of the most popular sailing dinghies in the world because it is simple, strong and affordable, so competition is very close.

Other Olympic sailing classes:

• 49er and 49erFX: two-person skiffs for men and women.
• Nacra 17: a mixed two-person catamaran.
• iQFOiL: windsurfing boards with hydrofoils.
• Formula Kite: kite-boarding, introduced at Paris 2024.

India and Olympic sailing:

• At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, India qualified in four sailing events for the first time.
• Nethra Kumanan became the first Indian woman sailor to qualify for the Olympics, in the Laser Radial class.

Vishnu Saravanan competed in the Laser Standard class, and the pair K. C. Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar competed in the 49er class.

At Paris 2024, Nethra Kumanan and Vishnu Saravanan again represented India.

India's best Olympic-class sailing results have come at the Asian Games, where Indian sailors have won several medals.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Rowing uses boats such as single sculls and eights, propelled by oars.
• ✗Canoeing uses canoes and kayaks propelled by paddles.
• ✗Surfing, added to the Olympics in 2020, uses surfboards, not boats.