News

Tony Woods 7/13/21 Tony Woods 7/13/21

New Podcasts!

The July episode of Head’s Up is now out - this time featuring Media Officer and Masters Sailor Guy Noble.

Also check out the latest installments of ‘An Hour with Flower’, featuring the Andrew Simpson foundation and ILCA Superstar Micky Beckett.

LISTEN TO THE PODCASTS HERE

ILCA UK 7/13/21 ILCA UK 7/13/21

Join the Team

The UKLA is looking for enthusiastic people to join our ever growing team -

MANY THANKS to Alastair Brown who is helping us with the Newsletter and other stuff!

In particular at the moment we’re looking for people to help with:

Marketing Officer
The National Grand Prix Circuit

Please email Ellie at the office if you can assist in any way - even one morning a month would be great!

ILCA UK 7/13/21 ILCA UK 7/13/21

ILCA 50th Celebration - Bart's Bash!

This year’s 50th anniversary is about so much more than a boat. Together, we will celebrate dedicated sailors and supporters filled with passion for this small sailboat that started out simply as Ian Bruce’s idea to create a “car topper” dinghy. From this moment of inspiration and a subsequent call to friend Bruce Kirby, who famously sketched the boat’s lines and sail plan on a notepad, came the greatest sailboat in the history of one-design racing.

Sailors all over the world are gearing up for a celebration which culminates with a world-wide sailing event on 11 th or 12 th September 2021. Together, with the Andrew Simpson Foundation, we invite everyone to participate in Bart’s Bash which is already the world’s largest sailing event connecting sailing communities all over the world in their mission to transform lives through sailing. It probably comes as no surprise that the ILCA / laser is already the largest fleet in Bart’s Bash and we hope this year’s entry will hit new records.

Bart’s Bash is a natural choice as they have the infrastructure, know-how and experience to run a global sailing event. More importantly, Bart and so many of those directly connected to the Andrew Simpson Foundation have a true heritage of sailing and achieving success in the class. Results will be published by rig and country as well as overall results for all classes.

“The International Laser Class Association was a key stepping-stone in my sailing career and period of my life when I formed many lifelong friendships, experiences and memories whilst ILCA racing (as we now call the laser). As a celebration for all those who sail the boat from the casual novice sailor to the Olympian, I am thrilled that the 50th Anniversary of the International Laser Class Association looks to mark the occasion by encouraging participation in Bart’s Bash, the Andrew Simpson Foundation’s flagship sailing event inspired by Bart himself, a great friend and Sailor. Underpinned by an ethos of “sailing for all”, what better way to mark the occasion than to join forces in connecting sailing communities all over the world in the Foundation’s mission to transform lives through sailing”

Sir Ben Ainslie CBE, Andrew Simpson Foundation Founding Trustee

This is very much an opportunity for sailors to compete at their home clubs, racing friends and family. Whilst not compulsory, we would encourage fund raising be included within your activities; be it an entry fee, personal donation or good old-fashioned sponsorship. Ideally, all funds raised will be for the Andrew Simpson Foundation which continues to expand its activities both within and outside the UK. Some may prefer to support other charities which is also encouraged – the 50th anniversary is about participation and celebrating the world’s most successful Class.

Even if you cannot enter Bart’s Bash, we hope you will find an opportunity to get involved by sailing your boat with family and friends wherever you are.

To support the events, ILCA has launched a website dedicated to helping groups facilitate planning and implementation, and for sailors to share stories and pictures of their own great moments and memories. Sailors will be able to register on the site and keep updated on all the world-wide ILCA 50th anniversary news.

Want to learn more? Go to http://www.ilca50.com/

To enter Bart’s Bash, go to https://bartsbash.com/sign-up/ilca

To register your sailing club, go to https://www.bartsbash.com/sign-up/venue

Ellie Ratusniak 7/5/21 Ellie Ratusniak 7/5/21

UKLA AGM 2021

2021 UKLA AGM will be held during the National Championships in Weymouth on 16th August 2021.

The plan for the evening is a Curry Night at 6pm followed by daily prize giving and AGM with a prize draw.

Please look through the list of available posts and if you can commit to a virtual meeting one evening a month and work in smaller groups on various projects, please consider joining the team.

Our class is very busy and successful, because of the work that committee does in the background.

We are looking for fresh ideas and parents/sailors that can help us achieve great things for our class.

We are all very friendly and dedicated and have sailor’s matters at heart.

