UKLA Chair blog #45

Race focus …….and don’t forget the Master Nationals – entries close in 11 days. And there’s a big announcement coming from Ovington for the Nationals in August ! And Super Sunday is 25th June!  We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record! (see blog #41). and there are loads of GPs in our calendar.

But first, have you ever felt you have lost concentration during a race? Maintaining the right mental focus during a race is important, especially after a poor start or during a long day of the water or a series over many days. Every race needs to be approached with the same rigour in terms of the race strategy, assessing the conditions and planning the start regardless of the result of a previous race. Whether you won the last race or did worse than expected, it is important to keep your focus.

In Race 7 at the Master Worlds in 2018 I fell into this trap. Having won both races the previous day, I was in a great position at the start of the 2nd  beat as I headed left towards a dark cloud. As the advantage materialised, I was able to tack and cross ahead of two of my nearest competitors into 2nd place but instead I thought there was even more to be gained by heading further towards the cloud. I was fooled into thinking I had superior tactical awareness through over-confidence instead of doing the rational and usual thing. Staying focussed on doing the right thing and not bowing to irrational or emotional behaviour. As soon as you start to think that you can predict the outcome, you’re dead!

But how to stay focussed? The first and most important is mental rehearsal or visualisation. Sail a race in your head, visualising starts, sailing fast and rounding marks, remembering the imagery, the sounds and the feelings. All top sportspeople practice this – Michael Johnson says he has run world class 200 metre races thousands of times – in his head!

Secondly I talk to myself (sometimes out loud) and keep reminding myself what to do. At the same Worlds we had a couple of final runs in at least 25 knots with short, steep waves which turned the leg into survival conditions. In one of them as we approached the leeward gate, three boats ahead of me capsized and I knew this was a critical moment. Over and over, I told myself to keep concentrating on the next wave ahead and nothing else. Execute each wave and eventually get to the gate.

These are moments in which to do things the same way as normal because pressure has a habit of making you rationalise yourself into a poor decision.

In here is a third technique to keep focus and avoid getting distracted and focus on next steps to avoid get distracting by events around me.

Don’t forget the Masters Nationals closes in 11 days - can we get close to 150 entries? It is 121 today – all welcome expecially ILC4 sailors. You must be UKLA member to see tickets and be able to book. JOIN UKLA HERE And don’t forget you can enter an ILCA4 (See blog#40)

This year the Nationals are again at Hayling Island Sailing Club in August providing a great sailing venue and super onshore facilities. We will have daily race clinics, a mentoring program and full social program so it is ideal for anyone wanting to come and race an ILCA4. As the boat is so easy to sail, why not bring a friend as it is quite easy to borrow an ILCA (only the sail and bottom mast section are different to the other rigs) and enjoy the week! And remember this is open to all ages. You will find loads of information here on our website.

Super Sunday is 25th June!  We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record! (see blog #41).

UKLA Chair blog #44

I remember shortly after getting my first Laser (only standard rigs back then), having come out of Optimists,  planing on a reach and being thrilled with the speed. I can still remember where I thought “that’s the fastest I have ever been in a sailing boat”. Well over 45 years later, I was again exhilarated by a planing reach across Weymouth Harbour in 12 knots. And that’s the point, (ILCA) sailing can be a passion for life. It has allowed me to still be  enjoying the sport in my fifth decade, to have competed at the highest level and still be able to club race on a Wednesday evening at Queen Mary. It has taught me about winning and losing and about the hard work needed to improve. And it has given me life-long friends. That’s the message for younger sailors. This is a sport for life and the ILCA can be a platform for that.

Of course, I remain a competitive person and I don’t like performing below my expectations. When it happens, I must remind myself of all the sport as brought me. As parent, it is natural to aspire to great things for our children. To be the next Ben Ainslie or Shirley Robinson, but it is worth remembering that would be the exception and the journey of improving has many of the benefits I describe above. So much better in my view to develop that “passion for life” rather than realising at 20 that you are not going to be the next Ben or Shirley and give it all up.

I am not for a second suggesting that we don’t aspire to be the best or shouldn’t feel disappointment that our expectations aren’t met. These are the natural consequences of sport and the journey is not one of steady progress but rather ups and downs along the way where hopefully the overall trajectory is upwards. Disappointments are natural and it is how they are dealt with that is important, for example as a motivator to improve, rather than a barrier.

As the summer opens up, we have the chance the aspire and improve but above all we have a chance to indulge our passion.

Snippets:

See our calendar for loads of event coming up. In particular there is a Youth event at RSYC on 15th/16th July for ILCA4s and ILCA6s – you can enter here Royal Southern Yacht Club : ILCA Youth Open (royal-southern.co.uk)

Don’t forget the Masters Nationals in just over 4 weeks – all welcome.You must be UKLA member to see tickets and be able to book. JOIN UKLA HERE And don’t forget you can enter an ILCA4 (See blog#40)

This year the Nationals are again at Hayling Island Sailing Club in August providing a great sailing venue and super onshore facilities. We will have daily race clinics, a mentoring program and full social program so it is ideal for anyone wanting to come and race an ILCA4. As the boat is so easy to sail, why not bring a friend as it is quite easy to borrow an ILCA (only the sail and bottom mast section are different to the other rigs) and enjoy the week! And remember this is open to all ages. You will find loads of information here on our website.

Super Sunday is 25th June!  We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record! (see blog #41).

UKLA Chair blog #43

Just some reminders this week.

Don’t forget the Masters Nationals in just over 4 weeks – all welcome – we already have 85 entries but book tonight for early booking discount! You must be UKLA member to see tickets and be able to book. JOIN UKLA HERE And don’t forget you can enter an ILCA4 (See blog#40)

This year the Nationals are again at Hayling Island Sailing Club in August providing a great sailing venue and super onshore facilities. We will have daily race clinics, a mentoring program and full social program so it is ideal for anyone wanting to come and race an ILCA4. As the boat is so easy to sail, why not bring a friend as it is quite easy to borrow an ILCA (only the sail and bottom mast section are different to the other rigs) and enjoy the week! And remember this is open to all ages. You will find loads of information here on our website.

Super Sunday is 25th June!  We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record! (see blog #41).

 See our calendar for loads of Grands Prix!

