ILCA UK Chair Blog #177

May 26

Watching the entries tick ever upwards for the Nationals, whilst at the same venue this weekend the Masters event, whilst still extremely well attended by the standards of most classes, was slightly down on recent turnouts, I was musing on what drives a great turnout.

Some of it is appears obvious but there are nuances…..hopefully this gives a flavour.

Venue matters; but can be more complex than first appears. For some the tide at Warsash added an extra dimension but for those parked up on the windward mark it wasn’t so welcome. Weymouth has the great draw that if it’s sailable anywhere its probably sailable there as launch and recovery is easy and you’ve got the harbour option for when its blowing dogs off chains. Others feel we are there a lot of the time although there’s good reason it was chosen for 2012. Pwllheli, as we found out, has the peculiarity that being on a peninsula it often doesn’t get a sea breeze in summer – patience was required for that last race at the 2025 Nationals waiting for the wind to come but oh when it did the conditions were to die for. Hayling isn’t for everyone – parking and accommodation can be a challenge but the vibe around the club is fantastic and it feels like a little oasis when the sun shines. And next year our plan is to have the Nationals at Largs in what is a stunning location, but if you’re a mark layer you’ll be wanting not to haul up all that rope too many times. Every time I speak to anyone at East Lothian I’m bowled over by their commitment and enthusiasm – that long makes the journey worthwhile. I think we’ll be back at Warsash soon for the same reason although for many it’s a slightly shorter drive!

Timing matters; the Sailing Sub-committee work hard trying to shoehorn everything in and even then not always successfully. We’ve learned we need to plan a long long way in advance (currently booking venues for 2030!) but that can be hard when we are competing with other classes for the big venues and we don’t always know when Europeans and Worlds will take place. We try to avoid 3 weekends in a row because for some that’s too much, but on the other hand many people like 2 weekends back to back at WPNSA so they are not carting boats backwards and forwards. Exam timetables, Bank Holidays, RYA events to avoid all increase complexity and school holidays increasingly don’t align around the Country and that adds another constraint.

We work hard at the event management; by which I mean far more than race management. Joining instructions, registration, boat park organisation, socials and yes high quality racing all contribute to people feeling like they’ve been to a good event. You don’t know that the event management will be good when you enter but we try to build a track record so we deliver consistently and sailors are confident of what they’ll get, weather permitting of course.

But most of all to me we want to get the atmosphere and culture right. Yes, its competitive sailing, but friendly competition where sailors and their supporters respect each other, respect the rules (spinning is better than sitting in a protest room), and appreciate the volunteers who make it all happen. It’s certainly not like that in every class and it hasn’t always been like that in the ILCA class in the UK. It’s something Mark was passionate about and me likewise.

Sponsors! We are very fortunate having the Class sponsors we have – Ovington, Rooster, Sailingfast, Noble Marine, Fernhurst Books, Tideway, Wildwind. They all contribute to the Class at different levels and in different ways but what strikes me is that the relationship is far more than purely financial. They are all enthusiasts for what ILCA-UK does and they are not averse to going the extra mile. Free T shirts at the Nationals, Volunteer drinks evening, providing media ribs, pop-up shops for all those things we’ve forgotten, prizes for the daily draw, vouchers for the virtually endless category winners, a free holiday and on and on.

There will be other things which matter to people and we are happy to hear what they are but please don’t think that things have been decided based on arbitrary decisions. There’s a ton of planning which goes on in the background which ultimately makes or breaks an event.

That’s enough from me this week. We are going to trial posting this on WhatsApp and Social Media as well as email and the website as a high proportion of our members don’t ever look at email. If that means you see it several times; I’m sorry……you have the option of only opening it once but that’s surely better than lots of people not seeing it at all….Bear with us whilst we try.

Enjoy the heat – it won’t always be like this.

Neil

Upcoming events:

Womens Regatta https://portal.ilca.uk/event/ILCA-Women-2026-Burton

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