ILCA UK Chair Blog #149
@James Harle
The 2025 ILCA UK Open and National Championship finished in Pwllheli on Friday and I thought I would write down some observations on what was a super event.
We had about 210 entries but with the Senior Europeans (with around 15 GBR sailors) clashing with event, overall numbers were excellent for a venue away for south coast and were consistent with the last three years.
We do try to avoid clashes but our UK venues need to be booked nearly two years in advance and there is very little flexibility to move dates, let alone venues.
Given the light winds forecast for six days, the race team led by Regatta Director James Hynes and PRO Paul Jackson did a great job to get so many races in. As I have said before in this blog, given the accuracy of forecasts now, race teams need to be flexible in scheduling races and then communicate with sailors and this they did very well.
We had one very long day on the water but the fleets all got at least three races that day and allowed us to make up somewhat for no racing on Monday or Tuesday. On those days, in the past we might have spent many hours afloat waiting for wind, but instead we were sensibly held ashore.
Ideally we would have had two race courses as in other years, but it proved difficult to get enough experienced race volunteers to run two.
Generally in the racing, I felt boat speed was critical even in the light conditions. The faster boats were getting away cleanly on the line and getting a jump that allowed a more conservative first beat with clear air. If you were not in that first line, the middle had less wind compared to the sides but once on the sides, you were often struggling for clear air in the last third of the beat, approaching the lay line. If you were not one of the faster boats (like me) finding a less crowded part of the line that offered a good lane, although at slightly unbiased end, worked well. I did this a couple of times at the committee boat and saw others do at pin end.
Where there was a shift to one side or more pressure, I felt it was often hard to predict this. Often the faster sailors are able to stay in touch with the front even if there tactics weren’t perfect. Beware the sailors who claimed to understand and predict it all - they are probably just faster or luckier !
There were no transits all week until the last day - I had a good one then but was too slow to accelerate and started in the second row. A couple of times after a black flag recall, there is a big dip in the middle of the line but it takes courage to start there when you can clearly see both ends of the line (and they can see you !).
As usually we had daily prizes but even better for most sailors a daily prize draw thanks to our sponsors. We had trackers split between fleets all week, thanks to TracTrac - see below*. Also daily race clinics and our mentor/ mentee system. The sailors hub with sponsors, chill out area and music was great. The event shirt is top class but you had to be there to get one !
None of this would be possible without a great team of volunteers who have been working on this since September together with our excellent events manager / class secretary Ellie with help and support from Leo. If I know it is a cliche but think about the event mug - a small item in the scheme of a big event - the logo had to be designed and then applied to a mug order to be available for volunteers / prize winners at the event. Just one of the many smaller items that need to be done to make the event a success.
Keep an eye out for the race reports in Y&Y.
Finally we will be opening the National Open in East Lothian soon enough. It is our first National event in Scotland for many years and we would really like to see as many entries as possible especially from the “north” and Scotland. These events are open to all competent club sailors - we would love to see as many as possible. If you are a parent sailor, come and race with your child !
*Ovington/TracTrac Race Replay ILCA 6 with RYA race coach Alan Williams, is Online at 6pm Tuesday, Aug 19th meet.google.com/sup-njhk-cob. Using TracTrac GPS tracking data to provide invaluable insights into racing. By carefully analysing the replay sessions, sailors can refine their strategies, improve decision-making, and ultimately enhance performance in future races.
Snippets
ILCA UK Events
Skills Week South
You will see our calendar starting to fill up.
Other news
2025 Suzuki Master European Championship
2025 ILCA UK Masters Nationals video
2025 ILCAUK Masters Nationals at Hayling Island Sailing Club - ILCA 6 report
2025 ILCAUK Masters Nationals at Hayling Island Sailing Club - ILCA 7 report
QM ILCA initiative has gone from zero to international in six months
2025 ILCA7 Masters Spring Qualifier at Parkstone Yacht Club
2025 ILCA6 Masters Spring Qualifier at Parkstone Yacht Club
ILCA Midland Grand Prix at Attenborough Sailing Club
2025 ILCA UK National Open 2 at the WPNSA - ILCA 4 fleet report
2025 ILCA UK National Open 2 at the WPNSA - ILCA 6 fleet report
2025 ILCA UK National Open 2 at the WPNSA - ILCA 7 fleet report
Video of National Open 2
Also we also had three really good write-ups from that first weekend:
2025 ILCA UK National Open 1 at the WPNSA - ILCA 7 fleet report
2025 ILCA UK National Open 1 at the WPNSA - ILCA 4 fleet report
2025 ILCA UK National Open 1 at the WPNSA- ILCA 6 fleet report
National Open 1 video Here it is.
Finally have you seen the tracking? Here are the links - ILCA UK National Open 1 ILCA UK National Open 2 James Foster did a nice debriefing of the racing using the tracking data, see here. ILCA7 briefing. ILCA4 briefing.
ILCA UK Youth Winter Trophy at Datchet Water Sailing Club - ILCA 4 fleet report
ILCA UK Youth Winter Trophy at Datchet Water Sailing Club - ILCA 6 fleet report