Also the following Youth events are coming up

• Youth Open - 15-16 July Royal Southern Yacht Club

• Youth Open - 2-3 September Royal Lymington Yacht Club

• ILCA 4 RTG 23-24 September Carsington Sailing Club

UKLA Chair blog #42

Today is about Series Strategy ………… Blog #36 discussed how hard work trumps talent and Blog #37 discussed a systematic approach to improving your ILCA sailing through that hard work. Then we discussed event preparation (blog #39) so this week it is about putting a series together.

In a weeklong regatta with 12 races – regattas are not won on the first day, but they can be lost! The trick is to avoid major mistakes like:

• Not getting off the line in a decent lane / avoid being over

• Capsizes

• Penalties especially on the 1st beat

• Sailing the wrong course

• Gear failure

• Getting the wrong side of major shifts / the strategy wrong.

These mistakes clearly have a big impact on your results. Poor boat speed is also a killer but once you are at an event, you can’t do not much about that.

Analysing your performance between races and at the end of day is also critical, focussing on what can be improved rather than the results themselves. I remember doing this after the first race at the Master Worlds in Dublin in 2018. I was particularly worried before racing began around my boat speed and fitness in 20knots having not done a Worlds in recent years. After the first start in those conditions, I became fixated on boat speed and missed the first big shift but caught up by the end of the race to 11th. Between races I thought – ok boat speed and fitness are great, forget about them for the rest of the week and get your head over the boat to get the strategy and tactics correct. After the 2nd race,  where I was 4th, I could see that results at the top were going to be up and down so that an 11th and 4th could be counters at the end of the regatta. That analysis over the first day ensured I remained confident of the following days

This assessment of risk is important. That was a 12 race, 1 discard series where consistency and avoiding major mistakes was going to the critical. But think about this, the Olympic regatta in Savannah was 11 races with 2 discards, a completely different risk profile. After the first day there, I had a DSQ (a story for another day 😉) but that did not stop me pushing the line in every race and getting an OCS (early starter DSQ) in Race 8. That’s because the risk profile was going to reward strong race finishes rather than consistency.

The other thing about risk is that it is better to take opportunities that are presented during a race rather taking risky decisions to force a result. It is about weighting the risk – e.g. the difference between responding to a right shift that is forecast and starts to develop on the race course rather taking a punt and heading right before signs of its development.

Energy conservation is also key over a week as the body never fully recovers for the next day. So you want to do all you can to aid that recovery.

Finally I always like to say that the last few races count the same as the first few. We are inclined to be super motivated and prepared for each race at the start of the regatta but it is important to sustain that over the whole regatta.

Snippets:

• 3-4 June - National Training WPNSA - closes 24/05/2023

• What a great initiative by the Hollowell Sailing Club Hollowell Sailing Club training evening

• We are opening the following events this week:

  • 14-18th August ILCA Skills Week Transitional tickets are going on sale tonight (22/05/2023) at 7pm

  • 10-11 June - East Open Regional Training at Queen Mary SC

  • 24-25th June - North Open Regional Training at Yorkshire Dales

  • 29-30th July - East Open Regional Training at Queen Mary SC

UKLA Chair blog #41

Super Sunday is 25th June!  We want to get as many ILCAs/Lasers on the water as possible and see if we can set a record!

All you have to do is get out in your boat on Super Sunday – no registration , just head down to your club - this is event is open to ANY CLUB and ANY ILCA sailor in the UK

Encourage those that haven’t sailed for while, to go out club racing. How many ILCAs can we get on the water on one Sunday? 300, 500, more ? You tell us! Let's get as many as we can and count afterwards!

Just submit your post event numbers here

We are trying to get as many boats as possible on one day so here are a few ideas to help. (Maybe be good to check with your club they are happy with it first

• Class captains get a list of people who might want to sail contact them and ask them to come down.

• Buddy a good sailor with someone who is coming down for the day.

• Ask people to borrow an unused boat (check insurance etc first) for the day

• Ask if a club coach can help on the race track to give hints and help.

• Have a pre race meeting getting someone who is good at boat set up to show people how best to set things up for the conditions that day.

• Have double points for that days racing.

• Spot prizes for the day.

• Get someone to take pictures on the day and share

Snippets:

For news of ILCA results around the country and internationally, see our Facebook (keep a track of progress of our British Sailing Team members and others following recent wins by Elliot and Micky in Hyeres and Palma) and Twitter (see all Yachts and Yachting reports here) channels.                          

We are looking for more volunteers at the Nationals 2023 Volunteer sign up sheet – it is shaping up to be a great event but we need your help. We already have 118 entries and we have three months to go! Enter here

Don’t forget the Masters Nationals. And don’t forget you can enter an ILCA4 (See blog#40)

See our calendar for loads of Grands Prix!

Reminder that there is UKLA National Training in WPNSA on 3rd/4th June. I have been asked by the training team to remind you to enter before the deadline, which for this is 24th May. Our coaching runs on maximum ratios so adding late sailors is difficult and the admin paperwork needs to be done in advance by volunteers so it is not fair on them. We try to be flexible but expect to be disappointed if you are late.

Also the following Youth events are coming up

• Youth Open - 15-16 July Royal Southern Yacht Club

• Youth Open - 2-3 September Royal Lymington Yacht Club

• ILCA 4 RTG 23-24 September Carsington Sailing Club

UKLA Chair blog #40

• 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. This year the Nationals are again at Hayling Island Sailing Club in August providing a great sailing venue and super onshore facilities. We will have daily race clinics, a mentoring program and full social program so it is ideal for anyone wanting to come and race an ILCA4. As the boat is so easy to sail, why not bring a friend as it is quite easy to borrow an ILCA (only the sail and bottom mast section are different to the other rigs) and enjoy the week! And remember this is open to all ages. You will find loads of information here on our website.

Also following requests from a number of Masters, we have added the ILCA4 to the Masters Nationals at the end of June, also in Hayling. That means a separate start! It would be great to see a decent fleet as I know there has been a discussion about adding the ILCA4 to the Masters Worlds but there is some hesitancy until it is proven at local or region level.

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.

I hope with some of these initiatives and increased promotion, we can see a broader mix of sailors at our events and support the continued  success of the ILCA4.

Snippets:

• “The boat that Ian built” is a super video about the early days of the Laser class. My thanks to Takao (who is in the video as the Japanese builder) and Chris Tunstall for bringing this to my attention. 

