UKLA Chair blog #52
It is amazing how many races are lost before they start! We have all done it – not launching in time to make the start, missing or broken equipment (even a back bung), not understanding the start process (Black, U and P flag), sailing the wrong course or perhaps worst arriving at the start line well in time to assess the wind and then getting stranded too far upwind of the line in a dying breeze. Most of this can be mitigated with a well-practised pre-start routine.
It starts before launching with reading the Sailing Instructions (or least the important bits). Then my simple rule is to fully rig the boat before changing (and I mean every bowline tied 😊) and then running through a simple checklist of possible gear failures. Once done, I know that the boat is 100% ready even if I must launch in a hurry or something unexpected happens. Once changed, I bring my water bottle and food to the boat. Same process every time ensuring I don’t launch with an empty water bottle!
Once ready, I can judge my launch time on both the scheduled start time AND when the fleet is launching. If I think the fleet is launching late, I am first to go. On the way to start, the focus is on collecting data points on wind and conditions (see Blog #51). Once at the Committee Boat I go upwind, ideally on both sides of the beat BUT I always aim to arrive back at the Committee Boat at the scheduled start time. If a start is postponed I am never more than 5 minutes sailing from the start line so I can be there at the warning signal. Many sailors will have a detailed routine or process to determine strategy, tactics and start bias but while at the Committee Boat at the warning signal a couple of checks are key - what course is displayed? have I seen all the marks? can I get a start transit? is the Committee boat lying in a current?
These routines are personal to each sailor, but developing one that you can use repeatedly will avoid major mistakes before you even start.
Snippets:
ILCA Welsh Championships - 28-30th July - report
Open and National Championships - 20 - 26th August
VOLUNTEER at the nationals
Super Grand Prix at Castle Cove - 12 - 13th August
Youth Open at Royal Lymington YC - 2 - 3rd September - entries open 7pm today
AGM 2023 - Notice
UKLA Chair blog #51
I am at the ILCA4 Worlds in Greece this week and it is super to see so many sailors from so many countries - 440 sailors from 50 counties. It is a great experience, not just the sailing but operating in such a diverse environment. Although it is a restricted entry event, for GBR sailors it is pretty open to those who have competed in one of our Qualifiers - Portugal in 2024
Today I am writing about Race Strategy. As you may remember previous blogs have discussed Series Strategy (Blog #36) and improving your ILCA sailing through that hard work (Blog #37). We also discussed event preparation (blog #39).
To my mind, race strategy is about determining what you think are the over-riding factors on the race course. It starts by collecting as much evidence and data points as possible. Getting the weather forecast and tidal information, checking the actual weather, understanding the impact of geographic features at the edge of the race course, then on the way to the race course and in the prestart observing the wind and all the time watching - why is the windward mark moving 10 degrees right or why is the committee boat not lying into the wind? All of this feeds into a plan or strategy for the race and first beat in particular, which in turn determines where to start to execute the strategy.
There’s plenty of great books on understanding these factors on race strategy, but it is important to say that no one gets the strategy right all the time and in fact, in choosing one side of the beat or the other, luck gives you a 50% chance of getting it correct! To me, what’s most important is to continually re-assess the strategy at every stage of the race. Are the up-to-date data points re-enforcing the strategy? Changing strategy mid-race should not be taken lightly as making cool decisions under pressure (or when tired) is not easy, but you must keep asking if the strategy working.
To give an example from club racing at Queen Mary a couple of Wednesday ago, wind was a fairly steady 10 to 12 knots, full hiking with fairly regular shifts that seems to appear 2 or 3 times per beat. My assessment of the strategy – take the lifts! There was a pin bias so I started there and went off on a nice lift on starboard and waited for the header. When it came a few of us tacked onto a long port tack with some small lifts and headers and while it looked good at first, it did feel like mostly small headers and sure enough some boats that had tacked right earlier came back into contention at the windward mark. Although the leader came from the left, I felt this disguised the underlying strategy of a more persistent wind bend heading right. I was re-assessing the strategy throughout the first beat and by the end of I had updated it.
So my strategy changed for the next two beats - taking the lifts but protect the right of the course by tacking under others when heading right and above when heading back to the centre.
