UKLA Chair blog #57
Distraction management with Micky and Hannah ………..
A couple of things to call out at the start. First for ILCA4s, there are two open meetings this weekend that are part of the RYA RTG selection process – a two-day event at Carsington for the North and Midlands RTGs and a one day event at Datchet for the East, South East and London regions. UKLA calendar
Secondly, would you like to see British Sailing Team and Squad sailors racing at your club? Well more than 10 of them were racing last weekend at Paignton Sailing Club in the ILCA6 and ILCA7. Now the UKLA is looking for venues for our weekend national events (Qualifiers) in 2024 and beyond. These should be sea venues anywhere in UK but we would like to hear from more away from the south coast. You will need to be able to cater for 150 to 200 sailors both on the racecourse and the boat park. We can support and compliment you with UKLA race management and safety as well as a great team of volunteers. These events normally take place in March and September/October. We would love to hear from you.
Talking about Paignton, we had a great Q&A with Micky Beckett and Hannah Snellgrove on the Saturday evening. These are two of the top sailors in the world talking openly about their highlights and lowlights from the season. It was fascinating to hear from them about their processes when things don’t go perfectly. One theme was around refocussing on “little” successes, for instance getting a good start in the next race, and then building on those successes. Hannah talked about the need to keep doing the “right” things as you can’t control what you can’t control including what other competitors do and routines have a big role to play in this. Micky talked about how he learns from mistakes by talking in depth with his coaches about situations on the water.
Sailing is such a multi-faceted sports with the need for, among other things, boat handling and boat speed, fitness and skills in strategy and tactics, but mental preparation and training is often underrated. After a poor start, it is easy to get distracted and as we all know, often it is difficult to recover especially in certain conditions (a 10 knot non-shifting sea-breeze?), but thinking about how you blew the start or losing your cool will certainly not help. Our response to these situations is a learned one that needs practising – it doesn’t happen automatically (at least for most of us). As well as distraction management during a race, we need to manage expectations between races. Most top athletes will try to focus on performance rather results, but we need to know ourselves. For me, I know I have a natural tendency to do well after a poor performance, but less well after a good performance and I need to manage that. Others derive confidence from a good performance, finding it easier to replicate it.
Snippets:
The RYA and British Sailing Team are looking for an ILCA6 coach. See here for more information
There are 13 Grands Prix in 6 regions in Sept and Oct
The second autumn Qualifer is at WPNSA which is also Masters event (entries will open 20th September 2023)
The final qualifer at WPNSA will feature a separate series and start for girls/women in the ILCA4 - it is an open event (entries will open 20th September 2023)
There’s open training in Wales and WPNSA at Oct half term and then the Inlands at Draycote and the Masters Inlands at Grafham.
Nationals Youtube report ILCA6 and ILCA4/ILCA7
UKLA Chair blog#56
Annual report………
As ever at this time of year, we end the busy summer period with an even busier autumn period. See the Snippets below for more information. I have provided the annual UKLA Chair report below prior to the AGM this weekend in Paignton - it is open for last chance entries until midnight!
Later in the autmun I would like to have forum with regional co-ordinators of Grands Prix and anyone else interested to plan for next year and discuss suggestions and future ideas. Let me know if you are interested.
UKLA Chair report – July 22 to August 23
The class remains in robust health, attracting ILCA sailors across the rigs and age groups. Our inclusive approach is leading to growth in many areas. Let’s look at the numbers.
Our membership continues to be strong, ending 2022 with 1,027 members. Through to early September our 2023 membership total is 988 so with the autumn schedule attracting more new members we are likely to end up at around 1,050.
These figures though don’t tell the full story. Our weekly Chair blog goes to about 2,200 people and our main Facebook channel has 3,700 followers. Our three 2023 Winter virtual training sessions have had almost 15,000 views.
Around the country there are around 50 Grands Prix every year and our Super Sunday in June attracted over 500 participants from 42 clubs, despite the weather and probably a significant under-recording.
Looking at UKLA run event numbers, the Master Nationals had 130 entries compared to 102 in 2022 and the Nationals had around 245 entries despite a clash with Poole Week. Our Qualifiers and Inlands in the autumn attracted almost 700 entries while the three Qualifiers in Spring 2023 had almost 400 entries, this latter being down by about 20 on 2022 mainly because of a clash with the Senior Europeans.
UKLA Training continues to be popular. In 2022 we did almost 2,000 sailor training days and Spring 2023 continued to attract significant numbers, up 25% on the same period in 2022.
Below I have listed some of the initiatives and actions taken this year but I would like to mention our volunteers. Our activities need the support of volunteers both on the water and off the water and I would like to thank all of those that helped during the year. This includes our volunteer Race Management teams and Jury members as well as well parents and others attending events. We have had a thriving committee who have worked incredibly hard on your behalf during the year. We are also thankful for the commitment and passion of our part time class secretary Ellie.
UKLA Committee 22/23
· Chair – Mark Lyttle
· Vice-Chair /Youth Rep – Ben Nicholls
· Sailing Sec – Keith Videlo
· Training Officer – Tim Hulse
· Treasurer – Steve Taylor
· Measurer – Alan Davis
· Media and Sponsorship – Guy Noble
· Masters rep – Alison Stevens (finished in July)
· ILCA7 – Sam Whaley
· ILCA6- Jane Sunderland
· ILC44 – Pamela Cross
· Safeguarding and Female Rep – Fiona Attwell
· Governance – Gary Finkelstein
· Grand Prix co-ordinator – Richard Mason (finished in June)
· Nationals co-ordinator – Tony Woods
Sailing
• We produced a detailed survey on 2022 Nationals and implemented recommendations for the 2023 Nationals which was considered by many to be hugely successful and based on the proven model inspired by Tony Woods – Tony leaves the committee after the maximum six years with our thanks.
• We ran 11 National events sustaining or increasing numbers and making improvements including:- - Addressing behaviour issues at our events (with a new Misconduct policy in operation)
- Standardising our safety protocols and procedures so that all UKLA major events are run in the same way. This consistent approach allows us to
· Safely run events in multiple locations
· Integrate host club volunteers into our operation
· Increase our operational window so that events can safety run in 25knots and no sailors who want to sail are left on the beach.
· Encourage new volunteers to play an active role in UKLA events.
- Refining our overall volunteering strategy for both our events and running UKLA including promotion of roles and rewarding volunteers (although more work is needed on this)
• HISC and UKLA won a bid to host the 2025 Masters Europeans
• We are encouraging more adult women and older teenagers to sail the ILCA4 – we introduced the ILCA4 at the Masters Nationals, promoted the main Nationals for ILCA4s as an open event and one of our Qualifiers in autumn 2023 will have a separate women start for ILCA4s. In the UK it is an open class while internationally it is mostly an U18 class.
• We have also encouraged club ILCA7 sailors at our Qualifiers (with limited success so far) and Master events (with improved numbers)
• Alison Stevens stepped down as Masters rep after a number of years of great effort – many thanks for her efforts.