• Queen Mary SC training with Micky Beckett - BOOK

• ILCA Open & National Championships - LOOK & BOOK

UKLA Chair blog #39

Short blog today as I am just back from the ETs at Rutland where some of the ILCA4s were racing.

Ihave discussed recently how hard work and a systematic approach to training can help improve your ILCA sailing but often you want to translate that into performance at a target event, a regatta you have been building up to. What’s the best approach?

The hard work happens in the months before an event not in the final week or two and certainly not in the few days before. Learning doesn’t just happen, it is about acquiring skills that can be put into practice without thinking on the race course and takes place over a period of time. Many athletes practise a taper period before an event, where they ease off on their physical training to ensure they are fully recovered and ready. ILCA sailors are certainly in this category and over a longer regatta of (say) six days with long days on the water, it is just not possible to recover fully after each day and there is a continual drop-off as the week progresses. So of course it is better to start the week fully recovered from any training.

I personally believe it is important to use any pre-regatta training to build confidence and ensure you start the regatta in the right mental state. Non-sailing distractions need to be avoided in the build up to allow the mind time to visualise a good performance.  Doing a “training” regatta before often works well for me  so long as I have set clear expectations for outcomes as I want it to build, not knock confidence.

Some training before a regatta at an unfamiliar venue can be very helpful to understand geographical features on the race course and get used to wave patterns. As we know though, conditions change all the time so I wouldn’t over-emphasise it. At one end of the scale, if you sail at Weymouth a lot, then this is just not needed while travelling to the Pacific coast of Mexico as we did for the Masters Worlds last year, a few days familiarisation with the venue (and time zone) is obvious.

Sometimes a short sail before a big event at a known venue makes sure equipment is ready and allows you to sharpen up on boat handling but don’t tire yourself or try to learn new things.

A final piece of advice, never try new sailing gear and equipment for the first time as I have learnt to my disadvantage many times - a new mainsheet that is slippy for first few sails, a new kicker not tied in quite the right place, a brand new sail that feels and sounds different……

Finally members will have just got an update by email, but just to flag a few items.

ILCA Masters Nationals - LOOK & BOOK. All are welcome - if you are a ILCA6 Women Master - see this post from Jo West

ILCA Open & National Championships - LOOK & BOOK

Super Grand Prix - LOOK & BOOK (Bookings not open yet)

Grand Prix Series - LOOK (Book with individual clubs)

Training Calendar - LOOK & BOOK

UKLA Chair blog #38

We had a UKLA Masters event at Parkstone at the weekend and I thought I would provide some reflections.

First many thanks to the club for hosting what was a super event on and off the water. Conditions were not easy, especially on Saturday, but the race team got 6 good races and we had a lovely dinner on Saturday night included in the entry fee. Well done to both the host volunteers and of course our UKLA team - Alison, Guy, Alan, Paul Jackson and Ellie in particular. It was great to see almost 80 sailors spread across the ILCA6 and ILCA7 fleets with so many new faces. If it was your first UKLA (Masters) event, I would be interested in your feedback, both positive and where we can make improvements (just reply to this email).

Jo West was one of a small group of female sailors at Parkstone and she and the UKLA would love to see more. We have been working hard on female participation (blog#35) and Jo has agreed to help with the Masters element of that. Surely our female sailors also deserve a sailing weekend away?

While I wasn’t that happy with my own performance, that’s sport! On the positive side it was great to be out on the water for the weekend as a fleet of older sailors making the most of our passion. The nature of competitive sport is that only a few win and sometimes our own expectations are met and other times not. And there are personal triumphs along the way – many of us heard Guy Noble’s whoops of joy on winning the second ILCA7 race! In blog #37 I discussed improving your ILCA sailing in a more rigorous approach. My own self-analysis of the weekend is quite easy – two decent starts out of six and inability to consistently read the shift patterns. In a weekend where there are random shifts mixed in with more predictable ones, this latter point is hardly surprising – devising the right risk / reward strategy isn’t easy (or repeatable in every race) and there is some luck but with more experience (including sailing at the venue) and skill, one sailor’s luck is another sailor’s insight (see blog #34 for more on this).

Of course, these events can’t be run without volunteers from both the host club and UKLA and as you know we have been looking for more help with organising Masters sailing. Alison Stevens is retiring for the committee in the summer after much tireless work (again many thanks). To make the role manageable, we have set-up a sub-committee where the role can be shared out, but we need your help. UKLA is not a service-provider, it is community of ILCA sailors and volunteering is not just about giving something about, it is about ensuring the community survives and thrives. Without more helpers (with only a few hours a month or even help with one event), we will no longer have Masters events like Parkstone.

Finally talking of community, membership of UKLA is part of that. For £3.25 per month, ask yourself why you are not a member? Membership means you are part of a club of like-minded group of sailors. Come on join us!

Snippets:

• 2023 Skills Week entries will open TONIGHT Monday 24th April at 7pm BST

• 2023 Open & National Championships entries open nest week - Monday 1st May

UKLA Chair blog #37

Last call masters and Improving your ILCA sailing

Last call for the Masters in Parkstone - entry closes on 19th April. There is already a decent entry with moderate wind forecast and warmish. All are welcome. 

Last week's blog was about the correlation between improvement in skills and quality practice or time on the water. So where would I start? By making a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses in the core areas needed to improve. For me these are:

• Boat preparation

• Boat handling

• Boat speed

• Fitness

• Mental training

• Strategy

• Tactics

• Starts

Putting aside boat preparation (here is Tim Hulse’s online training on that topic), boat speed and handling are fundamental. There will be no shortage of areas to improve considering the range of wind and water conditions we sail in. Once a weakness is identified, it is about deliberately and systematically building it into training, whether that is practicing on your own, in small groups, formal coaching sessions or in racing itself.

UKLA provides many opportunities for coaching but it is often taking the time to learn from the coaching that is important. I asked James Hadden, one of our top UKLA coaches, about this.

Practicing is the most important part for anyone looking to improve their ILCA sailing (or any skill for that matter). We are aiming to be able to do all the various skills very well without having to think about them. The less we have to consciously think about techniques when we are racing the more ‘brain space’ you have to look around and make decisions. To practice efficiently we need to focus on specific things and set little goals for each session, gradually we build up the pressure on the skill until it breaks down which allows us to reduce the pressure again and work on the specific part of the skill which broke down and the process continues.

