UKLA Chair blog #2
Last week the first messages I received after my blog #1 were inspiring.
First, Jon Holt from the Scaramouche Sailing Trust/Greig City Academy, which had four sailors competing at the Nationals. The trust’s role is to enable students, who would never otherwise get afloat, to reach sailing heights. Then Simon Foster from Poole Yacht Club got in touch to say their local ILCA training the previous weekend had an age spread of 56 - the oldest being 70! And the third message in was from Sam Whaley who has just joined our committee - Sam is part of the British Sailing Team and a full time ILCA sailor. While we are far from perfect it goes to show what we have to build on in terms of inclusivity. Of course it has its challenges in the need to be sensitive and aware of the diverse needs of our community.
After the Nationals, I am sure some of you are looking for sailing opportunities in August and beyond. I am afraid the UKLA Skills Week, which is back this year as ILCA Transition Week, is now fully booked with 80 bookings. We have already extended numbers twice. It’s a super initiative that is partly funded by UKLA to promote skills development in our community:
Supporting any sailor transitioning into the ILCA from another class
Supporting and developing any sailor moving between/new to ILCA rigs
Offering an opportunity to train at a world class venue with fantastic coaches to all class members, of any experience, any ability and any age!
There are open meetings in our calendar but I know many members love Poole week which has lots of racing (and fun) for ILCAs over the week. Thanks to Darren Howarth for the link www.pooleweek.org. Our training for the autumn also opens this week – I will provide a further insight to our plans in the next blog.
A quick mention of the GBR and UKLA team that competed in the ILCA6 Worlds in Houston last week -you will see more on FB - well done to all of them but in particular to Carys Attwell who finished 6th!
Finally some of you will have seen the post about our friend Tony Woods – if you would like to help by donating, here is the JustGiving link