Training
• We have implemented and refined the National training programme for all rigs
• We have provided more volunteer administration support for training (thanks to Lisa, Jo and Lorna) to allow massive increase in training capacity
• We updated UKLA Training Terms and Conditions to address performance standards in National training, refunds and exclusions for poor behaviour
• We have better numbers attending ILCA7s National training and are investigating National Development Group working collaboratively with the RYA, although progress has stalled with the RYA review of their Pathway
• We implemented a UKLA led virtual winter education / training programme for club sailors – there were three sessions with Tim Hulse, Micky Beckett and Daisy Collingridge /Matilda Nicholls - these have had over 15,000 views in less than seven months!
Comms and Media
• We communicated with over 2,200 ILCA sailors weekly with over 55 Chair blogs
• We updated website ILCA.uk to improve access to information - underlying current views are up 26% on last year
• We posted about the success of British Sailing Team and others at international competitions through Facebook to our 3,700 followers
• We re-activated twitter feed for ILCA race reports on Y&Y
• We created a WhatsApp group of club class captains female masters and implemented and setup and managed UKLA WhatsApp groups for each rig and training
Sponsors
• We were delighted to add Rooster as a class sponsor to add to Ovington, Noble Marine, Sailingfast, Southeast sailboats, Harken, Fernhurst books.
• For those sponsoring the Nationals, we had our first sponsors village and my thanks go to Propverse and David Surkov in stepping forward to fund pizza night. And of course thanks go to Wildwind for the holiday at the Masters Nationals and Dinghy Show for Grand Prix participation.
Inclusivity
• We conducted a Female participation survey and received 108 responses which were summarised in Blog #35. We have now formed new working group (FIS – females in ILCA sailing) headed by Fiona Attwell and Sarah Stephens to help implement some of the actions identified. Our female membership has increased from 19% to 22%.
Clubs and Open Meetings
• For most of the year, our efforts were led by Richard Mason and I would like to thank him for his efforts and passion.
• Our GP circuit was up and running once again and we continued to run a number of Super Grands Prix and Club training sessions
• Our Super Sunday initiated by Richard had over 500 sailors on the water on 25th June despite near gale force conditions on the south coast
International
• GBR sailors continue to attend international events, mainly Worlds and Europeans, in large numbers and we provide support to them. We believe attendance helps with the development of younger sailors in building independence and resilience
• We updated our Senior Qualification document for international events
• We also participated in the RYA Pathway review that is currently underway
Snippets:
Last chance entries for Paignton here (to Monday evening). Please book Saturday meal in advance.
There are 13 Grands Prix in 6 regions in Sept and Oct
The second autumn Qualifer is at WPNSA whiich is also Masters event (entires will open soon)
The final qualifer at WPNSA will feature a seprate series and start for girls/women in the ILCA4 - it is an open event (entires will open soon)
There’s open training in Wales and WPNSA at Oct half term and then the Inlands at Draycote and the Masters Inland at Grafham
Nationals Youtube report ILCA6 and ILCA4/ILCA7
Club training in East this winter. If any clubs want their training posted please let me know (it should be open).
UKLA Chair blog #55
Post summer sailing …………
As many readers of this blog know, ILCA sailing in the UK is a broad church and one that I support wholeheartedly. I try to write things that appeal to many sailors so last week when I wrote about my exploits at the Nationals, it was not to report on that event (see Y&Y and FB for the event reports) but to relate to sailors across the country doing club racing and Grands Prix.
There’s a back to school feeling around sailing at this time of year where we have a couple of months before the winter closes in. It is a time of year to reconnect with club racing with the summer holidays over and our Nationals finished. Our calendar also shows many open meetings in that period – so why not re-energise your racing by going along to one of them? I can see Grands Prix in six regions in Sept and Oct and these provide the perfect opportunity for club sailors to head further afield. If you look back at previous blogs I have tried to provide a template for improving your ILCA sailing, in particular blog#37 and some follow-up ones.
I know many of you are Masters – so why not build up to the Masters Inlands at the end of Oct in Grafham? We welcome competent club sailors and of course it is an inland venue so a bit easier on the body than sea sailing! That event will feature ILCA4s again so we encourage lighter sailors to come along in that rig.
We will also be shortly publishing our open training schedule. We also have three Qualifiers (basically high quality open meetings) in the autumn and the Inlands in Draycote. I see most of the British Sailing Team have entered the Sept event in Paignton – why not come and sail against them?
We also have an exciting trial in the final Qualifier at WPNSA. The following feedback from the Female Participation survey (blogs #26 and #35), we plan separate starts for boys and girls in the ILCA4 fleet. So we want to encourage as many girls /women to come a race, remembering that the ILCA4 is an open age class in the UK. Even if you are over 18 come and join us or if you race an ILCA6, why not drop down for the weekend?
Finally following success of Super Sunday in June, what about a Super Sunday at the start of the frostbite season in November?
UKLA Chair blog #54
Thoughts on the Nationals
What a great week we had at the Nationals in Hayling Island !
It was sunny most of the week with decent light to moderate winds giving some glamorous days on the water (even though we lost one day). These events do not happen without super volunteering at the event both on and off the water and my thanks to everyone that helped both from HISC and UKLA. Not all participants fully understand the planning and complexity of almost 250 competitors and their supporters across two race courses and three fleets and I appreciate the efforts of those of you assisting for many months in the preparation of the event.
It is worth appreciating the diversity of our fleet. We have an age range from young teenagers to those in their seventies. We have club sailors to full time British sailing squad members. We had 60 female sailors including 42% of the ILCA4 fleet that also included some masters sailors. We had sailors from Scotland to Cornwall as well as a bunch of international visitors In the ILCA7 and we had 6 parents racing who had children in one of the fleets. That’s what makes our class so strong.
The standard seemed so much higher this year racing in the ILCA7 fleet (and I am sure in others) with an influx of experienced younger sailors and some of the elite sailors. So I thought I would share a couple personal observations on my racing.
I managed to get to the first mark in or around the top 10 in half the races. Why these and not more ? Well getting off the line and holding a lane was very hard and apart from a small number of the very fast sailors, a fluffed start meant even a top 20 at the first mark was hard. Boat handling to protect your position on the line is a core skill. I did notice a couple of other master sailors getting excellent top 3 first mark roundings - Nick Harrison won the pin in the light air race (although a foot over the line in the end) and he did it again at the Committee Boat in another race as did Stuart Hudson both heading right on the beat and holding off most of the fleet. They certainly showed what was possible with a good start.
However a good start was not sufficient ! As Ben Elvin said at one of the daily prize givings, boat speed was probably the main determinant especially in the first half of the regatta. The top sailors are able to keep the boat moving quickly upwind in the gusts and lulls, steering high in the flat bits and sustaining speed a bit lower on the bigger waves that can slow you down. This marginal speed difference over several minutes is enough to free them to make their own tactical decisions - the old adage that a bit of boat speed makes you look like a tactical genius !
For me the biggest speed difference was downwind in marginal surfing conditions - mastering the techniques requires lots of practice and time on the water and this is where the top sailors come into their own. I did find though that their advantage narrows once it is possible to surf most the waves and link them together.