Getting some coaching can be really beneficial - having an expert coach help teach new techniques or spot the specific areas which is holding you back can save you a lot of time. The most efficient method for getting better is a balance between self reflection, getting some coaching and practicing. Depending on the skill, I normally work on the basis that one coaching day equates to 6-10 sessions of specific practice to effectively learn/develop a particular skill. Ideally you would get one or two coaching sessions a month and spend the rest of the month practicing what you have learnt so that you can work on something new or different with the coach the next time rather than being told the same thing over and over.

Only sailing in coached sessions and never practicing usually results in mixed messages, confusion and this always ends in a lack of improvement. Solo and small group practice at your club can be really powerful when coupled with testing those skills at open meetings and then reflecting afterwards to work out where the skills has improved and where it still needs work.

Self reflection is key to develop awareness of where you need to improve- this might be where you lost places in a regatta or where you didn’t feel very confident. Only relying on what the coach says and not using your own reflections too halves the potential for improvement.

Younger sailors today are lucky they have access to quality coaches while I learnt how to sail a Laser decades ago from other sailors “hey Mark this is how you do it”. As James says, there is a happy balance between coaching and practicing and I wonder whether we need to emphasize the latter a bit more.

Snippet:

• 2023 Skills Week entries will open next week - Monday 24th April

• 2023 Open & National Championships entries in two weeks time - Monday 1st May

UKLA Chair blog #36

I always think the season is getting into full flow when evening racing starts and we had our first one at Queen Mary last Wednesday. It is handicap racing but the ILCAs get a separate start so we get two races in one. I really enjoy it maybe because it is a short race and then supper in the club afterwards!

I was at the RYA Youth Nationals at WPNSA this morning where there are several hundred youth sailors across multiple classes including ILCAs. It made me think of the benefits of sailing for these younger sailors. They certainly experience independence on the water and the ups and downs of competitive sport, helping to build resilience. They are making friends and hopefully having fun. And of course, they are dealing with winning and losing. It also shows how hard work pays off in improved skills and performance – one assumes a broader life skill.

But is it hard work rather than talent and is it essential to start at an early age to excel? This has been an important research area for many years and has been made topical through the “10,000 hour rule” in recent years but actually comes from a paper in 1973 where Simon and Chase referred to the “10 year rule” of acquiring knowledge and understanding through storing memories of experiences and situations, eventually leading to the attainment of an expert level. It was taken further by Ericsson who discusses “deliberate practice” (specific tasks usually on the cusp of the individual’s expertise and practiced over and over until expertise is achieved) and linking accumulated hours of practice with achieving expert performance. This in turn encourages earlier and earlier participation, often through talent identification and development programmes.

Of course, high profiles athletes like Tiger Woods are well known for their early start in sport and prodigious talent. He certainly started accumulating many hours of practice very early to the extent it is hard to separate this practice from the talent. One of his core “talents” was how quickly he picked up the skills and his ability to sustain so many hours of practice through to the adulthood. That’s what makes him an exception.

No one reaches elite level in a skills-based sport without accumulating many hours of practice - this makes sense and the empirical evidence backs this up. There are no exceptions and no-one bypasses this no matter how talented they are. Does starting early give an athlete a head start in accumulating those hours? There is a short-term advantage but that seems to be it. This is seen by examining the training profile of a professional ILCA sailor, training full-time versus a part-time teenager still in school. Any head-start is quickly closed by the significant extra hours of a professional. It is one of the reasons later starters shouldn’t be put off when there is so much time to catch up especially when the prime age of elite athletes is now much older than it was.  

Another argument is that the skills needed in a sport need to be acquired when young before the athlete fully develops - gymnastics is often quoted. But it is hard to make those arguments in sailing. It seems obvious that boat handling skills can be acquired at any age. Feel for the boat or the wind is less obvious but is there anything in those skills that indicates they need to be acquired at a young age rather than accumulated later on? I don’t think so.

So where does that leave us? There are many benefits in sailing for younger sailors but the more hours of deliberate practice put in, the better the skills (and performances) will be – the infamous (quality) time on the water.  This rather than talent will be the driver but although the context and opportunity for each younger sailor will be different, there’s always the opportunity to catch-up.

UKLA Chair blog #35

I loved this video from the ILCA6 sailors on the British Sailing Team about achieving gender equality for Olympic participants and medals in Sailing at Paris 2024. It’s been a long time coming. I was lucky enough to coach my sister Denise in the single-hander Europe class at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. It certainly felt like progress then since Cathy Foster had sailed in the 470 class in Los Angeles in 1984 as the only female sailor. In Barcelona there were three female classes but with the Soling, Star and Flying Dutchman among the “missed” classes it was hardly surprising that female sailors were less than 20% of the total.

Regular readers of this blog will know a little of the history of the ILCA6 in the Olympics (blog #26) and the launch of our female participation survey, about which I want to give you a summary. We had 108 responses and have spent March reviewing the findings and starting to develop an action plan.

Many of the responders said they were attracted to the ILCA by the single-handed sailing but also the active racing scene (from club to National level), easy access to used boats and of course a community of like-minded sailors and friends. A sizable number, although a minority, reported direct unfavourable gender-based discrimination (through words or actions) with plenty of examples reported. This has no place in our class or sport. As a community, we must call out this behaviour when we see it and provide education to our sailors (from younger ILCA4 sailors to older ILCA7 master sailors) so that we all understand what it is inappropriate.

A smaller percentage, but again still a sizable number, experienced or observed direct unfavourable gender-based discrimination through structural barriers. The themes included the need to have more female role models, not just the top sailors, but also coaches, race officers and key volunteers including on the UKLA Committee (it is 25% female). Youth female ILCA4 sailors want to be encouraged to stay in the ILCA4 if it suits them and Master sailors want the opportunity to sail an ILCA4 at UKLA events (note that ILCA4 is an open class in the UK, not age restricted). Respondents also want UKLA to help foster an empowering attitude for female sailors and a higher-level engagement on the challenges encountered by female sailors.

There is very clear support for a separate set of male and female results (in addition to overall results) at UKLA events and support (although less emphatic) for a female mentor/buddy scheme to match an ILCA 4 sailor with an ILCA 6 sailor.

