ILCA UK Chair Blog #169
Lotte Johnson
A couple of things I wanted to cover off after the National Open 1 at Warsash. The club did a super job hosting over 180 boats, and it was great to be a club where we have not been for a long time. The event once again epitomised what our class is about – a wide range of experience and age groups all competing together based on their own personal ambitions. However, as we need to ensure we maintain that inclusive culture, I raise these points, which also apply to also ILCA racing across the country.
Firstly, rule observance. Our sport is self-policing and if you knowingly break a rule and don’t take a penalty it is cheating. I know the tide was difficult and caused quite a few challenges at the windward mark, but if you hit it, you must do a turn. If you knowingly hit the mark and do not take a turn then you may well be subject to a Rule 2 Fair Sailing protest by the Jury, which could lead to a non-discardable DSQ. The Jury intends to take this action over the rest of the season. I would also emphasise that older / more experienced sailors should not shout at other sailors to take penalties or otherwise “bully” them – it is not tolerated in our class.
Secondly it is worth remembering that while sailing conditions can be very difficult, they are outside the control of the race management team too (and very frustrating for organisers who have spent so much time trying to make a prefect event). It is easy for sailors (or supporters back ashore) to criticise individual decisions of the race officer without understanding the full context. The race officer has many sources of input from very experienced sailors to those with local knowledge and has to make the best judgements they can based on all that information. And judgments are not always correct with hindsight, but we all need to respect this. I know some sailors may have wanted to sail on Sunday despite the forecast (that turned out to be accurate) and the race management team is happy to take input respectively given. What is not acceptable is aggressive or rude comments directed at the race management team. Please see our Misconduct policy on the Official Notice Board of all our events.
Thirdly the class has taken the decision to change the Sailing Instructions for forthcoming events to restrict access to competitors from support (coach) RIBS. Fundamentally this is to ensure our events remain as inclusive as possible and we do not want a culture developing where sailors feel the need to have a coach at these events. As Neil Collingridge, our Vice Chair says:
“A word about ILCA UK’s approach to support boats at National Events. Historically we have been relatively un-prescriptive about support boats, but we are finding an increased tendency for some to interpret this as meaning we are encouraging coaching at these events. We are not! One of the positive features of the class is that there is a level playing field such that anyone can compete in the UK without the need to pay for a coach at an event. This contrasts with some other junior classes where we witness something of an arms race. It is reflected in the strength of our class in the UK today. Whilst we would far rather anyone wanting to bring a rib to our events to be part of the safety fleet, we cannot prevent people being on the water in their ribs but you will see measures going forwards which restrict such activity to observation and not coaching. Please make sure you understand them and abide by them. We work very hard to ensure we have sufficient safety boats and food boats so we are confident of looking after all the sailors on an equal basis so I would encourage people who do have ribs to volunteer to help with these activities.”
Finally, some really positive news. You will have seen extensive social media “coverage” of our event at Warsash. The media team are working hard to raise our profile and now we have Megan Farrer helping to coordinate social media it would be great if everyone could tag their posts with Ilca_uk, our sponsors and the venue. It ups the hits enormously and only takes an extra moment or two. It would be good it this could just become a habit. Of course also tag us in the social media posts from club racing and open meetings.
Other Information
On 7th – 10th April 2026, the RYA Youth Nationals are taking place at Hayling Island Sailing Club for the ILCA 6/7 Male and ILCA 6 Female Sailors. Hayling is an amazing venue on the South coast of England and is sure to provide excellent sailing conditions.
The event is open to enter at the following link:
https://youthnationals.rya.org.uk/en/default/races/race
Places are limited so of you are looking to enter, please do as soon as you can.
If you have any questions regarding the event, contact the RYA at racing.events@rya.org.uk
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 :
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.
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.