Another example was at he recent Masters Nationals in Hayling Island. The first three races on Saturday were a fairly steady 20 knots or so with some long slow shifts often resulting in a two (or four) tack beat. Sunday morning looked the same – same direction, but maybe a little lighter at 15 knots so I set myself up for a similar strategy. But as we approached (with a minute to go) the first re-start after a general recall, it became apparent there was a big left shift (it was hard to lay the line on starboard) beyond previous observations. Red flag – what’s happening? The wind had gone unstable. Re-assess the strategy! We probably had ten 20 degree shifts, one every minute or two on the first beat. The strategy shifted to tacking immediately on each shift even to the extent of not having clear air. By start of next beat on the outer loop, slightly further from the land, the wind became more stable and the oscillations less frequent. By the following race, the strategy returned to that seen on Saturday (I only realised after the race!).
My point is that you execute tactics based on your overall strategy, but you must be paranoid in thinking the strategy may have changed. The “best” data points are those that happen during the racing itself.
Snippets:
Open and National Championships - 20 - 26th August
VOLUNTEER at the nationals
AGM 2023 - 16th September
Super Grand Prix at Castle Cove - 12 - 13th August
UKLA Chair blog #50
Paris Test event, Nationals 2023, Ben Elvin on Masters Nationals
Like many of you, I followed the World Sailing Paris Test event in Marseille where we had Micky and Hannah competing. These two world class sailors performed brilliantly with both making the Medal Race (top ten) and Micky taking the Silver medal after a close fought battle for Gold.
Apart from their performances, what struck me was the number of countries competing in the two ILCA events with 42 and 38 countries participating. While I acknowledge the attractiveness of skiff sailing and foiling, isn’t it wonderful that the ILCA remains the “universal” class, so accessible to sailors from across the world? We have something other classes just can’t offer.
Paris 2024 will see twice as many countries represented in the ILCAs as any other dinghy with 43 in both the men’s and women’s events but I would love to see these numbers increase further (there were 56 in the ILCA class in Atlanta). Why do I think it is important? There are thousands of sailors in the UK alone that can relate to ILCA sailing in the Olympics. They sail their ILCAs in clubs around the country, participating in club racing and traveling to open meetings. They know what it is like sailing an ILCA on a broad reach in 20 knots or how fit you need to be to sail upwind. Many of them get a chance to line up along side British Sailing Team sailors at UKLA events, inspiring young and old. It is that link that it is created between the Olympics and grassroot sailing that is not replicated anywhere else in the UK.
The second factor is accessibility of the ILCA. While I know a new ILCA capable of competing internationally isn’t cheap, you can pick-up second-hand ILCAs at very reasonable prices and still compete successfully at club level (even in a ILCA/Laser that is over 20 years old). I know ILCAs are not high-performance dinghies (unlike us sailors) and a 50 year old design but they are one-design and still provide the competitive racing environment where the sailor wins, not the boat.
Preparations continue for the UKLA National Championships are in August in Hayling Island – see the dedicated news post. Reduced entry fee remains in place until Wednesday so please Enter the Nationals:
We are also delighted to have a new sponsor in PropVerse run by active ILCA sailor David Surkov. This means Pizza night on Sunday will now be included free of charge in your entry along with the BBQ and disco with DJ Mark Covell.
Ben Elvin, ILCA6 Masters National Champion, offers some insights on the event below:
After what felt like months of Northerlies and North Easterlies some more normal UK Sailing conditions (ok, the upper end of normal!) finally broke through, just in time for a scheduled 3 days of racing at Hayling Island. Hayling Bay is hard work in everything other than benign conditions, so I will admit I was feeling a little apprehensive about how it was going to feel after months of flat water and offshore wind.
Although it was disappointing that we weren’t able to sail on the Friday due to the conditions, there was a small part of me that was relieved. Only 2 days of this to survive then, not 3! Although at the front of the fleet it might look like the fastest boats are able to cruise through the biggest conditions, the reality is this: It never gets easier, you just go faster (credit: Greg LeMond). True in all sports I think.
Whether at the front, middle or back, it looked like everyone had a great time. Those at the back, elated to have survived some big days, and those at the front enjoying the tight competition and reawakening the hiking legs.
I’ve been reflecting on what matters most in the conditions we had and based on what happened over the six races the answer isn’t obvious but I am pretty sure of it. There was a clear speed difference between the top 3 and the next tier in the fleet. Maura Dewey, Ross Harvey and myself were all pretty evenly matched for upwind speed, with Ross being slightly quicker with his super smooth wave technique, and downwind I had the edge and was able to either extend (good first beat) or close up the gap (bad first beat) on the other two. That said, in race 6 when Ross and I were in a “beat the other boat to take the title situation” and we were less focused on taking the right route up the racecourse, Steve Cockerill called us out on our shenanigans and was able to overcome the speed difference by taking a better route to the mark on both beats.