After some good starts and some decent boat speed, avoiding major mistakes is imperative and I made a certainly made fair number of them ! First race, first mark, on port tack crossing the starboard lay line, I hailed to go past two starboard tackers (by calling me through they round the mark ahead) but failed to do the same with a third on starboard - result was a 720 and 15 or more places lost. I put this down to a lack of recent racing in a big fleet. Worse was to follow …. third race of the day in 13 to 15 knots, feeling tired but strong on the second beat and in the top 10, I dropped the mainsheet ducking a port tacker, capsizing to windward. I struggled to pull myself up inside the cockpit and then get my leg over the hull on to the daggerboard. When the boat did come up, I went over again and I found myself in the water a second time. A minute later I was back upright in the cockpit totally out of breathe having lost all will to continue. For us masters of a certain age staying in the boat rather than the water is essential as it was amazing to go from total control to zero control in a few minutes. (Talking about this afterwards it was suggested that it is best to release the kicker straightaway as it avoids a further capsize and this seems to me to be correct).
Of course, even with a good start and decent speed, heading the wrong way is certainly a major mistake! It happened to many of us who kept going left after the start of the second last race. The difference was profound as heading hard right out of the tide was way better.
Even though some of these lessons have been learnt before I have resolved to try and avoid making the same mistakes for the rest of this season!
Visit the event website to access all results and write ups which include all media content
Snippets:
Youth Open 2-3rd September (Royal Lymington YC)
This event is part of the Youth Ladder.
Available until Wednsday, 30/08/2023
UKLA Qualifier 4 - 16-17th September (Paignton SC)
Available until 11/09/2023
UKLA Chair blog #53
This week’s blog is fully dedicated to highlighting events that are happening in the next few months
ILCA SKILLS WEEK - 14-18th August (WPNSA)
All training places are sold out, but we have spaces left on Power Boat, Safety Boat and Mark Laying courses. BBQ tickets for sailors are included, but supporters/parents need to pre-book and pay online.
PB2, SB & ML - available until Saturday 12/08/2023
BBQ - available until Saturday 12/08/2023
Open and National Championships - 20 - 26th August (HISC)
Available until TOMORROW - Wednesday 09/08/2023 - No entries will be accept after the closing date.
We need more volunteers on shore and on water to make things run smoothly. Please contribute to the success of this event
Super Grand Prix - 12 - 13th August (Castle Cove SC)
Training is now sold out, but you can still join the social event on Saturday evening and racing on Sunday
Racing tickets - available until Thursday 10/08/2023
Youth Open 2-3rd September (Royal Lymington YC)
This event is part of the Youth Ladder.
Available until Wednsday, 30/08/2023
Super Grand Prix - 2-3rd September (Plas Heli SC)
Open to all - Available until 30/08/2023
UKLA Qualifier 4 - 16-17th September (Paignton SC)
Available until 11/09/2023
UKLA AGM 2023 - 16th September (Paignton SC)
Nominations to be sent by 19/08/2023
There are also many Grand Prix events happening across the country almost every week and we are slowly releasing dates for Autumn training.
UKLA Chair blog #52
It is amazing how many races are lost before they start! We have all done it – not launching in time to make the start, missing or broken equipment (even a back bung), not understanding the start process (Black, U and P flag), sailing the wrong course or perhaps worst arriving at the start line well in time to assess the wind and then getting stranded too far upwind of the line in a dying breeze. Most of this can be mitigated with a well-practised pre-start routine.
It starts before launching with reading the Sailing Instructions (or least the important bits). Then my simple rule is to fully rig the boat before changing (and I mean every bowline tied 😊) and then running through a simple checklist of possible gear failures. Once done, I know that the boat is 100% ready even if I must launch in a hurry or something unexpected happens. Once changed, I bring my water bottle and food to the boat. Same process every time ensuring I don’t launch with an empty water bottle!
Once ready, I can judge my launch time on both the scheduled start time AND when the fleet is launching. If I think the fleet is launching late, I am first to go. On the way to start, the focus is on collecting data points on wind and conditions (see Blog #51). Once at the Committee Boat I go upwind, ideally on both sides of the beat BUT I always aim to arrive back at the Committee Boat at the scheduled start time. If a start is postponed I am never more than 5 minutes sailing from the start line so I can be there at the warning signal. Many sailors will have a detailed routine or process to determine strategy, tactics and start bias but while at the Committee Boat at the warning signal a couple of checks are key - what course is displayed? have I seen all the marks? can I get a start transit? is the Committee boat lying in a current?
These routines are personal to each sailor, but developing one that you can use repeatedly will avoid major mistakes before you even start.
Snippets:
ILCA Welsh Championships - 28-30th July - report
Open and National Championships - 20 - 26th August
VOLUNTEER at the nationals
Super Grand Prix at Castle Cove - 12 - 13th August
Youth Open at Royal Lymington YC - 2 - 3rd September - entries open 7pm today
AGM 2023 - Notice
UKLA Chair blog #51
I am at the ILCA4 Worlds in Greece this week and it is super to see so many sailors from so many countries - 440 sailors from 50 counties. It is a great experience, not just the sailing but operating in such a diverse environment. Although it is a restricted entry event, for GBR sailors it is pretty open to those who have competed in one of our Qualifiers - Portugal in 2024
Today I am writing about Race Strategy. As you may remember previous blogs have discussed Series Strategy (Blog #36) and improving your ILCA sailing through that hard work (Blog #37). We also discussed event preparation (blog #39).
To my mind, race strategy is about determining what you think are the over-riding factors on the race course. It starts by collecting as much evidence and data points as possible. Getting the weather forecast and tidal information, checking the actual weather, understanding the impact of geographic features at the edge of the race course, then on the way to the race course and in the prestart observing the wind and all the time watching - why is the windward mark moving 10 degrees right or why is the committee boat not lying into the wind? All of this feeds into a plan or strategy for the race and first beat in particular, which in turn determines where to start to execute the strategy.
There’s plenty of great books on understanding these factors on race strategy, but it is important to say that no one gets the strategy right all the time and in fact, in choosing one side of the beat or the other, luck gives you a 50% chance of getting it correct! To me, what’s most important is to continually re-assess the strategy at every stage of the race. Are the up-to-date data points re-enforcing the strategy? Changing strategy mid-race should not be taken lightly as making cool decisions under pressure (or when tired) is not easy, but you must keep asking if the strategy working.
To give an example from club racing at Queen Mary a couple of Wednesday ago, wind was a fairly steady 10 to 12 knots, full hiking with fairly regular shifts that seems to appear 2 or 3 times per beat. My assessment of the strategy – take the lifts! There was a pin bias so I started there and went off on a nice lift on starboard and waited for the header. When it came a few of us tacked onto a long port tack with some small lifts and headers and while it looked good at first, it did feel like mostly small headers and sure enough some boats that had tacked right earlier came back into contention at the windward mark. Although the leader came from the left, I felt this disguised the underlying strategy of a more persistent wind bend heading right. I was re-assessing the strategy throughout the first beat and by the end of I had updated it.
So my strategy changed for the next two beats - taking the lifts but protect the right of the course by tacking under others when heading right and above when heading back to the centre.
Another example was at he recent Masters Nationals in Hayling Island. The first three races on Saturday were a fairly steady 20 knots or so with some long slow shifts often resulting in a two (or four) tack beat. Sunday morning looked the same – same direction, but maybe a little lighter at 15 knots so I set myself up for a similar strategy. But as we approached (with a minute to go) the first re-start after a general recall, it became apparent there was a big left shift (it was hard to lay the line on starboard) beyond previous observations. Red flag – what’s happening? The wind had gone unstable. Re-assess the strategy! We probably had ten 20 degree shifts, one every minute or two on the first beat. The strategy shifted to tacking immediately on each shift even to the extent of not having clear air. By start of next beat on the outer loop, slightly further from the land, the wind became more stable and the oscillations less frequent. By the following race, the strategy returned to that seen on Saturday (I only realised after the race!).