In answer to the questions on separate racing for male and female sailors, female only training sessions and female only regattas, the results reflect differing perspectives. A small majority would support separate racing and regattas “sometimes”, with comments stressing the value of females racing together from time to time. But a large minority have the strongly held view that they “never” want to race in a female only fleet (at UKLA events) and want the challenge of getting to the top of that fleet. Close to 75% would like to “sometimes” have female only training. It seems there is an opportunity to balance both perspectives better given our current position of providing no separate female racing, regattas or training.

We are currently planning a virtual feedback session on April 19th at 7pm for those who said in the survey they were interested in staying involved. If you are interested in joining them (especially as a younger female sailor), we will have a limited number of extra spaces, just let me know.

As part of the journey towards Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, it is important that we know the diversity that we already have within UKLA. We will shortly be sending our members and ILCA sailors a form which we would appreciate you filled in.

Snippet:

You can now buy ILCA class flags for your club through our garment shop

UKLA Chair blog #34

courtesy Lotte Johnson

A blog of two halves this week.  My take on how much luck there is in sailboat racing and then the story of how we raced in 30knots at the Ovington Qualifer 3 at WPNSA this weekend (from Brett Lewis)

 Unfair or unlucky?

We all know the quote from Gary Player “ the more I play the luckier I get”. In one of his books Paul Elvstrom (for younger readers – 4 times Olympic Gold medallist) says the advice he would give to young keen sailors is that, however hard it is to accept, the winner almost never wins through luck. His argument is that you are only lucky if you do something you can’t foresee and that some of what happens on the racecourse is predictable at some level. A shifty offshore wind ? It is manageable at a holistic level. With more experience and skill one sailor’s luck is another sailor’s insight. On this basis it is hard to say something is unfair.

Of course, without those skills you can be in the right place or wrong place at the right time or wrong time,and it is a matter of learning as much from this as you can.  I can give countless examples over decades of racing but will restrict myself to two. Leading in the last race of a J24 National Championship and so heading for series victory, we chose to tack under a starboard tacker because it was the right shift heading in the right direction – obviously right? Only it wasn’t and we should have sacrificed doing what might have been the “right” thing for a pragmatic approach of covering of our nearest competitor, however unlikely it would be needed. A series lost but a lesson learnt – conditions change on the racecourse suddenly (and maybe only unpredictably for the unskilled) and it never pays to be overconfident in your ability to predict it.

Even this weekend, in the 1st race on Sunday at the Qualifier in WPNSA in 8 knots, I fluffed my start and cleared right and on a decent header and puff, tacked and started crossing most the fleet. Looking upwind you could see much more pressure coming down the course but would it go left or right? Had I checked the forecast, I would have known it was due to go right. But then again there were some big clouds lurking and it was an offshore breeze. I guessed it was going to go left and was unlucky but someone else may have been better prepared or had better insight and made the right the decision.

So luck comes into it, after all you have a 25% chance of picking the correct side of the first beat twice in a row. But it is too easy to say other sailors were just lucky rather than more skilled. But what about fairness? Strictly it is the same for everyone so unless the racing is run in way that unfairly prejudices you (through an improper act or omission – see rule 62), it is hard to have a case.  Rather than blaming someone else or putting it down to luck, better to take responsibility, use it as motivation to work harder and acquire the skills needed to get luckier.

How we raced in 30knots at WPNSA

 Brett Lewis, UKLA Safety Officer says the UKLA Qualifier 3 on Saturday March 25th was a successful day for UKLA on many levels as we sent 151 sailors to race in high winds. At 12pm we raced the ILCA7s in 24knots, gusting 32knots, at 1.30pm when we sent out the ILCA6s the wind picked up to 26knots gusting 33knots. For the ILCA4s the wind strength abated as expected to a benign 10knots. The planning for this began four days earlier when Race and Safety team met to discuss what we called Plan B, which in this instance was a windward leeward course and one fleet at a time to minimise safety concerns.

Why was this such a success for UKLA? It was a success because of the 40 plus volunteers, both ashore and on the water that made it happen. Ashore we had the tally, beach and bridge team, while afloat we had 12 safety ribs, along with the Race team and Jury giving us sufficient resources to manage two fleets at a time.  This enabled us to swap over fleets while racing continued in the harbour. Without the volunteer support and resources, we would have not run any racing in those wind bands in March.

Let’s remember that these are World and European Qualifiers for our sailors heading to Cadiz, Volos, Dziwnow, Gdynia, Stavanger and others. At these venues they could race in these conditions and why they need to race in the UK when those conditions prevail. This is why our class is so strong, we go the extra mile to make these events take place.  Thank you again for those volunteers who made it happen.

And of course thanks to our class sponsors and in partciular this weekend Ovington

Snippet:

UKLA National training for April will open on Wednesday.

UKLA Chair blog #33

Courtesy Giles Smith

In our first virtual training session this winter, Tim Hulse does a great job explaining how to rig your ILCA, mainly focussed on the control lines. For many of you, upgrading these to the latest best practice used by the British Sailing Team and the top ILCA sailors in the world is easy and relatively inexpensive. But what about other aspects of ILCA equipment – what are the myths and what makes a difference?

First, a disclaimer – I am not a boat tinkerer so please bear that in mind as you read on! For me, the number #1 priority is preventing gear failure as that is certainly a big block on performance. Over the years I have broken every spar including (once) a bottom section but happily this happens much less these days and is normally a result of corrosion around fittings on the spars. All control lines are subject to breaking through normal wear and tear. What else have I broken in recent years?  Clew shackle or hook, kicker pin and tiller extension joint (breaking the extension itself after missing the toe strap is quite common). Some reasonable preparation can help ensure your race is not ruined.

What about cleaning and polishing your boat? It is great to take pride in your ILCA and preparing the hull surface might well some you some extra confidence on the racecourse, but I am sorry to say it is not going to affect your boat speed.

What about the choice of hull? Well one of the great attractions of the ILCA / Laser is that hulls can remain pretty competitive for several decades. Certainly for most racing in the UK, your technique, fitness, starting and strategy are much more likely to affect the outcome of your race than the age of your hull. As you get towards the top half of a National fleet, a hull that is no older than 10 years may make a marginal difference when it is blowing more than 15 knots and in waves. Of course, the top sailors at international events, where a couple of boat lengths over a mile long beat may be critical, will have hulls that are only a few years old at most.

