UKLA Chair Blog # 76

Feb 5

Calling female ILCA sailors of all ages

Just over a year ago we launched our survey on female participation in the ILCA (blog #26) and I have provided various updates since then (blog #59 as an example). Our working group led by Fiona Atwell continues to plan for the year ahead and specifically the Female ILCA Regatta on 13/14th July at Rutland. We are welcoming female sailors in all rigs, no matter their experience – new to the class, those transitioning from junior / youth classes like the Optimist, Tera or Topper and Masters coming back to the sport.

The plan is to provide a day of training on the Saturday with female coaches, followed by racing on Sunday with a female race management team. Sailing will be combined with fun activities and socials.

ILCA4 is the ideal single-hander for those transitioning that I have written about before (of course we welcome those transitioning directly into the ILCA4 as well 😉):

Have you been looking for single hander to suit a lighter sailor with a National circuit of events?

Do you feel the ILCA6 is a bit too powerful for you or you are not quite a competitive size for it?

Are you a Masters sailor looking for a smaller rig than the ILCA6?

Are you under 18 and want to go to a Worlds or Europeans with over 400 other sailors?

If the answer to any of these is yes, then read on…..

The ILCA4 (formerly 4.7) provides super racing for those boys and girls wishing to transition out of other junior classes like the Optimist or Topper. There is a ready supply of affordable second-hand boats and of course many sailors (and their parents) love the easy logistics and ease of access of single-hander sailing. Of course there a ready movement in time to the ILCA6 and ILCA7 as well if that what a sailor wants.

The ILCA4 has 7 or 8 UKLA National events each year that are open to sailors of any age and all are welcome. That means our Qualifiers (really high-quality open meetings) and Inland championship are open to anyone. Our National Championship attracted over 100 in 2022.

I know many people consider the ILCA4 to be a “transition” class but it doesn’t have to be. If you are getting great racing and you are not big enough for a ILCA6 then why move? I know in the past women /girls in particular have been encouraged to move to the ILCA6 but if it doesn’t suit you, UKLA is quite happy to support that. While I know many of sailors are around 15 or 16 there is no reason why you can’t stay in the class with your friends. Internationally the Worlds and Europeans are U18 so you can still go to these events until the year you turn 18. And remember there is no selection for these events and GBR usually have more than enough places to have all entries accepted.

We also want to encourage more women masters back into the sport or single-handed sailing in either with ILCA6 or the ILCA4 (last year we added the ILCA4 to the Masters Nationals with a separate start). Isn’t it time for a weekend away with the girls? There’s a WhatsApp group – see email. The masters fleet is a mixed fleet with club sailors as well former international sailors coming back after decades.

The women’s single-handed event has been in the Olympics for over 30 years now (four times in the Europe class and five times in the ILCA6 at Paris) and in that time, many women raced those boats or indeed campaigned them and we would love to see some of them come back and sail our masters events. Why not come to Rutland in July as a starter and the masters nationals in Hayling Island in September? Who knows then on to the Europeans in Hayling Island in June 2025?

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