My point is that you execute tactics based on your overall strategy, but you must be paranoid in thinking the strategy may have changed. The “best” data points are those that happen during the racing itself.
Snippets:
Open and National Championships - 20 - 26th August
VOLUNTEER at the nationals
AGM 2023 - 16th September
Super Grand Prix at Castle Cove - 12 - 13th August
UKLA Chair blog #50
Paris Test event, Nationals 2023, Ben Elvin on Masters Nationals
Like many of you, I followed the World Sailing Paris Test event in Marseille where we had Micky and Hannah competing. These two world class sailors performed brilliantly with both making the Medal Race (top ten) and Micky taking the Silver medal after a close fought battle for Gold.
Apart from their performances, what struck me was the number of countries competing in the two ILCA events with 42 and 38 countries participating. While I acknowledge the attractiveness of skiff sailing and foiling, isn’t it wonderful that the ILCA remains the “universal” class, so accessible to sailors from across the world? We have something other classes just can’t offer.
Paris 2024 will see twice as many countries represented in the ILCAs as any other dinghy with 43 in both the men’s and women’s events but I would love to see these numbers increase further (there were 56 in the ILCA class in Atlanta). Why do I think it is important? There are thousands of sailors in the UK alone that can relate to ILCA sailing in the Olympics. They sail their ILCAs in clubs around the country, participating in club racing and traveling to open meetings. They know what it is like sailing an ILCA on a broad reach in 20 knots or how fit you need to be to sail upwind. Many of them get a chance to line up along side British Sailing Team sailors at UKLA events, inspiring young and old. It is that link that it is created between the Olympics and grassroot sailing that is not replicated anywhere else in the UK.
The second factor is accessibility of the ILCA. While I know a new ILCA capable of competing internationally isn’t cheap, you can pick-up second-hand ILCAs at very reasonable prices and still compete successfully at club level (even in a ILCA/Laser that is over 20 years old). I know ILCAs are not high-performance dinghies (unlike us sailors) and a 50 year old design but they are one-design and still provide the competitive racing environment where the sailor wins, not the boat.
Preparations continue for the UKLA National Championships are in August in Hayling Island – see the dedicated news post. Reduced entry fee remains in place until Wednesday so please Enter the Nationals:
We are also delighted to have a new sponsor in PropVerse run by active ILCA sailor David Surkov. This means Pizza night on Sunday will now be included free of charge in your entry along with the BBQ and disco with DJ Mark Covell.
Ben Elvin, ILCA6 Masters National Champion, offers some insights on the event below:
After what felt like months of Northerlies and North Easterlies some more normal UK Sailing conditions (ok, the upper end of normal!) finally broke through, just in time for a scheduled 3 days of racing at Hayling Island. Hayling Bay is hard work in everything other than benign conditions, so I will admit I was feeling a little apprehensive about how it was going to feel after months of flat water and offshore wind.
Although it was disappointing that we weren’t able to sail on the Friday due to the conditions, there was a small part of me that was relieved. Only 2 days of this to survive then, not 3! Although at the front of the fleet it might look like the fastest boats are able to cruise through the biggest conditions, the reality is this: It never gets easier, you just go faster (credit: Greg LeMond). True in all sports I think.
Whether at the front, middle or back, it looked like everyone had a great time. Those at the back, elated to have survived some big days, and those at the front enjoying the tight competition and reawakening the hiking legs.
I’ve been reflecting on what matters most in the conditions we had and based on what happened over the six races the answer isn’t obvious but I am pretty sure of it. There was a clear speed difference between the top 3 and the next tier in the fleet. Maura Dewey, Ross Harvey and myself were all pretty evenly matched for upwind speed, with Ross being slightly quicker with his super smooth wave technique, and downwind I had the edge and was able to either extend (good first beat) or close up the gap (bad first beat) on the other two. That said, in race 6 when Ross and I were in a “beat the other boat to take the title situation” and we were less focused on taking the right route up the racecourse, Steve Cockerill called us out on our shenanigans and was able to overcome the speed difference by taking a better route to the mark on both beats.
Nevertheless, for consistent results in big fleets, I believe more speed generally beats better decision making. Your boatspeed is guaranteed and it’s something that you can fully control. Even the best decision makers get it wrong a large percentage of the time (that’s just sailing!) and there’s always a couple of other people there with you when you nail it just right. When the wind is up in a big fleet you’ll normally place roughly where you rank in speed unless you make some really big errors. Without speed it’s also very hard to work on and improve your decision making. Did that boat cross ahead because you sailed the wrong shift, or are they just quicker than you? It’s impossible to unpick unless you’ve got consistent speed. Until I’d spent a long time working on my speed, I found it quite difficult to make sense of what was happening on the racecourse.
The great thing about training speed is that it all you have to do to improve it is get out there and sail your boat! You can’t think your way to better speed, you have to learn it by doing, by feeling how your boat behaves and constantly testing it: “could I have popped over that wave a bit better”, or “what happens if I do it like this rather than like that”. As long as your basic technique is roughly right, it’s just a matter of time. If you enjoy sailing your boat, then sail it more and the speed will come!
Snippets
Updated 2024 UKLA Senior Qualifiaction document (draft)
Welsh Open on 28th to 30th July
Super Grand Prix at Lancing on 29th and 30th July
UKLA Chair blog #49
Nationals 2023, Super Sunday and Brett Bayer
This week we have the Nationals coming up in August, more on Super Sunday and some words of wisdom from Brett Bayer (Olympic coach and 15 times Master Worlds Champion).
The UKLA National Championships are in August in Hayling Island! Several years ago Tony Woods morphed this event into a festival of ILCA sailing to attract club sailors from across the country and this year we continue with that theme. It is superb venue on and off the water and the planned schedule is not too intensive with two races per day allowing for slightly later starts and earlier finishes (wind permitting). There will be daily race clinics each morning and prize draws after racing each day including a fully rigged Ovington ILCA - yes! (thanks to their generous sponsorship, someone will walk away with a band new Ovington ILCA). Thursday night there is a BBQ included in the entry fee with renowned sailor and DJ Mark Covell. We have revamped mentoring scheme and there is also after racing entertainment every evening.
Having successfully introduced the ILCA4s to the Masters Nationals, remember that the ILCA4s at the Nationals are open – there is no age limit. It is great class and venue for borrowing a boat and bringing a friend.
Super Sunday on 25th June has attracted 508 ILCAs on the water from 42 sailing clubs, open meetings and venues despite a particularly windy day especially on the south coast. We now have a target – could we beat this on a Sunday during the winter? It does show the widespread attraction of the class and its inclusive nature. Well done and thanks to everyone who responded. Clubs are listed below.
Finally here is what Brett Bayer said about his winning performance in the ILCA7s at the UK Masters Nationals:
“It fitted in nicely with my coaching in Europe this year and was an opportunity for me to swap from my coaching hat over to my sun faded sailors hat.