Please email nominations to office@ilca.uk

Tony Woods 7/4/21 Tony Woods 7/4/21

ILLCA 4 News

ILCA-4 News

Preparation and Training for the ILCA-4 World and European Championships

ILCA-4 World and European Championships 2021

ILCA, Eurilca and the UKLA recently published the teams representing the countries at the 2021 ILCA-4 World and European Championships. These are available here:

https://sailing.laserinternational.org/public/site/event-site/128/entrylist

Congratulations to the following sailors for being offered a place:

Boys:

1 – 4.7

Jack

Graham-Troll

2 - 4.7

Keijiro

Kikkawa

3 - 4.7

Max

Steele

4 - 4.7

Edmund

Rollestone

5 - 4.7

Joshua

Lyttle

6 - 4.7

Antonio

Pascali

7 - 4.7

Llion

Morris

8 - 4.7

Archie

Burton

9 - 4.7

Jack

Hardy

10 - 4.7

Freddie

Maclaverty

11 - 4.7

Henry

Keegan

Girls

ILCA-4 GBR Ranking

GBRHP19

Honor

Procter

GBREM68

Eva

Miller

GBRML73

Millie

Lewis

GBRAF75

Arwen

Fflur

GBRFW17

Ffion

Wood

The worlds are to be held in Dublin, 7 – 14 August, and the Eurilcas in Travemunde 23 – 30 July.

Late applications to compete at the World Championships are open until 7 July (see below).

RYA Support

The UKLA, RYA and Andrew Simpson Performance Academy are co-operating to provide training for to prepare for these events. The at-event support (coach and safety boat) will only be available at the World Championships in Ireland. Support is not available at the European Championships in Germany due to the German government’s travel restrictions on people travelling from the UK. Sailors who wish to compete at the Eurilcas will need to make their own arrangements for coaching/ safety rib support at the event, and are advised to contact the ILCA-4 rep: ilca4rep@ilca.uk

Applications for the pre event training in the UK is being expanded to allow also for sailors who cannot attend the championships.

Applications for the UK based training can be found here

· 24/25th July “ILCA 4 Pre World Training”

https://andrewsimpsoncentresho.checkfront.co.uk/reserve/?preview=1&item_id=184

· 26-30th July “ILCA 4 & 6 Clinic ”

https://andrewsimpsoncentresho.checkfront.co.uk/reserve/?preview=1&item_id=173

This is in addition to training opportunities which are available on the UKLA Portal

https://portal.ilca.uk/booking/type/training

Late Applications to the World Championships

A limited number of spaces are still available for the world championships, which is now open to late entry applications. The closing date for late applications to the World Championships is 7 July Applications can be made here:

https://sailing.laserinternational.org/public/site/event-site/128

Alison Stevens 6/29/21 Alison Stevens 6/29/21

Pre Masters Nationals Training

Pre-Masters Nationals Training at Pevensey Bay Sailing Club.

Thursday 8th July

£20 per person

Only 10 spaces.

Booking opens 20:00hrs 30/06/2021

Book here

Ellie Ratusniak 6/16/21 Ellie Ratusniak 6/16/21

Stokes Bay Open and Masters Qualifier - Andrew Simpson Foundation fundraising evening

UKLA Team is fundraising for Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation (justgiving.com)

At the Stokes Bay event we will welcome representatives from the Andrew Simpson Foundation that will spend some time to tell us about the charity and the important work they do.

You will be able to donate on the day, or you can click or scan the QR code below

There is still time to enter - entries close at midnight tonight (16th June) - enter through the portal

Please also pre-book your Friday and Saturday meal through the portal to help the catering team with the numbers and organisation on the day.

Friday night choices:

- Breaded cod fillet with chips and minted mushy peas
- Chicken/bacon lattice with crispy potatoes & coleslaw
- Spinach/leek lattice with crispy potatoes & coleslaw
- Loaded veg quiche with potatoes and salad

Saturday night:

Mexican themed meal: Meat or vegetarian burrito with spicy rice, avocado salad, salsa and tortilla chips.

Tony Woods 6/14/21 Tony Woods 6/14/21

Golden Anniversary Hats

These stunning 50th Anniversary hats have been provided for us by our wonderful sponsors Ovington Boats Ltd. We are giving them away as prizes at certain events this year: the Super Grand Prix, the Anniversary Event at Stokes Bay, the Masters Nationals, the Open Nationals. If you’re not lucky enough to win one you will be able to purchase them very soon!

ILCA UK 6/14/21 ILCA UK 6/14/21

UKLA Open & National Championships 2021 - WPNSA

We will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of our amazing boat all this year and are planning a special Golden National Championships, followed by the Festival Regatta and the ILCA Transition Week at the Weymouth Olympic venue - Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy. The UKLA Open & National Championship will be held from Friday 13th to Wednesday 18th August 2021. We are hoping to encourage more club sailors to come along and join in the fun with an emphasis on Learning and an increase in social activities.

Entries are now open! So far we have about 230 boats entered! Click here - Nationals - to find out more about Off - Water Activities, Learning and of course Racing!

