ILCA UK Chair Blog#101
Short blog as I am still exhausted !
What a great week we had at the Nationals, at least according to most of the informal feedback I have had. My own perspective was very positive. We had 250 entries at a time when doing these events is expensive. In particular, 77 ILCA4s was super and the 60 ILCA7s was probably the most competitive ILCA7 fleet in the UK in at least a decade. We had a whole variety of conditions, light and heavy, in the harbour and the Bay. The temporary exclusion zone around the North entrance meant a lot of sailing to and from the course at the start of the week but at least it was nice summer weather. We almost got a full schedule in without making it too hard on the sailors. It is certainly true that with 250 sailors, there will not be full consensus on schedule, conditions and course locations and we must cater for the bulk of the fleet, who appeared very happy.
The Race Hub at WPNSA was a brilliant addition. The race clinics, Q&As, daily prizes, mentoring and of course the daily prizedraw with the exceptional support of our sponsors all worked as I hope the social program did. The large number of volunteers helping on and off the water was impressive. The reception for Micky Beckett on Friday was emotional as was the moment Peter Sherwin got an award for being the oldest competitor (aged 71 😉).
Anyway, please your feedback in the survey here.
Daily race reports (overall to follow):
Day 1 – 2024 ILCA UK Open & National Championships at the WPNSA
Day 2 - 2024 ILCA UK Open & National Championships at the WPNSA
Day 3 - 2024 ILCA UK Open & National Championships at the WPNSA
Day 4 -2024 ILCA UK Open & National Championships at the WPNSA
Day 5 Ovington Boats Big Prize Draw with Micky Beckett during the ILCA UK Open & National Championships
There are 100 sailors booked on Skills week on 26th August. The next ILCA UK event is Plas Heli on 14th/15th Sept – opens tonight. There is lots more in the calendar including most of the winter training dates (please note open training for ILCA6/ILCA7 still need to be added on same dates and venues at ILCA4 RTG training). The Masters Nationals at Hayling Island is now open as well.