I had raced the 2010 Masters Worlds in Hayling and still recall the fantastic downwinds, as well as the physically tough upwinds.
So the regatta brought similar conditions, albeit shiftier than I was expecting. My upwind and downwind speed in these conditions is always pretty good and I try to strip my technique back to a few fundamentals. One of which is, "don't go slow" which goes a long way to producing a good average speed. Sailing upwind through waves is the main thing that kills speed so as soon as the boat feels slow and sticky, I inject some hiking and some ease of sheet to quickly recover. This way, I'm dedicating my hiking only to keeping the boat moving at a constant speed, instead of wasting hiking fitness for heel, which isn't effective.
The downwinds were a great ride. Not always easy to catch every single wave during the lulls, but just another skill set of maintaining a high average speed like upwinds. The wave train direction was generally moving left of the mark so holding Starboard By the Lee proved best. This does leave a little challenge of HOW and WHEN to move right back towards the mark, but as usual, it's these more challenging times in racing that yield the greatest gains and losses within the fleet. I am ever aware of when these challenging moments appear when racing and try to sail these moments better than the competition.
I was most impressed with overall fleet quality and rarely was I first around the top mark. Generally, the most left or right boat won the beat, but not by much. And if you have that focus of sailing the critical moments well, you can keep chipping away through the fleet and find yourself sailing with consistency and low risk. I still finished the regatta with plenty of learnings. It never stops.”
I love the "don't go slow" comment which is so much deeper than first impression. It is one thing keeping up with Brett 95% of the time, but it’s the other 5% when you are slow and he isn’t, whether that is in a gust, lull or strange wave pattern. For the inland sailors in waves, it is the course made good that is critical. On flat water, staying block to block, hiking out and pinching works but it doesn’t in waves.
Super Sunday clubs, open meetings and venues
Graham water SC
West Riding Sailing club
Castle Cove Sailing Club
Felpham Sailing Club
Olton Mere Sailing Club
Notts County Sailing Club
Spinnaker Sailing Club
Queen Mary SC
King George sailing club
HISC
Delph SC
Weir Wood
Bartley SC
Pennine Sailing Club
Draycote Water Sailing Club
Locks Sailing Club
Derwent Reservoir SC
Lancing SC
Deben YC
Bowmoor
Seafarers Sailing Club
Budworth SC
Glossop
Hill ahead Sailing Club
Maidenhead Sailing Club
Wembley Sailing Club
Pevensey Bay Sailing Club
Stokes Bay Sailing Club
Chew Valley Sailing Club
Frensham Pond Sailing Club
Poole Yacht Club
Parkstone Yacht Club
Royal Harwich Yacht Club
Oxford Sailing Club
WPNSA
Starcross Sailing Club
Mounts Bay Sailing Club
Rutland Water Sailing Club
Dabchicks
Wadringfield Sailing Club
Island Champs @ Guernsey
ASC Portsmouth
Llandegfedd Sailing Club
Snippets
Welsh Open on 28th to 30th July already has 21 entries
Super Grand Prix at Lancing on 29th and 30th July
UKLA Chair blog #48
Masters Nationals and Super Sunday!
courtesy Peter Hickson
Wow – what a weekend we had at the Masters Nationals in Hayling Island Sailing Club! There were over 130 entries in a superbly organised event - remember this was a Masters only event! Even with challenging conditions at times, the Race Officer, Mark Woods and his team of volunteers did a great job keeping the racing on track. Onshore, HISC were excellent hosts and my thanks go to them AND also Alison, Guy and Ellie for their hard work.
The overwhelming sensation today is tiredness which hides a plethora of other sensations I got from talking to many of you. Almost everyone has a sense of satisfaction that we survived the conditions and many of US were exhilarated by the brilliant downwind surfing conditions. For some this was the first time in those conditions, especially those from lake venues who can reasonably describe the weekend’s sailing as a different sport (we have an Inland Masters in October). No doubt some of us were even frightened at times especially on the last downwind sail back to the club! As far as I could see there was good camaraderie and sportsmanship on show (not always evident in every sport). Anyway the point is we were there, making the most of it. Well done to everyone.
It may be worthwhile giving an ILCA7 perspective on the racing. To my mind there were three big factors – boat speed, fitness and avoid major mistakes. It was a weekend for depowering upwind – a very tight cunningham but keeping some power in the foot (a hand-width) and tons of kicker (I had to let mine off the tack). Then steering up the wave to near the top and then hiking hard over the top, often releasing some mainsheet. Interestingly Orlando and I have a similar technique but Brett is brilliant at keeping the boat really steady and maintaining a high speed which translates into a high course made good. Of course downwind speed could be a blog in its own right. On fitness, while it is clearly important, it does not translate into less pain – everyone feels that.
I made some big mistakes in Race5 demonstrating where it can go wrong. Downwind there seemed more pressure (or gusts) on the right, the opposite of Saturday and I don’t think I spotted in time to avoid losing ground on the first run. Then on the second beat, I think the strategy changed subtly from mainly oscillating to a more persistent left shift and I got stuck on the right. Finally capsizing is definitely not quick 😊
See results here
On to Super Sunday. So far we have returns from 30 clubs / open meetings with 350 ILCAs – isn’t that amazing? But I think there must be at least 50 clubs out there and I think we can get past 500. Here is the list of clubs but there are some missing, where are you – Parkstone, Poole, West Kirby, Leigh and Lowton, Lymington, Rutland? Please make sure you club is listed. If you don’t have a class captain on the UKLA Whatsapp group, just reply to me on the blog email.
Graham water sc
West Riding Sailing club
Castle Cove Sailing Club
Felpham Sailing Club
Olton Mere Sailing Club
Notts County Sailing Club
Spinnaker Sailing Club
Queen Mary SC
King George sailing club
HISC
Delph SC
Weir Wood
Bartley SC
Pennine Sailing Club
Draycote Water Sailing Club
Locks Sailing Club
Derwent Reservoir SC
Lancing SC
Deben YC
Bowmoor
Seafarers Sailing Club
Budworth SC
Glossop
Hill ahead Sailing Club
Maidenhead Sailing Club
Wembley Sailing Club
Pevensey Bay Sailing Club
Snippet:
Late entry fee to the UKLA Open & National Championships 2023 - Hayling Island SC 20-26th August kicks in on 19th July 2023
Entries to UKLA Noble Marine & Rooster ILCA 4, 6 & 7 Qualifier - Paignton SC 16-17th September 2023 open tonight at 7pm
UKLA Chair blog # 47
Super sunday and performance not results!
Well Super Sunday was yesterday ! Please let us know how you got on – we have a link here class captains or anyone who wants to make a submission. I see Notts Country SC had 24 ILCAs out and Seafarers had 26 ILCAs at their open. First thing this morning we already had 7 club returns. Keep them coming and let’s get a record ! I look forward to hearing more…
I started sailing 50 years ago this month with my brother at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire and we had a celebration back there on Saturday night. It was great to see so many “old” friends who I grew up sailing with. I spent some time looking for a quote to reflect the occasion and ended up mashing up one from a famous athlete (Jessie Owens) – friendships formed and developed in the cut and thrust of the racecourse are the pure gold of competition. The accolades and awards tarnish but the friendships gather no dust. Ultimately looking back, this is essence of what I have described many times – a sport for life and a passion that keeps on giving.
