ILCA UK Chair Blog #109

Oct 21

It is a very busy time of year for many ILCA sailors. While the number of open meetings starts to reduce and winter club series start, the class has six National events in the autumn, including two for Masters, at the same time as planning and starting our winter training program. All this activity would not be possible without the hard work of Ellie and Leo and the many volunteers who make it happen. Thank you everyone and please bear with us if responses are a bit slower at this time of year.

I don’t often talk about tactics in this blog but feel compelled to do so this week having watched the America’s Cup, especially race seven and eight (you can seem them in full on Youtube). Both races were held in shifty offshore winds and were won by NZL. What fascinated me was the importance of getting the first shift right in those races and I think there are important observations of all of us in that. Firstly, some disclaimers: I am not claiming to be any expert on AC 75 racing, nor do I have any access to loads of data which the tacticians and weather people in both campaigns have. Looking from a distance, it did seem to me that NZL had a slight speed advantage upwind in those conditions and we all know that some marginal extra boat can make you look like a tactical genius!

I watched the start of Race 7 with GBR nearer the pin and ahead and to leeward. Off the line the first shift was to the right which meant when the boats got to the boundary (which comes in less than a minute), NZL was able to front right in front of GBR, who then had to tack back left, as the wind started to head left. By the time they crossed again, NZL were well ahead and in total control. That is in no way a criticism, it may have been luck, but it is what happened. Now it is important to say that the boundaries mean the boats reach what we would normally think of as a “layline” very quickly – there is no time to wait for the header to come. Afterwards I watched Mozzy Sails on Youtube and this validated, based on the real wind data, what I thought I was seeing. As an aside NZL seemed to get on the wrong side of a shift later on that first beat and again on the second beat, but they were far enough ahead it didn’t matter.

Race 8 was the opposite with NZL nearer the pin and ahead and to leeward. GBR tacked early and as soon as they do, you can see NZL get lifted and GBR are sailing to the right on a header. By the time, NZL reach the left boundary the wind goes left so they have sailed two lifts and are well ahead at the first crossing.

Now these races are unlike normal ILCA races where it takes much longer to reach the layline and also the wind shifts were coming very quickly (very short phases) in this offshore breeze but the principles are the same. Given your boat speed relative to the rest of the fleet, the length of the course, the size of the fleet and many other factors, you have to start to take advantage of the first shift. If you are expecting a right shift off the start, a pin-end start may not look too good as most the fleet lifts inside you. Of course it depends how longer it takes to go back left, but you are in trouble if you are already on the layline before that happens. Of course, a pin-end start with the first shift being to the left, looks great as you tack to cross the fleet!

Now of course this is all a bit simplistic as there are many other factors involved including the line bias, tide/current, impact of land features etc. An example from the light air race the the Grand Master fleet at the recent Masters Europeans in Vilamoura. At the start the wind is 5 knots, so most boats are going the same speed but it is a short course, only 0.6 of a mile, with a fleet of over 70. With the line bias was fairly even and the wind was clocking right so what to do? I considered a committee boat start and a quick tack to the right but so did most of the fleet making it hard to execute that start and strategy. I decided on a clean lane off the middle of the line, sailing fast and looking for the first opportunity to cross most of the boats in dirty air at the crowded boat end. Well I got most of the way to the layline before I could tack clear across, ended up about 20th at the mark. It comes down to assessing the trade-offs and making a judgement. And of course it is not always easy to predict where the first shift is coming from.

But fundamentally, here you start determines you ability to respond to the first shift.

Switching away to ILCA UK matters for a second. I heard recently a couple of comments about the financial surpluses ILCA UK are making. Well regular readers of this blog will know that just isn’t true. In the first nine months of 2024, all ILCA UK regattas and training ran at a loss of just over £15,000. There was an even greater deficit in 2022, although the deficit in 2023 was a little smaller. Our strategy in this area is to competitively price our events for sailors so that events make a small loss overall. I have previously mentioned this around the entry fee of the Nationals, where initial figures suggest we did run the event at a loss. Same with Skills Week. So while we may run very successful events like the Nationals and Skills Week with large numbers of sailors, we are not making a big profit as the entry fee is set so that we make a small loss.

It is true that the class built up some significant reserves during Covid but our strategy is to use those reserves by investing where we can to boost participation in ILCA sailing.

Finally to mention some upcoming events:

Masters inlands this weekend is still open until Wednesday evening with moderate winds forecast. Currently 63 entries. BOOK Here’s great video from Jon Emmet about Masters Nationals

The final qualifier is also on in Weymouth this weekend (open till this evening) with about 150 entries so far. BOOK or VOLUNTEER. Right after the qualifier, Brett Lewis has arranged some courses with Andrew Simpson. PB2 October 28th and 29th - A 20% discount has been applied for ILCA UK Members The booking link is here. ILCA Specific Safety Boat course Oct 30th. Please book through AS Center manager Nathan Bloss. Nathan will be happy to answer any questions - nathan@andrewsimpsoncentres.org

Finally the Inlands are in Grafham on 2nd/3rd Nov with 85 entries so far. The ILCA6 fleet will have separate men and women starts. BOOK or VOLUNTEER

Snippets

ILCA UK Winter Training

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

Other news

Noble Marine ILCA 6 Masters UK National Championships 2024 at Hayling Island Sailing Club

Noble Marine ILCA 7 Masters UK National Championships 2024 at Hayling Island Sailing Club

Olympian raises £18k by raffling Paris 2024 boat

ILCA Midlands Grand Prix at Staunton Harold Sailing Club

Northern ILCA Circuit Finale at Dovestone Sailing Club

ILCA Thames Valley Travellers Series Open at Frensham Pond Sailing Club

2024 ILCA Master Europeans Sets New Participation Record - EurILCA