ILCA UK Chair Blog # 104

Sep 16

I was at the ILCA Open meeting / Qualifier in Pwllheli over the weekend (along with 109 other ILCAs) and I was reminded what a great location this is for waves in a south westerly wind. It blew about 20knots all weekend and with a long fetch across the Irish Sea and a shallow bay, we got some steep waves that made for exhilarating conditions. It is not often we get to sail in these conditions and for many these big waves were perhaps more test of survival than exhilaration. It was easy “to go down the mine” – in other words bury the bow into the wave ahead and fill the cockpit with water, making the boat unstable and prone to capsize. I managed to survive the whole weekend without a capsize until the last gate when my mainsheet caught around the boom on the gybe and in I went. Anyone can capsize especially when racing hard (I know one of the British Saling Team did !). Well done to everyone who made a go of it, especially those not used to the conditions or new to their rig.

It is amazing how varied our sport can. ILCA sailing in Pwllheli was mostly boat speed especially upwind (fitness and technique being key) with good boat handling downwind. This is obviously completely different to inland sailing in a light breeze and flat water. The best sailors are good in all conditions and need to be – think back to the ILCA races in Marseille and the varied conditions there.

But it is also the variety of wave conditions even in sea venues – Stokes Bay often produces tricky short waves when wind is against tide, Weymouth Bay at the Nationals had one day with a small chop but a rolling swell from the side. Pevensey in the Southwester has long waves beautiful for surfing. I once sailed in the ILCA Worlds in Cape Town in a southerly - you could not see the boat 30 lengths ahead of you the waves were so big !

I wrote a little about wave technique in Blog #65 if you are interested.

Just to mention winter training especially for Regional Open training for ILCA4s for which places are limited – a couple of the regions are almost full (more below)

Snippets

ILCA UK Winter Training

ILCA UK are offering many opportunities for winter training 2024/2025 - See our calendar for more

Regional Open Training for ILCA 4,ILCA6 and ILCA 7

ILCA 4

ILCA 4 Regional Open Training is a six-week programme for sailors under the age of 18yrs. Sailors are expected to have experience of club sailing , be confident in sailing in strong winds and comfortable managing full days in inclement/cold weather. Sailors are required to sign up for the six weeks to ensure continuity and getting the best from the programme.

The training programme will take place across three different regions.

Twelve places are available for each region. The ILCA 4 programme is now open for sailors to sign upon the ILCA UK calendar; a great opportunity to develop skills and meet other sailors in your region.

ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 Regional Open Training

Now open for sailors to sign up on the ILCA UK Calendar. The format will be 6 weekends running between October and March. Four of the weekends will be hosted in each region, with two joint camps when all of the regions will join together, one at WPNSA and one at Draycote SC

ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 training will be open to all ages and entry will be on a per-weekend basis. An excellent opportunity to continue to develop sailing skills in your region.

National Training

National Training will be available following the October qualifiers in WPNSA. National Training is open to sailors who come in the top 50% male and top 50% female in at least three of the following events