Nevertheless, for consistent results in big fleets, I believe more speed generally beats better decision making. Your boatspeed is guaranteed and it’s something that you can fully control. Even the best decision makers get it wrong a large percentage of the time (that’s just sailing!) and there’s always a couple of other people there with you when you nail it just right. When the wind is up in a big fleet you’ll normally place roughly where you rank in speed unless you make some really big errors. Without speed it’s also very hard to work on and improve your decision making. Did that boat cross ahead because you sailed the wrong shift, or are they just quicker than you? It’s impossible to unpick unless you’ve got consistent speed. Until I’d spent a long time working on my speed, I found it quite difficult to make sense of what was happening on the racecourse.
The great thing about training speed is that it all you have to do to improve it is get out there and sail your boat! You can’t think your way to better speed, you have to learn it by doing, by feeling how your boat behaves and constantly testing it: “could I have popped over that wave a bit better”, or “what happens if I do it like this rather than like that”. As long as your basic technique is roughly right, it’s just a matter of time. If you enjoy sailing your boat, then sail it more and the speed will come!
Snippets
Updated 2024 UKLA Senior Qualifiaction document (draft)
Welsh Open on 28th to 30th July
Super Grand Prix at Lancing on 29th and 30th July
UKLA Chair blog #49
Nationals 2023, Super Sunday and Brett Bayer
This week we have the Nationals coming up in August, more on Super Sunday and some words of wisdom from Brett Bayer (Olympic coach and 15 times Master Worlds Champion).
The UKLA National Championships are in August in Hayling Island! Several years ago Tony Woods morphed this event into a festival of ILCA sailing to attract club sailors from across the country and this year we continue with that theme. It is superb venue on and off the water and the planned schedule is not too intensive with two races per day allowing for slightly later starts and earlier finishes (wind permitting). There will be daily race clinics each morning and prize draws after racing each day including a fully rigged Ovington ILCA - yes! (thanks to their generous sponsorship, someone will walk away with a band new Ovington ILCA). Thursday night there is a BBQ included in the entry fee with renowned sailor and DJ Mark Covell. We have revamped mentoring scheme and there is also after racing entertainment every evening.
Having successfully introduced the ILCA4s to the Masters Nationals, remember that the ILCA4s at the Nationals are open – there is no age limit. It is great class and venue for borrowing a boat and bringing a friend.
Super Sunday on 25th June has attracted 508 ILCAs on the water from 42 sailing clubs, open meetings and venues despite a particularly windy day especially on the south coast. We now have a target – could we beat this on a Sunday during the winter? It does show the widespread attraction of the class and its inclusive nature. Well done and thanks to everyone who responded. Clubs are listed below.
Finally here is what Brett Bayer said about his winning performance in the ILCA7s at the UK Masters Nationals:
“It fitted in nicely with my coaching in Europe this year and was an opportunity for me to swap from my coaching hat over to my sun faded sailors hat.
I had raced the 2010 Masters Worlds in Hayling and still recall the fantastic downwinds, as well as the physically tough upwinds.
So the regatta brought similar conditions, albeit shiftier than I was expecting. My upwind and downwind speed in these conditions is always pretty good and I try to strip my technique back to a few fundamentals. One of which is, "don't go slow" which goes a long way to producing a good average speed. Sailing upwind through waves is the main thing that kills speed so as soon as the boat feels slow and sticky, I inject some hiking and some ease of sheet to quickly recover. This way, I'm dedicating my hiking only to keeping the boat moving at a constant speed, instead of wasting hiking fitness for heel, which isn't effective.
The downwinds were a great ride. Not always easy to catch every single wave during the lulls, but just another skill set of maintaining a high average speed like upwinds. The wave train direction was generally moving left of the mark so holding Starboard By the Lee proved best. This does leave a little challenge of HOW and WHEN to move right back towards the mark, but as usual, it's these more challenging times in racing that yield the greatest gains and losses within the fleet. I am ever aware of when these challenging moments appear when racing and try to sail these moments better than the competition.