Of course, the thrill of competition is important to many of us. In many ways it is the journey or indeed the mini-campaigns we put together – I am going to get fit for such and such an event or improve my boat handling. Or sometimes it is just being out on the water. I think many of us have found the mental health benefits of sailing, of just being able to switch off or into a different mode.
Then there is the great performance versus results debate. Many (or most) great athletes do not focus directly on results but performance. Rory McIlroy is not thinking of a hole in one but a great golf swing. It is about visualising and executing a great performance or even a great recovery. And at critical moments these athletes will often say there was absolutely nothing going through my mind- they are in the zone. Results follow performance, which is why many don’t set results-based targets. I think this is especially true in a regatta over many days where staying focussed is important and you don’t want early mishaps to ruin your whole week. I prefer to be able to discard from my mind those results and think about performance. I know that isn’t true of everyone – I am sure Robert Scheidt always had a target of gold!
UKLA Chair blog #46
Tactics are tricky
Racing my ILCA7 last Wednesday, I was reminded how tricky our sport can be. Tactics should be an easy thing. #1 sail in more pressure and it makes you go faster. Except often the gusts appear and disappear as drafts of wind that are hard to see on the water. #2 tack on headers and stay on lifts. Except when it is a progressive shift you need to stay on the header long. And of course, while in a truly oscillating wind the next shift is always a predictable, we hardly ever sail in those conditions and especially inland, the wind is often just somewhat random. Combining all these factors with their risk and reward weightings would require a degree in game theory. Instead, we reply on experience and with that comes a built-in sense of intuition. So it is hardly surprising that we don’t always get it right!
Of course that is the essence of sport. We put ourselves on the line, exposed to the risks and challenges of competition, not knowing the result in advance. But in sailing in particular we have the ever changing environment over which we have no control. We can just try and bank the experience and hope we recognise the patterns better next time.
At this time of year the calendar is full of events:
Super Sunday is next Sunday 25th June! We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record! (see blog #41).
First two Super Grand Prix can be booked online - One in the South (Lancing) and one in the Midlands (Hollowell). And if you are looking for something further West, Sailingfast Welsh Championships will open tomorrow.
Don’t forget the Masters Nationals closes in 23rd June - can we get close to 150 entries? You must be UKLA member to see tickets and be able to book. JOIN UKLA HERE And don’t forget you can enter an ILCA4 (See blog#40).
This year the Nationals are again at Hayling Island Sailing Club in August providing a great sailing venue and super onshore facilities. We will have daily race clinics, a mentoring program and full social program so it is ideal for anyone wanting to come and race an ILCA4. As the boat is so easy to sail, why not bring a friend as it is quite easy to borrow an ILCA (only the sail and bottom mast section are different to the other rigs) and enjoy the week! And remember this is open to all ages. You will find loads of information here on our website.
UKLA Chair blog #45
Race focus and upcoming events
Race focus …….and don’t forget the Master Nationals – entries close in 11 days. And there’s a big announcement coming from Ovington for the Nationals in August ! And Super Sunday is 25th June! We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record! (see blog #41). and there are loads of GPs in our calendar.
But first, have you ever felt you have lost concentration during a race? Maintaining the right mental focus during a race is important, especially after a poor start or during a long day of the water or a series over many days. Every race needs to be approached with the same rigour in terms of the race strategy, assessing the conditions and planning the start regardless of the result of a previous race. Whether you won the last race or did worse than expected, it is important to keep your focus.
In Race 7 at the Master Worlds in 2018 I fell into this trap. Having won both races the previous day, I was in a great position at the start of the 2nd beat as I headed left towards a dark cloud. As the advantage materialised, I was able to tack and cross ahead of two of my nearest competitors into 2nd place but instead I thought there was even more to be gained by heading further towards the cloud. I was fooled into thinking I had superior tactical awareness through over-confidence instead of doing the rational and usual thing. Staying focussed on doing the right thing and not bowing to irrational or emotional behaviour. As soon as you start to think that you can predict the outcome, you’re dead!
But how to stay focussed? The first and most important is mental rehearsal or visualisation. Sail a race in your head, visualising starts, sailing fast and rounding marks, remembering the imagery, the sounds and the feelings. All top sportspeople practice this – Michael Johnson says he has run world class 200 metre races thousands of times – in his head!
Secondly I talk to myself (sometimes out loud) and keep reminding myself what to do. At the same Worlds we had a couple of final runs in at least 25 knots with short, steep waves which turned the leg into survival conditions. In one of them as we approached the leeward gate, three boats ahead of me capsized and I knew this was a critical moment. Over and over, I told myself to keep concentrating on the next wave ahead and nothing else. Execute each wave and eventually get to the gate.
These are moments in which to do things the same way as normal because pressure has a habit of making you rationalise yourself into a poor decision.
In here is a third technique to keep focus and avoid getting distracted and focus on next steps to avoid get distracting by events around me.
Don’t forget the Masters Nationals closes in 11 days - can we get close to 150 entries? It is 121 today – all welcome expecially ILC4 sailors. You must be UKLA member to see tickets and be able to book. JOIN UKLA HERE And don’t forget you can enter an ILCA4 (See blog#40)
This year the Nationals are again at Hayling Island Sailing Club in August providing a great sailing venue and super onshore facilities. We will have daily race clinics, a mentoring program and full social program so it is ideal for anyone wanting to come and race an ILCA4. As the boat is so easy to sail, why not bring a friend as it is quite easy to borrow an ILCA (only the sail and bottom mast section are different to the other rigs) and enjoy the week! And remember this is open to all ages. You will find loads of information here on our website.
Super Sunday is 25th June! We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record! (see blog #41).
UKLA Chair blog #44
A sport for life
I remember shortly after getting my first Laser (only standard rigs back then), having come out of Optimists, planing on a reach and being thrilled with the speed. I can still remember where I thought “that’s the fastest I have ever been in a sailing boat”. Well over 45 years later, I was again exhilarated by a planing reach across Weymouth Harbour in 12 knots. And that’s the point, (ILCA) sailing can be a passion for life. It has allowed me to still be enjoying the sport in my fifth decade, to have competed at the highest level and still be able to club race on a Wednesday evening at Queen Mary. It has taught me about winning and losing and about the hard work needed to improve. And it has given me life-long friends. That’s the message for younger sailors. This is a sport for life and the ILCA can be a platform for that.
Of course, I remain a competitive person and I don’t like performing below my expectations. When it happens, I must remind myself of all the sport as brought me. As parent, it is natural to aspire to great things for our children. To be the next Ben Ainslie or Shirley Robinson, but it is worth remembering that would be the exception and the journey of improving has many of the benefits I describe above. So much better in my view to develop that “passion for life” rather than realising at 20 that you are not going to be the next Ben or Shirley and give it all up.
I am not for a second suggesting that we don’t aspire to be the best or shouldn’t feel disappointment that our expectations aren’t met. These are the natural consequences of sport and the journey is not one of steady progress but rather ups and downs along the way where hopefully the overall trajectory is upwards. Disappointments are natural and it is how they are dealt with that is important, for example as a motivator to improve, rather than a barrier.
As the summer opens up, we have the chance the aspire and improve but above all we have a chance to indulge our passion.