Gala Dinner

Some very exciting news just in: we are inviting past champions to the Gala Dinner and we’ve just heard that the Olympic Legend that is Iain Percy has accepted our invitation! Well known for his Olympic medals in Finn and Star (with crew Andrew Simpson) Iain actually learned his craft in the ILCA (Laser as it was then) and won our Nationals in 1995 (the year of the Olympic Trials) and in 1996. The UKLA’s Official Charity for 2021 is the Andrew Simpson Foundation, and our Gala Dinner will form part of our fund raising for the Charity, so it is extremely fitting that Iain can be there.

Similarly please review your food orders. NB the first night is a Welcome Evening, with an Italian meal FREE to competitors, provided by UKLA. You can purchase extra tickets for family/supporters, but you must claim your free ticket in the entry portal. This is now a clear process in the portal so please do it.

Please also book the other themed evenings ASAP - We need a minimum of 50 for the caterers to agree to do the themed meals. At the moment only a handful have signed up. Plan is to eat together (remember being able to do that?) about 6.00 pm, then do the Daily Prize Giving, with Q and A with winners, followed by the prize draw, followed by the Social Event of the eve (eg Golden Anniversary Quiz on Saturday.) So you don’t want to miss all that and have to cook for yourself too!

EVENING FOOD (Covid permitting):

We hope you will come along to the evening socials - Daily Prize Givings, Q & A with the winners, Prize Draws, 50th Anniversary Quiz, Sports Night, AGM, Jam Sessions etc etc. Before these activities we can all enjoy a meal together:

Friday. Special Welcome Evening with Italian Themed Meal FREE for all competitors, courtesy of the UKLA.

Extra tickets can be purchased in advance @ £10 each

Saturday: Moroccan Night. 2 Courses £10 Tickets to be ordered in advance

Sunday: BBQ. £16 Tickets to be ordered in advance.

Monday: Curry Night. 2 Courses £12 Tickets to be ordered in advance

Tuesday: GALA DINNER. Tickets to be ordered in advance.

We are hoping to bring back all the learning opportunities that we had in 2018/19 - so expect Race Clinics in the mornings, Question and Answer Sessions in the evenings and Mentor/Mentee pairings throughout the event.

We’ve also managed to negotiate a 10% Discount on all Courses/Water Activities with both the Andrew Simpson Foundation and OTC for family members connected to the competitors. This includes scheduled courses in windsurfing, wind-foiling, kitesurfing, SUPing and e-foiling. Passing trade during the event will not receive any discount - it has to be pre-booked at least a month prior to the event.

The Special Code for booking OTC courses is SAIL 10

UKLA Team

Tony Woods 6/14/21 Tony Woods 6/14/21

An extract from TRAINING TO WIN by Jon Emmett

An extract from TRAINING TO WIN by Jon Emmett

The book is written for sailors and coaches to get the most out of their training. It covers all aspects of racing from starting to downwind, tacking to mark rounding and everything between.

There are a variety of exercises for each area and each exercise is classified by the colour of the box and symbols in the title:

GYBING (pages 34-37)

Choosing The Gybe For The Conditions

Although the hand and feet movements may seem very similar when tacking and gybing, the end goal is very different: in fact, it is the opposite. When gybing from run to run, we are looking to maximise our gain made downwind. That is our focus: not how fast we can come out of the turn but, 20 seconds after the gybe: how much progress we have made downwind? In recent years with the increased use of drone footage we have been able to see this really clearly. Practice is very important here: try different angles, in different wind speeds and see what works best.

*Gybing downwind – speed or distance, which is better?*

Spinnaker work is all about talking, good communication, where and when are you going to gybe. So, unlike a one-sail boat where you may just exit the gybe on the new desired course, you may initially need to go slightly high to help fill the spinnaker which will then generate apparent wind, allowing you to bear away. Alternatively, you might need to keep low, until all the crew are safely across to the new windward side of the boat, before heading up.

It is also important to note that the faster we are on entry to the gybe, the better the flow of water over the foils and so the safer the gybe is. Go for it… full speed!

Respect The Manoeuvre

Sometimes there is more of an element of fear of the gybe than there is for the tack, and this helps no one. We need to respect the gybe but be brave. Thinking about what could go wrong, rather than focusing on what we need to do, is counterproductive. The mind is a powerful thing. If someone says ‘don’t think about pink elephants’, it is very hard not to think about pink elephants… in other words we don’t really process negatives. So, the focus always needs to be on something positive, like moving across the boat quickly and smoothly (not like a pink elephant!).

Few people have the same concerns about tacking. After all, if you do capsize, it is normally a slower thing and often to leeward and it can usually be saved easily by simply allowing the boat to go head to wind. This is not the point. Training to Win is about winning races and every centimetre we can gain on a tack or gybe counts. It is just that the distance is greater / more noticeable with gybes.

