ILCA UK Chair Blog # 106

Sep 29

Mark has kindly offered to let me take the reins of the ILCA UK blog, please bear with me as I try and do it justice as a guest. As you may know, I’m running a raffle - the prize is the boat I used at the Olympics. At the time of writing, we have sold 1488 tickets, which has both greatly exceeded my expectations and at £10 per ticket has raised nearly double the value of the boat.

Whilst promoting the raffle I’ve regularly been asked why I’m doing this, to which I’ve simply said that it’s a fun way to raise money for a great charity, the Andrew Simpson Foundation, and gives someone the chance to win a unique and valuable prize.

There is however, a bit more to it.

I learnt to sail when I was very young. I’ve got a grainy photo of me as a 5-year-old, sailing a boat my dad built. I’ve said before that one day I’ll grow up and figure out what I really want to do, because right now I still do the same thing I did when I was a kid – racing dinghies.

I’ve been a member of ILCA UK for 15 years and the British Sailing Team for 11. In fact, it was almost 10 years-to-the-day from joining the team to getting ‘the’ call saying I was going to the Olympics. To say that the ILCA has been a large part of my formative years is a huge understatement.

Sailing has made my life quite an adventure. The first time I flew anywhere was to go to a Youth Europeans in Denmark when I was 17, since then it’s taken me all over the world. It’s given me so many memories which I hold dear, from getting barrelled in my (chartered) ILCA in some monstrous breaking waves in the Dominican Republic, to standing with Elliot and Lorenzo one freezing day in Poland, holding every podium spot at the senior Euros.

Being part of Team GB this summer has given me the opportunity to get to know athletes across the other Olympic sports. With a few exceptions, I was struck by how relatable my life as a sailor is to the life of any other athlete – tiring and rewarding in equal measure, illness and injury is always a problem and making ends meet can be tricky, but underneath that there is a huge love for our respective sports.

At the end of the Olympics, the thing most often discussed was ‘what now’? And that’s where I saw sailing contrast so well against other sports - the opportunities for employment across the sailing industry are vast in comparison. After a career in sport, what do rowers, swimmers, archers, or badminton players do? They can coach, but that’s probably about it.

I spent a few years working for SailGP as a part-time and fairly average producer. I would advise the production team on how each race might unfold, telling the helicopters and camera chase boats over the radio where they should be to get the best shots. I remember one race as the boats were heading to the windward gate, I told the whole production team that there was another lap to go, as that was part of my job – knowing the course. It turns out that I’d incorrectly counted to the number 2, they had in fact done 3 laps. As the F50s turned through the gate and burned down the reach towards the finish line and our entire camera team of boats and helicopters were all wildly out of position, all because I’d said there was another lap to go, it seemed like a safe assumption that that was my last day as a producer.

Whilst I digress, I didn’t actually get fired that day. That’s probably because people who understand sailing are valuable (and lady luck was looking over me). All the ‘ladder lines’ and 3D graphics you see in SailGP and the America’s Cup are developed and run primarily by sailors, and that’s because it’s easier to explain the software to sailors than it is to explain what a layline is to a software developer.

Although nearly all of my efforts for the last 10 years have been focussed on ILCA sailing, I have been struck by the number of opportunities that are out there, be they in professional yacht sailing, coaching or instruction, media and much more. I have a degree in Naval Architecture, which I really enjoyed studying, but it hasn’t opened anything like the number of doors that ILCA sailing has. If you’re 17 and thinking about university, my entirely unsolicited advice would be to do a degree if there’s a subject you’re enticed by. If there’s not, then think about going sailing. There will be a lot to figure out, like where to live and how to make ends meet, not least how to be good at racing. When distant relatives ask you what you’re going to study, they will look at you sideways when you talk about your sailing plans, but stick to your guns. I still have no idea what I want to do when I grow up either, but I stopped worrying about that a while ago.

Which brings me back to my raffle. Sailing, be it in an ILCA or another class, an Olympic campaign or gaining a dinghy instructors’ qualification, has so much to offer, particularly for those to whom academia doesn’t work. The Andrew Simpson Foundation are amazingly effective at getting people on the water who otherwise wouldn’t have the chance. As cliché as it is, they do change lives. Buying a ticket gives you a chance at a great prize, but it will also give someone else the chance to live the adventure which is learning to sail.

I can’t end this blog without doing two things. The first is to thank Ovington boats (who built the ILCA 7 boats used at the Olympics) and Tideway Wealth & Retirement. When I approached them with his this half-baked idea about a raffle, they both quickly agreed to support it, despite my disorganisation. Thanks to them, 100% of the money raised goes to ASF.

The second and final thing is to provide the link should you wish to buy a ticket. Entries close at 11.59pm this Monday. Thank you.

Micky

BUY RAFFLE TICKET

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