Snippets:
See our calendar for loads of event coming up. In particular there is a Youth event at RSYC on 15th/16th July for ILCA4s and ILCA6s – you can enter here Royal Southern Yacht Club : ILCA Youth Open (royal-southern.co.uk)
Don’t forget the Masters Nationals in just over 4 weeks – all welcome.You must be UKLA member to see tickets and be able to book. JOIN UKLA HERE And don’t forget you can enter an ILCA4 (See blog#40)
This year the Nationals are again at Hayling Island Sailing Club in August providing a great sailing venue and super onshore facilities. We will have daily race clinics, a mentoring program and full social program so it is ideal for anyone wanting to come and race an ILCA4. As the boat is so easy to sail, why not bring a friend as it is quite easy to borrow an ILCA (only the sail and bottom mast section are different to the other rigs) and enjoy the week! And remember this is open to all ages. You will find loads of information here on our website.
Super Sunday is 25th June! We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record! (see blog #41).
UKLA Chair blog #43
Some reminders this week
Just some reminders this week.
Don’t forget the Masters Nationals in just over 4 weeks – all welcome – we already have 85 entries but book tonight for early booking discount! You must be UKLA member to see tickets and be able to book. JOIN UKLA HERE And don’t forget you can enter an ILCA4 (See blog#40)
This year the Nationals are again at Hayling Island Sailing Club in August providing a great sailing venue and super onshore facilities. We will have daily race clinics, a mentoring program and full social program so it is ideal for anyone wanting to come and race an ILCA4. As the boat is so easy to sail, why not bring a friend as it is quite easy to borrow an ILCA (only the sail and bottom mast section are different to the other rigs) and enjoy the week! And remember this is open to all ages. You will find loads of information here on our website.
Super Sunday is 25th June! We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record! (see blog #41).
See our calendar for loads of Grands Prix!
Also the following Youth events are coming up
Youth Open - 15-16 July Royal Southern Yacht Club
Youth Open - 2-3 September Royal Lymington Yacht Club
ILCA 4 RTG 23-24 September Carsington Sailing Club
UKLA Chair blog #42
Series Strategy
Today is about Series Strategy ………… Blog #36 discussed how hard work trumps talent and Blog #37 discussed a systematic approach to improving your ILCA sailing through that hard work. Then we discussed event preparation (blog #39) so this week it is about putting a series together.
In a weeklong regatta with 12 races – regattas are not won on the first day, but they can be lost! The trick is to avoid major mistakes like:
Not getting off the line in a decent lane / avoid being over
Capsizes
Penalties especially on the 1st beat
Sailing the wrong course
Gear failure
Getting the wrong side of major shifts / the strategy wrong.
These mistakes clearly have a big impact on your results. Poor boat speed is also a killer but once you are at an event, you can’t do not much about that.
Analysing your performance between races and at the end of day is also critical, focussing on what can be improved rather than the results themselves. I remember doing this after the first race at the Master Worlds in Dublin in 2018. I was particularly worried before racing began around my boat speed and fitness in 20knots having not done a Worlds in recent years. After the first start in those conditions, I became fixated on boat speed and missed the first big shift but caught up by the end of the race to 11th. Between races I thought – ok boat speed and fitness are great, forget about them for the rest of the week and get your head over the boat to get the strategy and tactics correct. After the 2nd race, where I was 4th, I could see that results at the top were going to be up and down so that an 11th and 4th could be counters at the end of the regatta. That analysis over the first day ensured I remained confident of the following days
This assessment of risk is important. That was a 12 race, 1 discard series where consistency and avoiding major mistakes was going to the critical. But think about this, the Olympic regatta in Savannah was 11 races with 2 discards, a completely different risk profile. After the first day there, I had a DSQ (a story for another day 😉) but that did not stop me pushing the line in every race and getting an OCS (early starter DSQ) in Race 8. That’s because the risk profile was going to reward strong race finishes rather than consistency.
The other thing about risk is that it is better to take opportunities that are presented during a race rather taking risky decisions to force a result. It is about weighting the risk – e.g. the difference between responding to a right shift that is forecast and starts to develop on the race course rather taking a punt and heading right before signs of its development.
Energy conservation is also key over a week as the body never fully recovers for the next day. So you want to do all you can to aid that recovery.
Finally I always like to say that the last few races count the same as the first few. We are inclined to be super motivated and prepared for each race at the start of the regatta but it is important to sustain that over the whole regatta.
Snippets:
3-4 June - National Training WPNSA - closes 24/05/2023
What a great initiative by the Hollowell Sailing Club Hollowell Sailing Club training evening
We are opening the following events this week:
14-18th August ILCA Skills Week Transitional tickets are going on sale tonight (22/05/2023) at 7pm
10-11 June - East Open Regional Training at Queen Mary SC
24-25th June - North Open Regional Training at Yorkshire Dales
29-30th July - East Open Regional Training at Queen Mary SC
UKLA Chair blog #41
Super Sunday and more…..
Super Sunday is 25th June! We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record!
All you have to do is get out in your boat on Super Sunday – no registration , just head down to your club - this is event is open to ANY CLUB and ANY ILCA sailor in the UK
Encourage those that haven’t sailed for while, to go out club racing. How many ILCAs can we get on the water on one Sunday? 300, 500, more ? You tell us! Let's get as many as we can and count afterwards!
Just submit your post event numbers here
We are trying to get as many boats as possible on one day so here are a few ideas to help. (Maybe be good to check with your club they are happy with it first
Class captains get a list of people who might want to sail contact them and ask them to come down.
Buddy a good sailor with someone who is coming down for the day.
Ask people to borrow an unused boat (check insurance etc first) for the day
Ask if a club coach can help on the race track to give hints and help.
Have a pre race meeting getting someone who is good at boat set up to show people how best to set things up for the conditions that day.
Have double points for that days racing.
Spot prizes for the day.
Get someone to take pictures on the day and share
Snippets:
For news of ILCA results around the country and internationally, see our Facebook (keep a track of progress of our British Sailing Team members and others following recent wins by Elliot and Micky in Hyeres and Palma) and Twitter (see all Yachts and Yachting reports here) channels.
We are looking for more volunteers at the Nationals 2023 Volunteer sign up sheet – it is shaping up to be a great event but we need your help. We already have 118 entries and we have three months to go! Enter here
Don’t forget the Masters Nationals. And don’t forget you can enter an ILCA4 (See blog#40)
See our calendar for loads of Grands Prix!
Reminder that there is UKLA National Training in WPNSA on 3rd/4th June. I have been asked by the training team to remind you to enter before the deadline, which for this is 24th May. Our coaching runs on maximum ratios so adding late sailors is difficult and the admin paperwork needs to be done in advance by volunteers so it is not fair on them. We try to be flexible but expect to be disappointed if you are late.
Also the following Youth events are coming up
Youth Open - 15-16 July Royal Southern Yacht Club
Youth Open - 2-3 September Royal Lymington Yacht Club
ILCA 4 RTG 23-24 September Carsington Sailing Club
UKLA Chair blog #40
ILCA4s……
Have you been looking for single hander to suit a lighter sailor with a National circuit of events?
Do you feel the ILCA6 is a bit too powerful for you or you are not quite a competitive size for it?
Are you a Masters sailor looking for a smaller rig than the ILCA6?