I was most impressed with overall fleet quality and rarely was I first around the top mark. Generally, the most left or right boat won the beat, but not by much. And if you have that focus of sailing the critical moments well, you can keep chipping away through the fleet and find yourself sailing with consistency and low risk. I still finished the regatta with plenty of learnings. It never stops.”
I love the "don't go slow" comment which is so much deeper than first impression. It is one thing keeping up with Brett 95% of the time, but it’s the other 5% when you are slow and he isn’t, whether that is in a gust, lull or strange wave pattern. For the inland sailors in waves, it is the course made good that is critical. On flat water, staying block to block, hiking out and pinching works but it doesn’t in waves.
Super Sunday clubs, open meetings and venues
Graham water SC
West Riding Sailing club
Castle Cove Sailing Club
Felpham Sailing Club
Olton Mere Sailing Club
Notts County Sailing Club
Spinnaker Sailing Club
Queen Mary SC
King George sailing club
HISC
Delph SC
Weir Wood
Bartley SC
Pennine Sailing Club
Draycote Water Sailing Club
Locks Sailing Club
Derwent Reservoir SC
Lancing SC
Deben YC
Bowmoor
Seafarers Sailing Club
Budworth SC
Glossop
Hill ahead Sailing Club
Maidenhead Sailing Club
Wembley Sailing Club
Pevensey Bay Sailing Club
Stokes Bay Sailing Club
Chew Valley Sailing Club
Frensham Pond Sailing Club
Poole Yacht Club
Parkstone Yacht Club
Royal Harwich Yacht Club
Oxford Sailing Club
WPNSA
Starcross Sailing Club
Mounts Bay Sailing Club
Rutland Water Sailing Club
Dabchicks
Wadringfield Sailing Club
Island Champs @ Guernsey
ASC Portsmouth
Llandegfedd Sailing Club
Snippets
Welsh Open on 28th to 30th July already has 21 entries
Super Grand Prix at Lancing on 29th and 30th July
UKLA Chair blog #48
Masters Nationals and Super Sunday!
courtesy Peter Hickson
Wow – what a weekend we had at the Masters Nationals in Hayling Island Sailing Club! There were over 130 entries in a superbly organised event - remember this was a Masters only event! Even with challenging conditions at times, the Race Officer, Mark Woods and his team of volunteers did a great job keeping the racing on track. Onshore, HISC were excellent hosts and my thanks go to them AND also Alison, Guy and Ellie for their hard work.
The overwhelming sensation today is tiredness which hides a plethora of other sensations I got from talking to many of you. Almost everyone has a sense of satisfaction that we survived the conditions and many of US were exhilarated by the brilliant downwind surfing conditions. For some this was the first time in those conditions, especially those from lake venues who can reasonably describe the weekend’s sailing as a different sport (we have an Inland Masters in October). No doubt some of us were even frightened at times especially on the last downwind sail back to the club! As far as I could see there was good camaraderie and sportsmanship on show (not always evident in every sport). Anyway the point is we were there, making the most of it. Well done to everyone.
It may be worthwhile giving an ILCA7 perspective on the racing. To my mind there were three big factors – boat speed, fitness and avoid major mistakes. It was a weekend for depowering upwind – a very tight cunningham but keeping some power in the foot (a hand-width) and tons of kicker (I had to let mine off the tack). Then steering up the wave to near the top and then hiking hard over the top, often releasing some mainsheet. Interestingly Orlando and I have a similar technique but Brett is brilliant at keeping the boat really steady and maintaining a high speed which translates into a high course made good. Of course downwind speed could be a blog in its own right. On fitness, while it is clearly important, it does not translate into less pain – everyone feels that.
I made some big mistakes in Race5 demonstrating where it can go wrong. Downwind there seemed more pressure (or gusts) on the right, the opposite of Saturday and I don’t think I spotted in time to avoid losing ground on the first run. Then on the second beat, I think the strategy changed subtly from mainly oscillating to a more persistent left shift and I got stuck on the right. Finally capsizing is definitely not quick 😊
See results here
On to Super Sunday. So far we have returns from 30 clubs / open meetings with 350 ILCAs – isn’t that amazing? But I think there must be at least 50 clubs out there and I think we can get past 500. Here is the list of clubs but there are some missing, where are you – Parkstone, Poole, West Kirby, Leigh and Lowton, Lymington, Rutland? Please make sure you club is listed. If you don’t have a class captain on the UKLA Whatsapp group, just reply to me on the blog email.