The key to a good gybe is:

· Body movement

· Sheeting

· Steering

which are all done in sync. To improve this, you can stop doing one element (for example, put the sheet in the cleat!) to help you really focus on the other two.

*Gybe for the pressure because there is more wind by the shore when the shore is on the left in the Northern Hemisphere*

x Race Strategy

Gybing is a vital part of race strategy. Long gone are the days where we just raced around triangles and the downwind leg was just how we got to the next upwind leg. It is now a good (perhaps the best) opportunity to gain places. Therefore, just like in the upwind leg, we need to gybe to get the gusts or the pressure as well as gybing on the shifts – here we want the headers, to take us as directly downwind as possible.

It is worth noting that there will be fewer shifts and gusts on the downwind leg than upwind because we are sailing away from them, rather than towards them. The pressure (a fixed area of stronger wind usually caused by a topographical feature) will remain in the same place.

Gybe for the shifts and sail less distance

Gybing Exercises

If we have identified gybing as a weakness (which it often is) we need to maximise the number of gybes performed during training. The difficulty is that it is tempting to practise what we are good at, rather than what we need to (because we are not so good at it). So, let’s look at how we can add more gybes into our training sessions.

Three variations of the upwind exercises can work very well for sailing downwind and practising gybing.

In addition, when doing short races and someone is over the line, having to do one gybe upwind rather than going back through the line can be a suitable penalty for a premature start, because it is good to keep the racing as close as possible.

Training to Win is written by multiple world champion and gold medal winning coach Jon Emmett. It provides training exercises for individual boats and groups of boats with or without a coach.

To get more of Jon Emmett’s training exercises, Training to Win can be bought here (https://fernhurstbooks.com/books/permalink/136/training_to_win). People who sign up to Fernhurst Books’ newsletter can get 25% off the cost of the book.

Tony Woods 6/14/21 Tony Woods 6/14/21

The ILCA Sailing Festival 13th- 27th August

The ILCA Sailing Festival Festival 13th- 27th August.

There have been so many events cancelled in the last year it’s great finally to have some good news!

The ILCA Sailing Festival starts with the National Championships on 13th August with a Welcome Evening sponsored by the UKLA (Don’t forget to claim your FREE Meal ticket!) After the Nationals is a more relaxed, club orientated event - The Festival Regatta, and then for those of you transitioning into 4’s or 6’s a coached racing event - The ILCA Transition Week.

Tony Woods 6/14/21 Tony Woods 6/14/21

TRAINING NEWS

Training events have been going on up and down the country and we’ve been getting great feedback from participants.

If you want to get involved go to the Events page on the UKLA website here

See below for Training Events coming up in June/July.

The one at Queen Mary on 24/25 July is now bookable through the club website and is £60 for non QM members, and £40 for club members. Click Here (just scroll down)

Tony Woods 6/14/21 Tony Woods 6/14/21

SUPER GRAND PRIX 2021 - Celebrating the Golden Anniversary!

Next month features TWO Super Grand Prix events! The Super Grand Prix North at Pennine SC is on the 3/4 July and the Super Grand Prix South at Pagham YC is on 17/18 July.

NB- The UKLA will be sponsoring the Super Grand Prix in 2021 so you’ll get top quality coaching and racing for a fraction of the usual cost!

Don’t forget you must be a member of the UKLA to take part in a Super Grand Prix.

As well as the UKLA subsidising the coaching costs we are very excited to have 4 sponsors involved - Noble Marine, Ovington, Sailingfast and Southeast Sailboats. Thank you to all our sponsors.

Following the success of our Super Grand Prix events in 2019 we are hoping to continue the experience in 2021 (Covid permitting!) For this special Golden Anniversary year the UKLA is planning to fund some of the coaching costs, including paying for a coach on the Sunday. The Sunday coaching would be for all racers- briefings/de briefings and on the water support. We want to give something back to our valued members, and it therefore goes without saying that to take part in a SGP you must be a UKLA member!

The Super Grand Prix (SGP) is a fun weekend event consisting of top quality coaching, evening social and competitive racing. Developed to encourage club sailors to take the first steps to an open meeting, and provide a bigger, more sociable event for everyone.

Primarily aimed at club sailors, but not exclusively so, valuing diversity in the fleet, encouraging all ages, gender and rigs to come together to celebrate everything that is the ILCA, with the emphasis on fun. Helping to grow and sustain a healthy club base across the regions, building confidence to take an active part, create ambassadors, whilst helping sailors develop skills and ability to get the most out of ILCA sailing.

There are currently three broad regions - South, Midlands and North.

