UKLA Chair blog #10
One of the great things about ILCA sailing in the UK is that you can line up against some of best in the world. At the autumn qualifier at WPNSA in 2021, I recall hovering on the start line with a minute to go and below me was Michael Beckett, who had just won the Europeans, and above me was Elliot Hanson, who had just come back from the Tokyo Olympics as GBR’s representative. How exciting and humbling it is to be 58 years of age and competing with those guys (or at least being in the same race 😊).
When Daisy Collingridge and Matilda Nicholls are competing now in Texas at the ILCA6 Worlds for the British Sailing Team, we had the two of them coming 1st and 2nd in our National Championship and taking part in Q&A sessions. While we are privileged to have these sailors (and others on the BST) in our fleet, while challenging to compete in the Olympics at the same time, they give something back. I wonder whether there are other important aspects of ILCA sailing that we overlook.
But let me build up to that. I remember as a 16-year-old going on the ferry to a team-racing event in West Kirby with a bunch of older sailors (probably only in their early twenties). What an experience that was! Learning from these sailors not just about tips and tricks in team racing, but also the social side of things where they are looking out for a younger sailor.
In Weymouth recently, I got talking with Peter Allam, who runs WPNSA, and Roger Hakes, both members of Parkstone about how great our sport is for mixing up age groups and how important that is for everyone.
Unlike other sports, sailing is not rigidly structured around age group competitions and allows not only youth sailors of different ages to complete against each other, but also more (and less) experienced adults to compete against younger sailors.
Roger told me how he went ILCA club racing with his son Tom in Parkstone and apart from the obvious thrill of being together on the same racecourse, it was an opportunity to visit the main club house together after racing. The younger Hakes was able to engage in chat about the racing with his dad’s friends and fellow racers, and experience some of the banter around the racing. It also allowed experienced ILCA racers like Alan Davis to share their tips across the generations. Our sport allows this all in an easy way. It helps children develop and learn in a supportive environment with informal mentors.
In the past, this was often adults and children crewing together in a double-handed boats, but ILCA sailing affords a new way of looking at this with its three rigs (ILCA 4, 6 and 7) often seeing one start line and course. I see this at UKLA open meetings and training where more and more parent / child groups are racing – I think of Matt and Dan Fletcher, James Noel and his son Alfie, Alex and Thomas Davey, Roger and Tom Hakes and at Skills week, Jane Sunderland and her sons and Fiona Atwell with her daughter (not an exhaustive list). I see this racing against my son Josh’s friends who have just moved to the ILCA7, where there is lots of banter especially when I beat them the odd time!
So, everyone can race together by selecting the rig that suits you. There is place for everyone. ILCA now provides an opportunity to race together across the ages. It encourages a less regular sailing parent or child to come and race against you. And it is probably every bit as important as supporting our elite sailors like Michael, Elliot, Daisy and Matilda and the rest of the British Sailing Team.
Finally, could I say that we continue to look for venues for our Qualifiers that can handle 200 boats on and off the water. We know and have contacted many venues, but they do have to be interested and available in Autumn and Spring– if you know of one, let us know.
All the best
Mark
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