Graham water sc
West Riding Sailing club
Castle Cove Sailing Club
Felpham Sailing Club
Olton Mere Sailing Club
Notts County Sailing Club
Spinnaker Sailing Club
Queen Mary SC
King George sailing club
HISC
Delph SC
Weir Wood
Bartley SC
Pennine Sailing Club
Draycote Water Sailing Club
Locks Sailing Club
Derwent Reservoir SC
Lancing SC
Deben YC
Bowmoor
Seafarers Sailing Club
Budworth SC
Glossop
Hill ahead Sailing Club
Maidenhead Sailing Club
Wembley Sailing Club
Pevensey Bay Sailing Club
Snippet:
Late entry fee to the UKLA Open & National Championships 2023 - Hayling Island SC 20-26th August kicks in on 19th July 2023
Entries to UKLA Noble Marine & Rooster ILCA 4, 6 & 7 Qualifier - Paignton SC 16-17th September 2023 open tonight at 7pm
UKLA Chair blog # 47
Super sunday and performance not results!
Well Super Sunday was yesterday ! Please let us know how you got on – we have a link here class captains or anyone who wants to make a submission. I see Notts Country SC had 24 ILCAs out and Seafarers had 26 ILCAs at their open. First thing this morning we already had 7 club returns. Keep them coming and let’s get a record ! I look forward to hearing more…
I started sailing 50 years ago this month with my brother at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire and we had a celebration back there on Saturday night. It was great to see so many “old” friends who I grew up sailing with. I spent some time looking for a quote to reflect the occasion and ended up mashing up one from a famous athlete (Jessie Owens) – friendships formed and developed in the cut and thrust of the racecourse are the pure gold of competition. The accolades and awards tarnish but the friendships gather no dust. Ultimately looking back, this is essence of what I have described many times – a sport for life and a passion that keeps on giving.
Of course, the thrill of competition is important to many of us. In many ways it is the journey or indeed the mini-campaigns we put together – I am going to get fit for such and such an event or improve my boat handling. Or sometimes it is just being out on the water. I think many of us have found the mental health benefits of sailing, of just being able to switch off or into a different mode.
Then there is the great performance versus results debate. Many (or most) great athletes do not focus directly on results but performance. Rory McIlroy is not thinking of a hole in one but a great golf swing. It is about visualising and executing a great performance or even a great recovery. And at critical moments these athletes will often say there was absolutely nothing going through my mind- they are in the zone. Results follow performance, which is why many don’t set results-based targets. I think this is especially true in a regatta over many days where staying focussed is important and you don’t want early mishaps to ruin your whole week. I prefer to be able to discard from my mind those results and think about performance. I know that isn’t true of everyone – I am sure Robert Scheidt always had a target of gold!
UKLA Chair blog #46
Tactics are tricky
Racing my ILCA7 last Wednesday, I was reminded how tricky our sport can be. Tactics should be an easy thing. #1 sail in more pressure and it makes you go faster. Except often the gusts appear and disappear as drafts of wind that are hard to see on the water. #2 tack on headers and stay on lifts. Except when it is a progressive shift you need to stay on the header long. And of course, while in a truly oscillating wind the next shift is always a predictable, we hardly ever sail in those conditions and especially inland, the wind is often just somewhat random. Combining all these factors with their risk and reward weightings would require a degree in game theory. Instead, we reply on experience and with that comes a built-in sense of intuition. So it is hardly surprising that we don’t always get it right!
Of course that is the essence of sport. We put ourselves on the line, exposed to the risks and challenges of competition, not knowing the result in advance. But in sailing in particular we have the ever changing environment over which we have no control. We can just try and bank the experience and hope we recognise the patterns better next time.
At this time of year the calendar is full of events:
Super Sunday is next Sunday 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).
First two Super Grand Prix can be booked online - One in the South (Lancing) and one in the Midlands (Hollowell). And if you are looking for something further West, Sailingfast Welsh Championships will open tomorrow.
Don’t forget the Masters Nationals closes in 23rd June - can we get close to 150 entries? 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.
UKLA Chair blog #45
Race focus and upcoming events
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
A sport for life
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
Some reminders this week
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
Series Strategy
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 and more…..
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
ILCA4s……
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
Event preparation and more……………
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
Parkstone masters and various updates
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 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
Hard work not talent …..
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
Findings from female participation survey
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
Unlucky or unfair? and how we raced in 30knots at WPNSA
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
Choosing your ILCA equipment……..
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.