ILCA UK Chair Blog #173
Rather less for me to comment on directly in ILCA-UK-Land this week. Whilst I’ve been up to my armpits in paint, antifoul and ‘reassuringly expensive” epifanes varnish, getting my aging classic Cheetah ready to launch, there’s plenty going on elsewhere planning the UK Nationals where we hope to open entries soon and are busy planning a packed schedule both afloat and onshore. Budgetting an event of that size is difficult as, whilst there are plenty of fixed costs, others are harder to pin down and the overall result is very sensitive to assumptions made over entry numbers. We try hard to wash our face and keep entry fees as low as possible but having spent hours going through a spreadsheet line by line yesterday I can vouch it’s harder than you might think. WPNSA may be all too familiar but there is good reason it was chosen for the 2012 Games and, more often than not, it delivers the goods.
Meantime entries have already opened for the Women’s Regatta – Saturday 14th June at Burton Sailing Club which is a new venue to me but a quick shifty at their website reveals it’s a quite beautiful reservoir tucked away in the National Forest in Derbyshire. And continuing that theme Christine Statham who chairs the Women’s sub-committee sent me the following update after the Class was awarded a reasonably sizeable grant from the RYA and Sports England for Women’s training:
“Are you passionate about supporting women and girls in sailing?
If your club shares that passion, we’d love to work with you.
Thanks to funding from the RYA and Sport England, alongside support from ILCA UK, we’re delighted to be able to offer female-only ILCA training days. We’re looking for 10 new clubs across the country to host and run these days (i.e., clubs that haven’t previously delivered ILCA female training).
Our vision is for women to coach women, creating a safe, welcoming environment that builds confidence, develops skills, and grows a supportive community of female sailors both on and off the water.
We expect each day to cater for around 16 sailors. Where possible, we’d love clubs to offer some ILCA charter/hire options so more sailors can take part.
After each day, we’ll ask for a short write-up and a selection of photos so we can celebrate what you’ve delivered, inspire more women and girls to get involved, and showcase the fantastic female sailors in our class.
A huge thank you to our sponsor, Sailingfast, for their generous donation of equipment, helping us deliver these sessions and support clubs around the country.
To get involved or find out more, please contact Christine Statham at women@ilca.uk.”
Well done to Christine and her team for securing this money – let’s put it to work. Last week’s blog seems to have resulted in one volunteer stepping forward to help her subcommittee but I’m sure more help would be appreciated.
In the meantime Alan Davis sent me the following:
“As you will be aware there are few women coaches supporting ILCA athletes on their Olympic journey at the current time. The coaching clinic is designed to support those who wish to pursue a high level coaching career and, in turn, support the development of women coaches within their own Districts. It is being organised by Virgina Kravaroti, 2x Olympian and Bronze Medallist, who is on the EurILCA committee and now also has the second EurILCA seat on the ILCA World Council”
EurILCA is pleased to invite all women sailing coaches to the first Women Sailing Coaches Clinic, taking place from 21 to 22 November 2026 in Athens, Greece, with an optional site visit and networking dinner on Friday 20 November.
This two-day clinic is designed exclusively for women coaches active in ILCA sailing.
It brings together technical expertise, on-water practice, and personal development across six thematic sessions: ILCA coaching methodologies and race analysis, racing rules, boat measurement, physical conditioning, and athlete psychology. Participants will benefit from interactive sessions, round-table discussions, on-water training at the Piraeus Sailing Club, and dedicated networking opportunities throughout the weekend.
EurILCA will cover part of the costs, including accommodation and meals. Registration is free of charge.
Please complete the form below to indicate your interest in participating in the Women Sailing Coaches Clinic
Submit Your Interest to Participate
Suffice it to say that both the above opportunities are great for different target audiences……..but they will take someone or several people to make something of them…so crack on!
Last night I wrote that we seem to be stuck in a stubborn high pressure system – bad for the lawn, good for varnishing (not that that matters for most ILCA sailors), and not great for good sailing breezes unless you’re on the coast and get some sea breeze. This morning is peeing down in Suffolk. It is launch day for me so wherever you’re sailing your ILCA next week fingers crossed you get sun and wind…..we don’t ask for much!
Neil
Upcoming events:
Womens Regatta https://portal.ilca.uk/event/ILCA-Women-2026-Burton
Master Series WPNSA - 23-24th May 2026
Masters National Championships Parkstone YC - 3-5 July 2026
Sponsors:
Ovington Boats https://ovingtonboats.com/ilca/
Sailingfasthttps://sailingfast.co.uk/product-category/sailing/boat/ilca/
Rooster https://www.roostersailing.com/
Noble Marine https://www.noblemarine.co.uk/boat-insurance/ilca-dinghy-insurance
Fernhurst Books https://fernhurstbooks.com
Tideway Wealth https://tidewaywealth.co.uk
Wildwind https://wildwind.co.uk
For your support Rooster are providing a discount code for ILCA Members : ILCAUK10 for 10% off a range of Rooster products!
Social Media:
• Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ilca_uk/
• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ILCAUK/
• Website https://ilca.uk/
👉🏼Sign up to ILCA UK Chair blog: https://portal.ilca.uk/subscriptions
See all the results here: https://ilca.uk/ilca-uk-results-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
Other Snippets:
Youth World Championships 2026 - Notice of Selection