As many of you will know, there are now around 8 ILCA builders across the world and you may tempted to ask whether there are performance differences between boats. Having raced ILCAs/Lasers for over four decades, I am firmly believe this isn’t the case. As new builders have come on board, the technical team at ILCA (the international class association) has been working even harder to ensure the quality and compliance of new ILCAs. Their overall objective is to ensure ILCAs are produced off the shelf as one design boats of equal performance. Even if there were differences, they are likely to be so minor as to affect no one but the top few sailors in the world. At international events,  there is good representation of most builders with no correlation between builder and results. Of course, these sailors may have a preference, but this is understandable given the supreme need to be confident. I got one of the first Ovingtons, with which I am very happy especially given my role as UKLA Chair and the fact that they are a UKLA sponsor but your decisions on builder should be down to quality of build, customer service and price and certainly not performance.

Finally, perhaps the most important piece of equipment is your sail. Certainly there are performance differences between a well-used 5-year-old sail and a new one but this must be balanced with your assessment of the other factors (already mentioned) that might affect your performance and the standard of fleet you are competing in. I bought a new ILCA7 sail before the Masters Worlds in Mexico last May, but have used that sail in all sailing since then and although it looks well-used, it remains competitive. I could certainly improve my performance the most by being a bit fitter!

 In a nutshell, once you have made sure nothing is about to break and that your sail is in reasonable shape, the rest is down to skill and fitness, both of which come from getting out on the water.

The great advantage of ILCA racing is the easy access to competitive boats and equipment compared to many other classes. I hope that gives you an idea but remember these are just my thoughts. Others are valid as well.

 Snippets:

Check out your local Grand Prix on our calendar - everyone welcome!

Calling all masters – the first Masters event of the year will be at Parkstone on 21st/22nd April - it is a great venue both ashore and afloat with entries open and includes 2 course evening meal for £45! You will need to be a member of UKLA but that’s what allows us to provide such good value. Come and give it a go - remember Masters sailing is open and accessible to all competent club sailors over the age of 30.

Has your club bid for free UKLA training? Deadline is end of March

Final entries for Qualifier 3 next weekend at WPNSA close tonight - no late entries I am afraid. There are also a couple of places in the UKLA Regional training the follwing weekend

Finally a note of thanks for all the volunteers at WPNSA this last weekend. We were able to sail in Weymouth Bay on Sunday when conditions allowed - yes that’s 156 ILCAs in the middle of the bay! Thanks to the Safety team and the Race Committee and of course all those that helped ashore. Your support at these events makes all the difference.

UKLA Chair blog #32

When I started sailing Lasers (a long time ago) there was only the full rig so for lighter sailors like me (back then), windy races were hard work and there were consequences. I sailed my first Irish Nationals at 16 and in the light air event, I finished in the top 10. The following year, it blew “old boots” and I raced the second half of the regatta in the silver fleet. I still remember it felt my sailing was going backwards, which is often what progress looks like. In those days we wore weight jackets (whoever thought that was a good idea?), initially 4kg ones but by the time the Laser was in 1996 Olympics, they were only 2.2 kg – still tough work though. Another consequence was the need to learn good technique for windy races especially in choppy or wavy conditions, technique that remains important today – keeping the boat at a stable angle of heel reducing the dissipation of power from the rig.

But perhaps the most important was breaking mental barriers and building mental strength. I remember the race this happened as an 18 year old. I needed a good last race to qualify for the Worlds but the wind had increased to beyond the level I was normally competitive at. I hiked harder than I ever had and with a bit of luck, got the result I needed. Barrier was broken and with that the realisation that strong winds provide the opportunity for consistent results based on boat speed in a way that light air races don’t.

Physical fitness remains at the core of ILCA sailing. No matter what level you are sailing at. The top sailors are super fit athletes but even at Masters level I like to use upcoming events as a reason to do physical training – in fact I need that motivation to sustain fitness work, rather than fitness for its own sake, beneficial though it might be.

While technique, mental strength and fitness are all important, today of course we have a choice of rigs allowing sailors to be competitive across a range of weights. The ILCA4, while no one would say it is the most elegant of boats, provides great racing. UKLA has 7 Nationals events each year in the ILCA4 as an open class – that means we don’t have any age limit in the ILCA4 in the UK. I would personally encourage sailors who aren’t heavy enough for an ILCA6 to stay in the ILCA4 for the quality of racing. Those up to 18 can also go abroad and sail in the Europeans and Worlds. I know we don’t yet have an ILCA4 fleet at our Masters events and this is something I would like to address. I have said before that the ILCA6 is perhaps the most competitive dinghy class racing in the UK so why migrate from the ILCA6 to the ILCA7 if you aren’t heavy enough.

Snippets:

As the spring season gets well and truly underway, I would remind you we have two National open meetings at WPNSA in the following weekends  - the first of those closes tonight – there will be a meal afterwards with the rugby on and the first Masters event of the year in Parkstone in April. Here is the calendar

UKLA Chair blog #31

First UKLA event of the year and Calling all Masters

On Thursday morning, things didn’t look great for the first Qualifier of the year in Stokes Bay with a rather light but cold, northerly, offshore wind forecast. As it turned out, we had fine weekend with the Race Committee doing an excellent job getting most of the racing done in the shifty conditions and when the sun came out for a few minutes on Sunday, it was positively balmy (Ok a slight exaggeration but I, for one, expected it to be colder). The SBSC volunteers did a great job getting us in and out, so thanks to all of them.

It is worth emphasising once again that these events are high quality open meetings organised by UKLA. They are termed “qualifiers” as they are used for access to international events but most sailors are attending to get great racing, not to qualify. That is why we welcome a board range of sailing experience at these events.

And I was once again amazed at the range in our fleet and how well everyone gels. The ILCA7 fleet has continued attract some younger sailors moving up from the ILCA6 creating a new vibrancy, with the opportunity to sail against Sam Whaley (British Sailing Team and World #3) and Jake Farren-Price (British Sailing Squad). There were sailors competing in their first ILCA7 event and there was sprinkling of Masters with Michael Clark, Andy Le Grice and David Surkov all getting at least one top 10 finish. With the experienced Daisy Collingridge, Matilda Nicholls and Hannah Snellgrove of the British Sailing Team all away training, the ILCA6 fleet had an age range of over 50 years and the top ten had two U17s, two U19s and three Masters.

The light winds made some of the mark rounding quite competitive but behaviour seemed to be mostly fine (remember aggressive shouting is not allowed) and with lots of helping each other in launching and recovery.

