UKLA Chair Blog #89

I have been out racing the last two Wednesday nights at Queen Mary. Conditions were far from promising and both evenings probably had an average of 5 knots. But I was reminded that while an ILCA is not high performing in those conditions, it can provide great racing in a fleet where the boats are all the same and getting the little puffs is the core skill.

As mentioned recently we have a UKLA Masters event at WPNSA on 6/7 July with all three fleets, which is now open. There’s a BBQ included in the entry on Saturday evening. In order to encourage and ddevleop the ILCA4 fleet at Masters level, the entry fee is £10 ! We welcome sailors with all levels of experience so if you are a regular club racer, this may be a great opportunity for racing at National level in the Olympic venue. With the Masters Europeans at Hayling Island in June 2025, this event would be a good place to start your preparation. UKLA is also recommending doing at least one of our Masters events in 2024 (ideally all three) to improve your chances of getting a place at the Euros if the event is oversubscribed (the other ones are the Masters Nationals at Hayling in Sept and the Inlands in Grafham in October).

Another event open is the Women’s ILCA Regatta at Rutland Sailing Club on 13/14 July. This event is open to all levels of experience including sailors thinking of transitioning to the ILCA.

I was asked about Masters training after my blog last week. Many Masters would prefer winter training in their own club or locally, rather than travelling and that’s why want to promote and support open club training, which can be any time of year. It is straightforward for your club to organise - for 6 to 8 sailors you will a coach and a RIB. If you want to open up to other local sailors, we will put it in our calendar.