SUPER GRAND PRIX 2021

SOUTH:

22/23 May - Queen Mary SC
17/18 July - Pagham YC
7/8 August Castle Cove SC

MIDLANDS

16/17 October - Staunton Harold SC

North

29/30 May - St Mary’s Loch

3/4 July - Pennine SC

Tony Woods 6/14/21 Tony Woods 6/14/21

SUPER GRAND PRIX SOUTH - Queen Mary SC

REPORT by Guy Noble

When the rough-and-tumble of club racing meets the smooth skills of the super Grand Prix circuit sailors there can be a certain grinding of the gears! And so it was at the UKLA Super Grand Prix event held at Queen Mary Sailing Club on the 22nd and 23rd of May.
What caught everybody by surprise was the sheer volume of entries. A normal regional event would attract no more than 50 boats so a limit of 75 was put on the event. Very soon it became apparent that demand for places had been dramatically underestimated . After some last minute arm-twisting of volunteers (god bless them all) QM delivered, expanding
the entry to over 90. Anyone who has done the Bloody Mary knows that Queen Mary SC is quite capable of putting on events for literally hundreds of boats but that takes a huge amount of forward planning and an incredible number of volunteers. This was supposed to be a far smaller event.
For those who are not familiar with the subtleties of the ILCA/ Laser calendar the Super Grand Prixs are designed to be a notch up from what are used to be called the traveller circuit, now slightly confusingly called the Grand Prixs.
Super Grand Prix are the brainchild of Tony Woods. He identified a need for good training for sailors to learn how to race with a bigger and a more competitive fleet. The events were divided into two. A day of UKLA training and the following day a series of races to put into practice what was learnt.
As the weekend approached it became clear that light winds for the Saturday would provide perfect conditions for those a little nervous about racing in a bigger fleet (a review of the training will follow in a few days). However Sunday’s forecast looked much more feisty. Although many were looking forward to the breezy conditions other very capable sailors opted to race with ILCA6 rigs.
Forecasts in recent times have been particularly inaccurate. Rumour has it that this is partly due to the fact that aircraft, normally providing enormous amounts of meteorological data, have been sitting on runways rather than whizzing around in the air.
What we actually got at Queen Mary was two days of exceptionally changeable weather.
In fact it would be fair to say we're almost had everything bar fog and snow.
Although 4 races were schedule for each fleet only 3 were possible. With everyone set for some serious hiking in a predicted 15 to 20 kn of wind the first race got underway in no more than seven or eight. Condition improve as the day unfolded but rain, massive wind shifts and very chilly conditions tested everyone.
The ILCA7 fleet was dominated by local hotshot Orlando Gledhill taking the first two race bullets and, with a fourth race looking increasingly unlikely, took the series win. Ben Flower retired from the first race after a close encounter with a rather over enthusiastic Queen Mary sailor. Pushing hard in the final two races Ben was only one point behind Orlando.
Roger O’Gorman tied with Charlie South for third and fourth with Roger just sneaking ahead of Charlie on count back. A welcome return to racing for Tim Law saw him take fifth.

Sebastian Kemp, also of QMSC managed to secure first position in the ILCA6 fleet just in front of Alistair Brown - both tied on three points Sebastian, again won out on count back.
Luke Anstey was a clear 3rd and Master Ian Gregory fourth (another master making a welcome return after recovering from a long illness).
The slightly smaller ILCA4 fleet was won by Antonio Pascali, with Noah Evas second.
Imogen Palmer, Anne Friedboug and Edward Day all finished on 8 points but on count back finished 3r 4 and 5th respectively.
Man of the Day has to be Joe Woodley. He brought an old Laser 169XXX and got it racing for under £500. For some odd reason he had several twigs in the holes drilled into the bows (apparently where the semi-permanent fender had been placed by the previous
owner).
Joe managed to get into the top 10 ! This just shows that you don’t need mega bucks to race.
Ovington, Sailingfast and Southeast Sailboats provided a fantastic array of prizes for theinners. A big THANK YOU to all the team, Tony Woods for organising, Paul and his team for the Race management and all at QM that helped make this such a memorable and enjoyable weekend.
Sponsors:
Sailingfast – Duncan brings his battle bus down from Scotland for most of the big events, which is so ridiculously well equipped, you could replace everything on your boat. Although based in Scotland they will get anything to you super fast. Check out his website : https://sailingfast.co.uk
SouthEast Sailboats – Max brings bespoke quality at affordable prices to the class. His passion for detail has made his products a must have for anyone who wants quality. He also supplied many great prizes for the
event.
website : https://southeastsailboats.co.uk
Ovington Boats - Chris Turner lives dinghies and has been a significance presence in the boat building world for decades. OB are now the official UK builders of ILCAs. Thanks for the great caps !
website : https://www.ovingtonboats.com
Noble Marine - Ian MacManus (the man behind the name) has crafted a very competitive and excellent insurance product for all Laser/ILCA sailors. A very personal service and a extremely useful website help make this the ‘go to’ company.

