A Clear Direction

Because of the investment made in creating and maintaining class activities that support a particular boat, we often find ourselves racing in the same boats in which our parents, and in some cases our grandparents, enjoyed their racing. Sailing is perhaps the only sport so rooted in science and technology, yet so tied to the past.

Most of us would think it absurd to be driving a car designed in 1950 or even 1970, much less being without a computer! Yet, how do you top thousands of sailors of all ages sailing or racing for fun in 30 year old Lasers?!

The past represents the absolute best in our sport while advances in technology represent the future. For a manufacturer, this represents a great challenge - support the past yet develop for the future!

Notwithstanding the status quo, the survival of the sport is ultimately dependent upon it developing and advancing with technological change at the grass roots level, even if it is to be ever so slowly!

We have been part of the dinghy revolution in the last half of the 20th century (see Company History) and we believe that what we are continuing to do is part and parcel of the future of the sport in this century - not just in what we sail but in how we sail it, how we learn to sail it and how we foster the all important community of the Classes.

We will continue to provide affordable, real performance oriented products supported by a highly competent sales and technical staff, while providing additional support for the Classes through direct financial assistance, the support on all levels of our class events and championships and a company-supported clinic and demo program throughout North America that will, hopefully, set the standard in the industry.

 

PS2000 - A Short History

Performance Sailcraft probably has the most prestigious history of any high performance dinghy builder in North America. With our origins in, firstly, the design and development of International 14s and then in the creation of the worldwide Laser phenomenon, the experience of our team in the design, development, building and marketing of performance dinghies is unparalleled.

Performance Sailcraft has its beginnings in 1960 when Ian Bruce returned from sailing in the Finn Olympics and sub-contracted the building of the Newport Finn in Canada under license. Then, in 1967, he finished his own International 14 from an English shell, built the first successful lightweight, self-depowering rig and went on to win two successive Prince of Wales Trophies, then emblematic of the Fourteen World Championship.

He and a friend, André Julien, then decided to get together to build more affordable 14s for the Canadian market and the Company was born. They built the Kirby Mk lll and Mk V International Fourteens and obtained the first license to build the new Australian designed Contender. But it was all being done as an exhausting, after hours hobby while the partners pursued their regular day jobs. They decided to close it down unless they could build a mass produced boat and turn it into a business. That boat was the Laser. Within three years Ian had opened majority-owned Performance Sailcraft production plants in eight countries and a licensee in California. The rest is history.

Since those early days, Performance has built, and supplied, these boats, in this order:

International Finn, the first Finn built in Canada - the Newport Finn International 14, Bruce Kirby Mk III and Mk V International Contender, first licensee outside Australia of a boat deemed too difficult to sail by the ordinary mortal! International Laser , nothing more need be said International Optimist, the first glass Opti designed and geared for production in North America by Ian Bruce after he saw thousands in Europe when he and Peter Bjorn sailed in the Star Olympics. It was 1972 - nobody understood! Many of these boats are still sailing International Tornado, hulls-only built as a sub-contract International Fireball, built for Junior YRA programs, it was immediately banned by the International Class because of its innovative deck International 470, a state of the art boat, licensed from Harken and built in original Vanguard moulds, but dropped from the line when the International Class allowed changes to the shape Tasar, a two-adult hiking boat, designed by Frank Bethwaite. Now a Recognized Class, It planed upwind 15 years ahead of its time. International Laser ll, the first high performance World Youth boat Laser Radial, rig designed by Ian Bruce and Hans Fogh and developed by Ian without the support of the International Class, the Laser Designer or Ian's own Board of Directors. He finished it on his own, in his small R&D company, and predicted, in writing, that it would one day surpass the Laser. It's close! Laser 28, 1983, very high performance cruiser-racer designed by Farr and built in the closed mould, VARI resin injection system Byte, the first real alternative Youth trainer for the lightweight male or female singlehander and the first dinghy class to receive ISAF Recognized Status International 29er, a completely new generation of boat - a true skiff destined to become the next World Youth Class Megabyte, a Farr designed performance singlehander catering to much heavier crew weights without a loss of performance Just launched - the 59er, Frank Bethwaite's revolutionary two person hiking skiff with the performance of some of today's double trapeze boats!

In 2002 we will add: Club 420, built to the North American C420 Class Rules and Specs. IOD 95 Optimist, its 30 years later and we still believe!!