ILCA UK Chair Blog #165

Gareth Humphrey, our Masters rep: 2026 looks set to be another fantastic year for the ILCA Masters with three venues scheduled (two coastal and one inland in Warwickshire).  The Master events attract a wide range of ILCA sailors from around the UK and visitors from overseas.  For those not familiar with Master sailing this is open to all ILCA members aged 30 or more (for more information see Masters — ILCA UK).  There is no upper age limit, and we are proud to have several ILCA Legends showing that age is just a number.  

The Master events have been strongly attended for many years, we continue to see growth in the number of entries, in fact 28% increase in entries during 2025), the 2025 Master Nationals and the Master Inlands were attended by 111 and 75 ILCA sailors respectively.

The ILCA committee and Masters are keen to know your thoughts on Master sailing, and we have a survey to help us to understand your needs / thoughts better.  Please do help by filling it in :

Over recent years we have tried to promote ILCA 4 racing for Master sailors but, sadly, there has been very limited demand.  Some events have been well attended by both male and female sailors but, alas, some have had very limited female sailor attendance.  Please also share your thoughts on what would encourage better participation for the ILCA 4 and for female Master sailors.

Whether you’re new to ILCA Master sailing or a club sailor with little or no experience of bigger events, the Master events are perfect to improve your skills and are a great social opportunity. There is plenty of help, support and advice at all events.  The Masters are a very friendly set of sailors who consistently show respect and helpfulness to their fellow sailors.

Don’t feel that you’re good enough – well we all start somewhere and progress with experience and the Masters are the perfect events for developing your racing skills. Indeed, you will be up against some of the best sailors in the world with Olympians, World, European and National Champions but you shouldn’t let this put you off because they are hard pushed by the other Masters and don’t get it all their own way.  Be assured there is a wide spread of competitors you might be surprised and find yourself doing better than you thought.

It's not for the family – we have some great locations for 2026 with WPNSA (Weymouth) and Master Nationals at Parkstone Yacht Club.  Both clubs have great facilities for sailors, provide catering with comfortable seating, and are very close to many family (and dog friendly areas), beaches, cycle tracks, coastal walks and tourist attractions. There is plenty of choice of accommodation to suit all budgets.

I won’t win a prize – sadly, not everyone can win their age category prize, but we do have fantastic support from our sponsors and regularly hold sail number draws during events so that all sailors get the opportunity to win goodies from our sponsors.

Why not try Master sailing events – you’ll surely enjoy.

The ILCA UK calendar is starting to take shape so you can start planning the season ahead.

Dinghy Show - this takes place on 21st /2nd February at Farnbrough. Would you like to help out fror a few hous on the ILCA UK stand in exchnage for free entry - please email us at the address provided in the blog email.

Dates for Nationals 2026 – for clarification the dates of sailing for the 2026 Nationals are 23rd to 28th July – 6 days of racing. Registration will be possible on 22nd or morning of 23rd.

ILCA4 Mk2 sail I know some questions have been raised about this. Implementing a new sail in a global class, with racing taking place every month of the year, is complex. The reasons for the new sail, stated in the Press Release,  is the medium-term supply of the sailcloth being used could be not guaranteed and a need to increase the durability of ILCA4 sails by changing the sailcloth. It would not be fair to allow the sail to be class legal if it is not available for sailors to purchase and the earliest date ILCA felt that is possible is 1st August.

Winter training 2025/2026

Most of our remaining winter programme is available for booking - look through the training calendar and find something for your self in your region

Events 2026

National Opens

National Open 1 - Warsash SC - 14/15 March 2026

National Open 2 - WPNSA - 21/22 March 2026

National Open 3 - WPNSA 28/29 March 2026

Skills Week

ILCA Skills Week 2026 WPNSA - 15/20 August 2026 (Provisional - may move by one day)

National & Open Championships

Unfortunately, due to clashes with international regattas, we could not accept dates offered by the Hayling Island Sailing Club to host our nationals in 2026. We therefore confirmed that the 2026 Nationals will be held in JULY at WPNSA. He hope to go back to HISC soon!

ILCA UK Open & National Championships 2026 WPNSA - 22-28th July 2026

Masters events (over 30)

Introduction to Masters sailing - ILCA UK NEW Masters rep Gareth Humphrey

Master Series WPNSA - 23-24th May 2026

Masters National Championships Parkstone YC - 3-5 July 2026

Masters Inland Championships Draycote Water SC - 7-8 November 2026

Snippets

Youth World Championships 2026 - Notice of Selection

In case you are interested, here is a link to my 2nd message as ILCA President.