Top 5 place in each Fleet
ILCA7’s
1st. Orlando Gledhill - QMSC
2nd Ben Flower -
3rd. Roger O’Gorman - QMSC
4th Charlie South -
5th Tim Law - Salcombe SC
ILCA6’s
1st. Sebastian Kempe - QMSC

2nd Alastair Brown
3rd. Luke Anstey
4th Ian Gregory -
5th Tim Evans
ILCA4’s
1st. Antonio Pascali
2nd Noah Evans
3rd. Imogen Palmer
4th Anne Fredborg
5th Edward Day

Full results:
https://www.queenmary.org.uk/racing/results-2/spring-series-2021-resultsnew-template-
page/ukla-super-grandprix/

From Roger O’Gorman:

Sunday the UK’s top ILCA sailors descended on Queen Mary for the UKLA Super Grand Prix. The forecast and conditions bode for what seemed was a mid-winter series, with thunderous dark clouds bringing 20-30 knots gusts. The runners and riders came from far and wide, with circa 85 competitors overall split across three fleets. The ILCA 7 Standard fleet was somewhat diminished with several, normally seasoned Standard riggers opting for the ILCA 6, in light of the chunky forecast. A regrettable decision for notorious Rupert Bedell, AKA Andre Agassi, who later struggled his 85 kilo torso in what was a light wind race 1. The fleet included an experienced set of competitors, notably Mike Matan, ex UK Laser National Champions Gareth Kelly and Tim Law, several sailors who have ranked on podium at Master Worlds such as Orlando Gledhill and Mike Hicks, along with ex GB squad Ben Flower.

Race 1, Baltic conditions settled, ominous dark clouds loomed from the west. Race Officer Paul Stainsby steadied the ship and kept the fleet at bay, whilst he searched for a window of opportunity to get the race off with some consistent breeze. The fleet was well behaved, no recalls, with the breeze in the left phase, Roger O’Gorman tacked the fleet from port, toward the pin, crossing and leading the way ot the course middle. Ben Flower pushed to the left of the course with good speed, with Orlando Gledhill left of middle. Roger O’Gorman had a significant lead by the first top mark, however with a new system of pressure yet to arrive, the first run was very light. The fleet came from behind on the left. Gledhill took advantage spotting the new pressure early and took the lead. Charlie South and Gareth Kelly were now in fast pursuit. Local legend, Tony Woods found pace on the next beat as the fleet began to separate. O’Gorman took the lead again for the next round before Gledhill finally got past, with Charlie South now in close pursuit.

Race 2, the forecasted big breeze had now began to kick in. It was the same contenders again leading from the front. Gledhill was masterful this time round, making no mistakes, with Ben Flower stretching his powerful physique to command the physical conditions. Roger O’Gorman was again in pursuit but hot on his heals was Thomas Brindley who kept the pressure on and Charlie South who began to show immense pace in the breeze, now gusting 25 knots plus.

Race 3, the breeze kicked hard left with a dark rain cloud approaching. Carnage ensued at the pin with some casualties. Charlie South took a swim, Gledhill played safe, holding back and getting a clear lane to lead off to port. Ben Flower controversially kicked his heals off the pin and accelerated to an early lead, now immersed in the 25-30 knot gusts, Flower accelerated hard to lead from O’Gorman and Tim Law now relishing the breezier conditions. Flower was not to be stopped dominating from the front. Tim Law and Gareth Kelly dusted off their muscle memory and began to find their Laser flair. Charlie South used his hiking prowess to work his way through the fleet and took a late left handed shift to work back to 5th. Tim Law and Gareth Kelly jousted hard like stags locking horns on the final beat, the old warriors finding their pace a little late in the day for a podium, but Law had the upper hand finishing 3rd and Kelly in 4th.

The final result then, Orlando Gledhill was masterful, consistent across the board in all conditions, two bullets won the day from Ben Flower and Roger O’Gorman in 3rd. Charlie South in 4th and Tim Law 5th.

REPORT - ILCA 6’s by Niall Peelo:

Saturday started off slightly cold with a forecast for somewhere between 10 and 15 kts at times throughout the day. Perfect for the training day - day 1 of the super GP. There were about 50 sailors signed up to the training which was broken down into 4 groups and all were coached by people connected with the British sailing team as either sailors or coaches. One of the coaches also stays for Sunday and does a debrief of the day with some video footage of starts and mark roundings.

The wind started at about 8 knots but soon dropped off to almost zero at times. Lots of the initial on the water training was focusing on rig set up. For me in the 6 rig, my cunningham setting was not ideal, but a quick few tips from the coach helped realise what I should be looking for. Others were being helped with vang settings especially in light winds, and many were being helped set the boom angle on a run, as its easy to have it too loose.