Calling all masters – the first Masters event of the year will be at Parkstone on 21st/22nd April - it is a great venue both ashore and afloat with entries opening on 7th March. Come and give it a go - remember Masters sailing is open and accessible to all competent club sailors over the age of 30.

Snippets:

• This week’s podcast is Hannah Snellgrove

• Entries are the two WPNSA qualifiers are open

UKLA Chair blog #30

Lots to talk about this week…

• #1 in World

• #2 A snapshot on UKLA finances

• #3 Three volunteers wanted?

• #4 Behaviour at our events

It has taken 30 blogs for me to mention individual performances and results, but I must make an exception this week. Micky Beckett is #1 in the single-handed (ILCA7) World rankings. What an achievement! And he is joined by Elliot Hanson and Sam Whaley in #2 and #3! It is super for UKLA members to have the opportunity to race against the best in the world on a regular basis on home waters. Of course, a couple of weeks ago, we had Daisy and Matilda, two of the top women sailors in the world, give their insights in our virtual training. We are lucky that all members of the British Sailing Team in the ILCA6 and ILCA7 give back so much to us.

With the UKLA 2022 finances almost finalised, I wanted to share a couple of comments with you. Across all our events and training, we had a deficit of almost £20,000. That means we took in £20,000 less income than costs for our regattas and training (with including support for club training and Super Grands Prix), ensuring we provided the best possible value to members. Our treasurer, Steve Taylor (many thanks), calls this an investment in our sport and I think he is right.

In addition to this, we had direct costs in running UKLA covered by income from member subscriptions, our sponsor Noble Marine and grant support from the RYA. Overall, that meant we had a deficit for the year of about £10,000. This was only possible due to the surplus we made during two years of Covid. In 2023 we plan to run a smaller deficit, but we will still run our events and training at a discount to full costs and we will be doing our best to contain costs in a difficult environment.

One of the reasons that we can provide excellent value to our members is the amount of time volunteers give to UKLA. We are now looking to fill three roles:

Team-racing co-ordinator - As part of series being organised by the European class, UKLA is considering running a one-day team racing event at Datchet in June. It would be 4 boat team racing in ILCA6s with a mixed 2 person team, probably restricted to 24 teams, bringing their own boats. To get this off the ground, we are looking for lead volunteer.

Virtual training administrator – following the success of virtual winter training, we would like to run several more sessions before the summer. We will provide the hosts but we need a volunteer to setup the Zoom meetings, prepare email communications with members and then upload the video. It is probably 3 hours work per session and you would need to be somewhat tech savvy.

Masters sub-committee – Alison Stevens is retiring for the committee in the summer after much tireless work (again many thanks). To make the role manageable, we hope to set-up a sub-committee where the role can be shared out. Let us know if you would like to be involved.

Contact-Chair — UKLA (ilca.uk) if interested.

Finally, you will remember we had a focus in the autumn on behaviour at our events, so at the start of the season we are publishing our Misconduct policy. Many thanks to those that have helped in preparing it, and I hope to cover in more detail when there is more space but here is the preamble.

UKLA members want our class to be a welcoming place for all involved with UKLA events, no matter their age or level of experience. We want to encourage a culture where we can all enjoy the sport and display sportsmanship on and off the water. We should show each other respect. Happily, misconduct at UKLA events is rare. But examples have arisen. UKLA hopes, by publicising the expected standards of behaviour and the applicable rules, to further improve standards of behaviour in relation to our events and in our sport more widely.

Snippets:

• 2023 UKLA coaching days across the country applications are open until 31st March. Read more

• Today is last day to enter for the Stokes Bay qualifier

• Featured podcast of week is top UKLA coach James Hadden

UKLA Chair blog #29

10 Great Things to do in your ILCA

The range of activities involving ILCAs is massive and today I would like to give you some ideas. Sorry but you won’t be able to do all of them

1. As spring approaches, sign up for club racing but firstly get some tips from our experts in our virtual winter education/training programme – Tim Hulse on Setting up your ILCA for performance and Daisy Collingridge and Matilda Nicholls (British Sailing Team) on ILCA technique for upwind / downwind in light air and heavy air

2. Hear from European ILCA7 Champion Micky Beckett in our final session on Wed 22nd February 7:30pm - Getting your racing tactics right Register and join here

3. Sixteen GBR sailors are heading to the ILCA4 Youth Europeans in Cadiz in April which will be a great experience. During the summer there are also the ILCA4 Youth Worlds and ILCA6 Youth European and Worlds, all in Europe. Remember there are usually more than enough GBR places available for these events

4. There were 20 Legends (over 75s) sailing in the ILCA6 Masters in Thailand including four GBR sailors – time launch your campaign?

5. Come and have a go at UKLA Masters Nationals in Hayling Island on 30th June to 2nd July – all welcome!

6. Aim to do at least two Grands Prix in your region – they are now in our UKLA calendar

7. Mark in your calendar the 2023 UKLA Open and Nationals Championships in Hayling Island 20th to 25th August – it is a festival of ILCA sailing - great racing, great venue and great off-water activities!

8. Race your ILCA at Keil Week – a world class regatta at the iconic venue of the 1972 Olympics

9. Buy something ILCA related from one of our sponsors like a Wildwind holiday

10. Aspire to win an Olympic Gold medal in either the ILCA6 or ILCA7 or anything else along our pathway with lots of club racing, regional Grands Prix, UKLA training and events and many internationals events.  You choose your aspiration!

Finally some sad news about the passing of Brigid Hurn. This from Nigel Vick who was heavily involved in UKLA for many years. “Brigid was Laser newsletter editor during the 1980’s and regularly attended and dealt with administration at Laser Qualifiers. At that time she was “Mother Laser”.” UKLA, on behalf of our members, would like to pass on our condolences to her family and friends and acknowledge her great volunteer work for the Laser family.

UKLA Chair blog #28

Patience while we grow…..

The ILCA class in the UK is vibrant and growing at all levels from the British Sailing Team to club activities, from young teenagers to Legends (over 75s). UKLA have launched several new initiatives in recent months:

• UKLA virtual winter training – we have run two sessions so far with the first video having over 1,400 views. The second session last Wednesday had 250 registrations and the video has been viewed over 740 times in less than four days

• Our Female Participation Survey is underway (we will close it on Wednesday) with over 100 responses to date

• Our National Training started in Oct to complement Regional training and it has been very successful.