Are you under 18 and want to go to a Worlds or Europeans with over 400 other sailors?
If the answer to any of these is yes, then read on…..
The ILCA4 (formerly 4.7) provides super racing for those boys and girls wishing to transition out of other junior classes like the Optimist or Topper. There is a ready supply of affordable second-hand boats and of course many sailors (and their parents) love the easy logistics and ease of access of single-hander sailing. Of course there a ready movement in time to the ILCA6 and ILCA7 as well if that what a sailor wants.
The ILCA4 has 7 or 8 UKLA National events each year that are open to sailors of any age and all are welcome. That means our Qualifiers (really high-quality open meetings) and Inland championship are open to anyone. Our National Championship attracted over 100 in 2022. This year the Nationals are again at Hayling Island Sailing Club in August providing a great sailing venue and super onshore facilities. We will have daily race clinics, a mentoring program and full social program so it is ideal for anyone wanting to come and race an ILCA4. As the boat is so easy to sail, why not bring a friend as it is quite easy to borrow an ILCA (only the sail and bottom mast section are different to the other rigs) and enjoy the week! And remember this is open to all ages. You will find loads of information here on our website.
Also following requests from a number of Masters, we have added the ILCA4 to the Masters Nationals at the end of June, also in Hayling. That means a separate start! It would be great to see a decent fleet as I know there has been a discussion about adding the ILCA4 to the Masters Worlds but there is some hesitancy until it is proven at local or region level.
I know many people consider the ILCA4 to be a “transition” class but it doesn’t have to be. If you are getting great racing and you are not big enough for a ILCA6 then why move? I know in the past women /girls in particular have been encouraged to move to the ILCA6 but if it doesn’t suit you, UKLA is quite happy to support that. While I know many of sailors are around 15 or 16 there is no reason why you can’t stay in the class with your friends. Internationally the Worlds and Europeans are U18 so you can still go to these events until the year you turn 18. And remember there is no selection for these events and GBR usually have more than enough places to have all entries accepted.
I hope with some of these initiatives and increased promotion, we can see a broader mix of sailors at our events and support the continued success of the ILCA4.
Snippets:
“The boat that Ian built” is a super video about the early days of the Laser class. My thanks to Takao (who is in the video as the Japanese builder) and Chris Tunstall for bringing this to my attention.
Queen Mary SC training with Micky Beckett - BOOK
ILCA Open & National Championships - LOOK & BOOK
UKLA Chair blog #39
Event preparation and more……………
Short blog today as I am just back from the ETs at Rutland where some of the ILCA4s were racing.
Ihave discussed recently how hard work and a systematic approach to training can help improve your ILCA sailing but often you want to translate that into performance at a target event, a regatta you have been building up to. What’s the best approach?
The hard work happens in the months before an event not in the final week or two and certainly not in the few days before. Learning doesn’t just happen, it is about acquiring skills that can be put into practice without thinking on the race course and takes place over a period of time. Many athletes practise a taper period before an event, where they ease off on their physical training to ensure they are fully recovered and ready. ILCA sailors are certainly in this category and over a longer regatta of (say) six days with long days on the water, it is just not possible to recover fully after each day and there is a continual drop-off as the week progresses. So of course it is better to start the week fully recovered from any training.
I personally believe it is important to use any pre-regatta training to build confidence and ensure you start the regatta in the right mental state. Non-sailing distractions need to be avoided in the build up to allow the mind time to visualise a good performance. Doing a “training” regatta before often works well for me so long as I have set clear expectations for outcomes as I want it to build, not knock confidence.
Some training before a regatta at an unfamiliar venue can be very helpful to understand geographical features on the race course and get used to wave patterns. As we know though, conditions change all the time so I wouldn’t over-emphasise it. At one end of the scale, if you sail at Weymouth a lot, then this is just not needed while travelling to the Pacific coast of Mexico as we did for the Masters Worlds last year, a few days familiarisation with the venue (and time zone) is obvious.
Sometimes a short sail before a big event at a known venue makes sure equipment is ready and allows you to sharpen up on boat handling but don’t tire yourself or try to learn new things.
A final piece of advice, never try new sailing gear and equipment for the first time as I have learnt to my disadvantage many times - a new mainsheet that is slippy for first few sails, a new kicker not tied in quite the right place, a brand new sail that feels and sounds different……
Finally members will have just got an update by email, but just to flag a few items.
ILCA Masters Nationals - LOOK & BOOK. All are welcome - if you are a ILCA6 Women Master - see this post from Jo West
ILCA Open & National Championships - LOOK & BOOK
Super Grand Prix - LOOK & BOOK (Bookings not open yet)
Grand Prix Series - LOOK (Book with individual clubs)
Training Calendar - LOOK & BOOK
UKLA Chair blog #38
Parkstone masters and various updates
We had a UKLA Masters event at Parkstone at the weekend and I thought I would provide some reflections.
First many thanks to the club for hosting what was a super event on and off the water. Conditions were not easy, especially on Saturday, but the race team got 6 good races and we had a lovely dinner on Saturday night included in the entry fee. Well done to both the host volunteers and of course our UKLA team - Alison, Guy, Alan, Paul Jackson and Ellie in particular. It was great to see almost 80 sailors spread across the ILCA6 and ILCA7 fleets with so many new faces. If it was your first UKLA (Masters) event, I would be interested in your feedback, both positive and where we can make improvements (just reply to this email).
Jo West was one of a small group of female sailors at Parkstone and she and the UKLA would love to see more. We have been working hard on female participation (blog#35) and Jo has agreed to help with the Masters element of that. Surely our female sailors also deserve a sailing weekend away?
While I wasn’t that happy with my own performance, that’s sport! On the positive side it was great to be out on the water for the weekend as a fleet of older sailors making the most of our passion. The nature of competitive sport is that only a few win and sometimes our own expectations are met and other times not. And there are personal triumphs along the way – many of us heard Guy Noble’s whoops of joy on winning the second ILCA7 race! In blog #37 I discussed improving your ILCA sailing in a more rigorous approach. My own self-analysis of the weekend is quite easy – two decent starts out of six and inability to consistently read the shift patterns. In a weekend where there are random shifts mixed in with more predictable ones, this latter point is hardly surprising – devising the right risk / reward strategy isn’t easy (or repeatable in every race) and there is some luck but with more experience (including sailing at the venue) and skill, one sailor’s luck is another sailor’s insight (see blog #34 for more on this).
Of course, these events can’t be run without volunteers from both the host club and UKLA and as you know we have been looking for more help with organising Masters sailing. Alison Stevens is retiring for the committee in the summer after much tireless work (again many thanks). To make the role manageable, we have set-up a sub-committee where the role can be shared out, but we need your help. UKLA is not a service-provider, it is community of ILCA sailors and volunteering is not just about giving something about, it is about ensuring the community survives and thrives. Without more helpers (with only a few hours a month or even help with one event), we will no longer have Masters events like Parkstone.
Finally talking of community, membership of UKLA is part of that. For £3.25 per month, ask yourself why you are not a member? Membership means you are part of a club of like-minded group of sailors. Come on join us!
Snippets:
2023 Skills Week entries will open TONIGHT Monday 24th April at 7pm BST
2023 Open & National Championships entries open nest week - Monday 1st May