These are the kind of small tips that make training days like this invaluable and on top of that we had several starts and races which further helped improve all areas of racing.

Saturday evening had a BBQ planned originally but the terrible weather forecast put an end to that, so an indoor event was planned with restrictions to numbers due Covid. Unfortunately with restrictions etc, the meal had to be cancelled, but snacks and take aways were available and Tony and Netty, joined by Rupert put on a small gig. It was great to see some form of normality returning to every day life. Hopefully this trend will continue in the coming weeks.

Day 2 of the super GP is the proper GP racing day, and 4 races were planned. The forecast had been suggesting that it could be quite sporty with winds forecast to be up to 25 knots. Perfect to blow away any cobwebs.
QM boasts a great ILCA fleet probably boasting some of the largest race turnouts in the country, and even though we sail 4’s 6’s and 7’s in one fleet for club racing, at the regatta its split into different fleets. As a committed 6 sailor, I was more than pleased to see that the 6’s had the largest entry (which it seems to have in most events I compete in these days). Its also great that we have separate starts, as it avoids us being rolled by the generally faster 7 sailors, and I always think where possible clubs should try to encourage separate 6 and 4 starts so as not to put the smaller sailors off.

As we launched, a squall passed through and brought winds of over 20 knots, which was promising for the racing, but the hailstones not so. Thankfully that passed but so did the wind.
On the first start I was keen fresh from the training the previous day. I felt close to the line - too close, and even the coach doing the videos thought I may be over but the race officer said all clear. Phew!
I found a lane taking me left and had good speed. Must have been the top tips from the training! I had managed to hold the lane for much of the first beat and found myself on the left. When the headder came I tacked and it was looking good, that is until the wind died and filled in from the right. Usually the person who writes the club report is first at the windward mark. I ended up almost last, so thought I was safe, but thats another story! I have no idea who was at the front, but felt in good company with some fellow club mates around me who had obviously had the same thoughts about the wind as I did.
The race ended up being a long one - over 1 hour and 10 minutes for me, lots of shifts, patches and holes. I didn’t see how it played at the front, but Terry Hacker won followed by Luke Antsey and Ian Gregory.

Due to the large shift to the right, the race committee moved the course between races to square up the beat again. What a day to be race officer. By the time the ILCA 6’s started the wind had gone so far left in a squall it was difficult to lay the line on Starboard.
I was aiming to start near the pin and take advantage of the left shift early in clear air, until I had someone capsize on top of me (there were a few capsizes at the pin!). I had to reverse out of the situation which doesn’t feel fast at the start! I did finally start exactly at the pin, but about 40 seconds after everyone else. Yet again I have no idea who got to the windward mark first - during the race the wind shifted quite considerably as showers passed through, in fact this was the story of the day with shifts of up to 60 degrees, and those who read it well were rewarded handsomely.
Alastair Brown picked up the bullet in race 2 followed by Sebastian with Mike Wood in 3rd.
For the start of race 3 conditions were almost similar to race 2 with a heavy bias to the pin. This time I didn’t mess it up, started safely and got away on Port in clear air thanks to no capsizes! The wind was now over 20 knots, and still shifting making for a quality QM style race. This time Sebastian took the bullet followed by Alistair and Luke.
There was no race 4 due to the strong winds and the fact it was late in the day, which was a relief to all.
The results were slow being compiled due to some protest activity in the ‘7 fleet. It had me thinking back a year when we could not race due to the lockdown so we did the virtual protests - some of the ‘7 guys obviously miss those days and kept the tradition going!

Overall in the 6 fleet Sebastian Kemp came out as the winner, with Alastair Brown in second and Luke Anstey in third. The masters category was won by Ian Gregory followed by Rupert Bedell and Peter Sherwin.

Finally the prize giving could take place. As the prize giving had to be outside in the cold, many skipped it, which may have been a poor call. It started with a draw of sail numbers out of a hat, but you had to be there to get a prize which were sponsored by Southeast Sailboats, Ovington and Sailingfast. Almost everyone who attended the prize giving ended up with a prize!

Thanks again for QMSC for organising such a big event. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to our future open events.

REPORT - ILCA 4’s Gary Finkelstein:

Super tricky conditions at Queen Mary SC for the SGP with a lot of learning for the enthusiastic ILCA4 fleet. Light conditions on Saturday for the training with young sailors working on improving sensitivity in light conditions and on wind shift and intensity prediction to be in front of the fleet. On Sunday three races with wind growing up from 8 to 25 knots. The first race, in light wind, won by Noah Evans, able to keep the lead at the start and closing all options to the rest of the fleet. The second and third race, with wind blowing up to 25 knots, both won by Antonio Pascali allowing him to win the event. Strong performance for Imogen Palmer and Anne Fredborg, third and fourth overall, but 1st and 2nd in the girl fleet.