You will see our published strategy on the ilca.uk website. We are working hard to ensure you have the information you need - hopefully it is easier to find it on the website as well. Thank you to those who have been coming forward to volunteer. UKLA is now at a size where many roles are too big for one person and we are working through how to manage that.

But with the growth comes pain. Our policies are made with the best interests of the class as a whole but invariably not everyone is going to agree with everything – that just the way it is as we get bigger. We will always look for input on changing polices but that doesn’t mean we adopt all input.

UKLA is a member organisation that exists to support our members and is run by a volunteer committee and our class secretary Ellie who works part-time. Ellie and the rest of us are all working incredibly hard to support members, but at certain times of the year are very busy – in February and March we have eight continuous weekends of activity – three qualifiers, four weekends of UKLA training and the Dinghy Show. Hopefully we are getting most of it right, but we are going to make the odd mistake and responses time will be slower, so please be patient with us as we cope with all with extra demand.

Snippets:

• Session #2 Virtual winter education/training programme for ILCA club/master sailing with Daisy Collingridge and Matilda Nicholls (British Sailing Team) - ILCA technique for upwind / downwind in light air and heavy air

• Here is a reminder about the Female Participation survey

• Featured podcast of week is Tim Hulse, UKLA Training Officer

UKLA Chair blog #27

We are opening entry for the upcoming three Spring Qualifiers on Tuesday 7th Feb at 7pm. There is a message below from Brett Lewis, our Safety Officer and some comments from me on the entry fees. Please remember the term Qualifier is a bit of a hangover - they are high quality open meetings!

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Brett says:

“If you have ever wanted to make a difference, now is the time to consider how you can support our amazing sailors and our amazing class. 

UKLA has a unique position, we are a class not a club, we do not have a club house or have or any tangible assets. But as a class we are bigger than most of the UK clubs. Our major events attract more sailors than even the biggest UK clubs and our training events successfully attract hundreds of sailors monthly.

None of this would happen without the amazing teamwork, skill, and determination of volunteers. Sailing, like many sports is a volunteer run, volunteer organised and volunteer governed sport. 

None of this would happen without volunteers.

For us to provide safe racing at each of our major events, every day we require a team of at least 60 volunteers. We require everything from the beach and tally team, the race management team, the safety team, the prize giving team and the event admin team. Very few other classes or clubs require this amount of event resource to safely run our racing events.

Our on-water safety team operates on a policy of 12:1, that is for every 12 sailors on the water, they require at least one crewed safety rib. For the Stokes bay Qualifier, we will need at least 10 ribs and crews, and for the WPNSA Qualifiers we will require 16 ribs and crews.

The on-water team that supports the racing is made up of the Race Committee, the Mark Layers, the Safety team and the Jury team. On the shoreside we have the Tally, Beach, Bridge, Results, Prize and Admin team. 

Below we are asking for the volunteer support for our three Spring Qualifiers series, so if you are new to the class or have considered how you can offer support and would like to talk to us, please get in touch with Brett for on water support or Keith for Race Committee. We are particularly keen to speak to members who feel they want to offer support but do think they may yet not have the necessary experience. 

If you're passionate about sailing and wish to contribute to the success of our UKLA sailors and want to give back to your community, then volunteering is the perfect opportunity for you. We can offer training, advice, mentoring and support for Mark Layers, the Safety team and the Race Committee.”

Contact Brett - Contact Keith - Volunteer

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I wanted to add some comments on entry fees. In 2022 UKLA subsidised entry fees for the Qualifiers with those fees around 5% lower than the costs of running the events. UKLA was able to do this because of the support of our sponsors and good control over our operating costs. I believe this resulted in great value for our sailors.

Like most organisations we are seeing significant increases in our costs, particularly those charged by host venues and the costs of providing appropriate safety cover. In the past, the class relied on parents bringing RIBs without them being fully compensated for their costs, which we felt was unfair and unsustainable and could have resulted in us not having enough safety cover to run an event.

Although we will continue to subsidise entry fees (we plan to continue to set entry fees below the cost of running the events in 2023), these increases are too significant for us to absorb. We therefore agreed to increase our entry fees. We will be working to see if these increases can be reduced later in 2023. As a committee we fully understand the impact and also realise this is just one element of the cost of a weekend.

Snippets:

• Session #2 Virtual winter education/training programme for ILCA club/master sailors – register here

• Here is a reminder about the Female Participation survey

• Featured podcast of week are Daisy Collingridge and Matilda Nicholls

UKLA Chair blog #26

In my early years of ILCA/ Laser sailing in the eighties, there was only one rig – the standard or ILCA7 and that didn’t give much opportunity for female participation. Well, things have improved since then, but there is still a lot more to do done.

The ILCA6 has been the women’s single-handed boat in the Olympics for four cycles starting in Beijing 2008. As it happened with the ILCA7, the competition gets tougher each cycle, as many of the earlier campaigners stay involved in subsequent cycles as can be seen with some of the top female sailors now. The ILCA6 is (arguably) the most competitive dinghy class in the UK, being the popular single-handed boat for youths, mixing it with our top women sailors and experienced masters. But the numbers of women competing are just not enough.

Also, in the ILCA4 we have a highly competitive class with more girls competing and a smaller rig opening the opportunity to a wider group of sailors. With seven UKLA National weekend events during the season, the National Championship during the summer and the opportunity to compete abroad (there were 132 entries in the 2022 ILCA4 Youth Europeans in the girls fleet), surely we should be aspiring to having equal numbers of boys and girls in this fleet?

So today UKLA are launching a survey on female participation in the ILCA as part of our Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity strategy. We are interested in understanding whether there is more that we can do to increase female participation in ILCA 4 and 6. This survey is mainly aimed at female sailors, but if you are a male and have a view on this subject, we welcome your input. Here is the survey

Snippets:

• Featured podcast of week is Ali Young

• Virtual winter education / training programme for ILCA club / master sailors - session #1 recording

• There are still places available at Open Training North Carsington SC 11-12th February 2023 (closing on 31st January)

• UKLA is seeking a sustainability volunteer to work with UKLA and Euricla. For more information or to express an interest, please contact Ellie.

All the best

Mark

Join UKLA here

Check our UKLA website and calendar of events