UKLA Chair blog #11
I was on the balcony of Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on Saturday watching the ILCAs sailing in a steady 25 knots (gusting 30) at the UKLA open national training. The coaches did a super job getting the sailors out in smaller groups and it was a rare and thrilling opportunity for sailors to sail in these conditions. There is nothing like sailing an ILCA on a broad reach in such wind, but it got me thinking about how little that happens these days.
Back in the period prior to the Laser/ILCA getting Olympic status in 1996, we sailed long races, often over 2 hours and sometimes only one a day, round a triangle, sausage, triangle course. It meant great broad reaching but by the time it came to the run, the fleet was already spread out with big gaps between boats. In the run up to 1996 we switched to a 50-minute, trapezoid courses with lots of running and no broad reaching. Two things happened- serious aerobic fitness was required at the top level and modern running techniques (rolling the boat to facilitate steering in waves) emerged. While broad reaching 25 knots is now more likely to be found in club racing, it also reminds me that just taking your ILCA out for a “blast" in strong winds can be a lot of fun.
I am sure many of you have been following the progress of the British Sailing Team of Daisy and Matilda at the ILCA6 Worlds in Texas and indeed some of our Masters at the Europeans the previous week in Spain. There are regular posts our Facebook channel. I know not everyone is a supporter of that channel, but right now this provides a great reach for UKLA with over 3,000 followers and significant interaction with our posts. You may also be interested that Ellie has re-initiated our twitter feed which now is being used solely to retweet ILCA Y&Y event reports. You may be surprised at how many there are and how much is going on in ILCA around the UK.
Finally, just to mention the Inlands at Grafham on 5th/6th Nov - we have reached capacity in the ILCA6 and close to it in the ILCA4, however there are spaces in the ILCA7. With many of the top sailors away at the Europeans and it being an inland venue, it is opportunity for you to get some great racing - why not come and join us?
All the best
Mark
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