Alison Stevens 6/14/21 Alison Stevens 6/14/21

Masters Nationals 9-11 July 21

Come and join us for 3 days of racing and fun at the Masters Nationals at Pevensey Bay Sailing Club on 9-11th July.

An amazing venue with the best beach team on the South Coast to help you up the pebbles.

Enter by 23rd June to secure the early bird price of £91. Late entries accepted until 5 July.

Remember to book your camping and campervan spaces.

Alan Davis GM winner ILCA7 ©Pevensey Bay SC .jpg

Tony Woods 6/13/21 Tony Woods 6/13/21

SUPER GRAND PRIX NORTH - St Mary's Loch SC

LASER SUPER GRAND PRIX AT ST MARY’S LOCH SAILING CLUB May 29/30th 2021

45 Laser sailors entered our very first regional Super Grand prix hosted by St Mary’s on the May Bank Holiday weekend for a day of coaching in the Laser/ILCA followed by a day of racing in the lovely setting of St Mary’s Loch. Lights winds were the pattern for the whole weekend and even prevented getting on the water in the morning of the coaching – however the coaches set up a carousel of activities for the sailors. After an early lunch the breeze came in and we were able to carry out an afternoon of race exercises.

Sunday dawned with a bit of wind so the racing set off on time with three races back to back but the wind came and went which tested all the sailors. As ever, the best sailors found the best wind and the racing at the top of both the Standard ILCA7 fleet and the Radial ILCA6 was very tight – so much so that the final results of the ILCA6 were challenged and took some time to resolve.

There were only three sailing in the ILCA4 fleet who had a good day

In the bigger ILCA6 Radial fleet of 24 sailors Oscar Shilling of Derwent SC took 1st place and was also first youth – but was challenged by Tom Bates from Ripon and Mary – Jane Piper from Tynemouth

In the ILCA 7 it was very tight at the top with one of the Saturday coaches eventually taking the 1st place, Lewis Smith from Royal Forth SC , from the more familiar Tim Keighley from West Riding SC taking 2nd and Stuart Belfield from Loch Lomond taking 3rd

A great weekend for all – many thanks to all those at St Mary’s who hosted, catered, organized and in many cases competed (21 home club entries)

Myles Ripley

ILCA UK 6/13/21 ILCA UK 6/13/21

Join the Team

The UKLA is looking for enthusiastic people to join our ever growing team -

In particular at the moment we’re looking for people to help with:

Marketing Officer
The National Grand Prix Circuit
The Newsletter

Please email Ellie at the office if you can assist in any way - even one morning a month would be great!

Many thanks to Richard Mason for help with Grand Prix, Super Grand Prix and sponsorship

Tony Woods 6/13/21 Tony Woods 6/13/21

New Podcasts!

The latest episode of Head’s Up with Ben and Sam is out with all the June News.

Also check out the latest installments of ‘An Hour with Flower’, featuring 2015 National Champion Martin Evans, and Master Sailor John Ling, .

LISTEN TO THE PODCASTS HERE

ILCA UK 6/7/21 ILCA UK 6/7/21

ILCA 50th Celebration - Bart's Bash!

Sir Ben Ainslie CBE, Andrew Simpson Foundation Founding Trustee

Even if you cannot enter Bart’s Bash, we hope you will find an opportunity to get involved by sailing your boat with family and friends wherever you are.

Want to learn more? Go to http://www.ilca50.com/

To enter Bart’s Bash, go to https://bartsbash.com/sign-up/ilca

To register your sailing club, go to https://www.bartsbash.com/sign-up/venue

Alison Stevens 6/6/21 Alison Stevens 6/6/21

Masters News Qualifier 19 - 20 June, Stokes Bay Sailing Club and Euro News

Come and join us for the first Masters event of the year on 19- 20 June at Stokes Bay Sailing Club.

We will be racing as part of the open fleet with the Masters results extracted from the main results. This event replaces the cancelled Parkstone event.

A good chance to get racing with the fleet prior to the Masters Nationals at Pevensey Bay.

Entry closes Wednesday 16 June.

ILCA Master Europeans, Gargnano, Garda 23-29 July

Entry place offers have been issued and some may feel the current requirement to quarantine upon return to the UK too great a burden. EurILCA has confirmed all the cancelled GBR entry offers can be re-opened up to 23 July should the regulations change or your desire to compete outweighs the impact of being in quarantine.

After a frustrating start to the Euro Master Series through cancelled or postponed events under Covid regulations, it is fantastic to hear that the first event of the year finally concluded in Austria. Italy and France follow respectively over the next 2 weekends.