ILCA UK Chair blog #116

Dec 9

I am sure there was limited sailing this weekend, but we did manage a couple of races at Queen Mary on Sunday. Tough conditions greeted the 13 sailors with a cold northerly with big gusts of 25 to 30 knots and massive shifts. Best to describe the conditions as “survival” but exhilarating all the same. So what to make of the conditions? I wrote the following for our group, which may interest some of you.

Upwind stability is the key to keeping the boat moving quickly and up to 25 knots this usually means lots of mainsheet trimming (dumping it in the gusts) to keep the heel steady and the boat moving. When the gusts are 25 knots and over and swinging through 25 degrees, I think the emphasis shifts to steering - rapid push away of tiller before the boat heels in a lift and rapid pull of the tiller in a header – all with the aim of keeping the heel steady (easier said than done). Lots of kicker above 25 knots if fast if you can manage it but the boat is very susceptible to stalling, especially in a big, sudden, heading gust as the boat slows. So I often ease it a little to make it easier to steer. In any case, I can’t get under the boom with kicker fully on, so must ease it a bit for tacks. The trick is the push the tiller hard to get through the tack quickly and avoid stalling. It your kicker is still tight, ease the mainsheet right off after the tack to rebuild speed and avoid stalling. Running in these conditions is quite stable, if you go slightly by the lee with the mainsheet at 75 degrees (the leech will be at 90). In the big gusts coming up slightly on to a board reach is usually a disaster, as the boat is hard to control at speed.

The main part of the blog this week comes from Tim Law. He has been a Great Grand Master World Champion several times but was also British National Champion 50 years ago this summer:

I feel a little daunted writing this following on from our Chairman’s excellent previous missives. He has asked me to write this to offer my reflection on my very long and happy association with this special little dinghy we now call an ILCA.

Before the Laser/ ILCA came into my life I learned to sail and race when I was about seven in an International Cadet initially crewing my elder brother Chris sailing on the river Thames near Teddington. We were never taught or given lessons like is the norm now we just had fun learning by experience! The first year we raced we came literally last in every single race until one hot and light wind Saturday afternoon at the end of that summer when we managed somehow to drift across the finish line in first place. I was so excited I tapped my brother on his thigh probably too hard in order to congratulate him and he responded by punching me !

Chris was always very focused and probably as a consequence went on to be a member of four Olympic teams and I didn’t ! After I left school I didn’t sail for a some time as I went to work driving a delivery van around London to earn enough money to be able go travelling around the world. When I returned from that trip in May 1975 I looked out of the window of my Dad’s flat and noticed a little yellow racing dinghy sitting on the grass below. My Dad told me that it was a new type of singlehanded dinghy then called a Laser that he had bought and that I should have a go in it as he felt that he was too old at fifty five years old to handle it !

Taking up that opportunity but not owning a roof rack I loaded the boat onto a mattress and then onto my old minivan and drove it up to Queen Mary Sailing Club where there happened to be an Open meeting that weekend I entered that event and had my first wonderful Laser sailing experience which has had me hooked ever since.

I liked everything about the Laser and still feel the same about the modern ILCA today , nearly fifty years later, particularly because of the total one design concept that fully tests the sailors physical, mental and tactical strengths because everyone has the same kit. Those attributes lay the foundation for the ILCA for it to become the most popular racing dinghy in the world catering for men and women, young and old.

The phenomenal success of the ILCA and its popularity is due to Ian Bruce and Bruce Kirby’s excellent strict one design but I believe also due the constitution of a very effective International Class association backed up by strong National and regional Class associations, with the U.K. Class association always being a stand out. Having that strict one design concept involving minimal expensive fittings etc made the ILCA obviously more affordable to a wider audience. The strict licensing by the Class association of the worldwide builders has maintained this one design goal and means we can now travel anywhere around the U.K. and the world and borrow/ charter a boat that feels just like your own boat that you race at home.

But the class has also recognised the benefits of allowing gradual and careful development of the boat and its equipment such as more effective and practical control lines. My current ILCA 7 essentially offers me the same challenge as did my Laser in 1975 but over the subsequent years parts such as the original wooden grab rails, tiller, rudder blade and centreboard have been upgraded to modern materials and the new sail has been evolved significantly from the original very light cloth Dacron sail. And of course since those early days both the ILCA 6 and ILCA 4 have been introduced to compliment the original Standard ILCA 7 offering the more people the opportunity to join in on the fun.

After that wonderful first weekend Open meeting at QMSC I spent the next five years racing in most of the UK Laser events and qualified for the second ever Senior Worlds at Keil in 1976 and then the next two Worlds after that in Brazil and Australia which were and are still unforgettable events. I met and made many friends during those times racing Lasers who I am still racing now having rather belatedly joined with them competing in the fantastic ILCA Masters circuit. I have recently competed in events in lovely places such as Oman, New Zealand , Mexico and all over Europe.

Ian Bruce and Bruce Kirby thought they were just designing a boat and they did but by creating the ILCA the way they did they have also created a fraternity of people around the world who all share the same values and the same an appreciation of their little creation. And their ILCA has also helped develop a group of international sailors who are unsurpassed in their achievements at the Olympics and Americas Cup Such as Sir Russel Coutts and Sir Ben Ainslie. Early this year I watched from the water the best ILCA sailors race in the really windy Senior Worlds off Adelaide in Australia. It was the most impressive sailing I have ever experienced. These modern ILCA sailors are great athletes and have taken our sport to a level I could never have imagined back when I first raced the then Laser in 1975. They are also great people who are more than happy to support and help Class members and particularly Masters sailors. Our own rock star Micky Beckett has been fantastic, and doing just that coaching a group of us over the past couple of years.

Since 1975 I have always owned an ILCA and I plan to always own one. The ILCA and the class are an important part of my and my family’s lives. Next year will mark 50 years since I first won the National Championships at Paignton and it is my intention to enter for the 2025 Nationals at Pwllheli with my current aim of not finishing last !

Here’s to the next fifty years of ILCA fun.

ILCA UK Events

See our calendar for training and also our first Youth Series event at Datchet on 1st/2nd February.

Other news

ILCA UK - Dinghy Show Information, including Discount code!

RYA Wales new ILCAs

Inlands photos here

Noble Marine ILCA UK ILCA 6 Inland Championships at Grafham Water Sailing Club

Noble Marine ILCA UK ILCA 4 Inland Championships at Grafham Water Sailing Club

Noble Marine ILCA 7 ILCA UK Inland Championships at Grafham Water Sailing Club

ILCA Qualifier 6 WPNSA Day 2 October 2024 – no racing but loads of photos here and here

ILCA UK Women’s Regatta video (new)