Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair Blog #105

more on masters.....

Back in Blog #58,  I featured some posters about Masters sailing, selling it virtues. These emphasised the inclusivity and simplicity of ILCA sailing, attracting a wide range of experience and competency.

I went on to say masters or veterans sport is booming with older athletes coming back to sport or staying in it longer, whether running, cycling or a plethora of other sports. Sailing is no exception. The benefits of masters sailing whether at club level or beyond are obvious – the physical exercise, the mental stimulation of competition and trying to improve and perhaps most importantly the opportunity to socialise.

So, we have 100 entries at our Masters Nationals at Hayling Island this weekend (entries are still open) , which is a super number but slightly down on the last two years. I wonder if that is the late September date – any thoughts? That said, some of you may have also spotted this last week 2024 ILCA Master Europeans Sets New Participation Record - EurILCA. There are almost 40 GBR entries alone at the Europeans next month.

For any Masters who weren’t comfortable with the waves at Hayling – why not consider the Master Inland at Rutland on 26th/27th Oct ? Flat water, shifty and a short sail to the race area. Let me try to give you another reason. I came across some studies by Ellen Langer, a professor of psychology at Harvard whose hypothesis is that if you turn the clock back psychologically, it has a physical impact on your body. She argues that the physical limitations we encounter as we get older are largely determined by how we think about ourselves and our capabilities. So start thinking of yourself as that younger version….come and join us.

And remember if you are 50 years old, who should have three and a half decades of ILCA sailing ahead of you!

Also just to mention, there is a Women's ILCA coaching day 26 October at Queen Mary SC. Join ILCA Coach Ellie Cumpsty and Georgina Povall, fresh back from coaching ILCA 6 at the Olympics. You can even hire an ILCA at the club. It is open to all women ILCA sailors: new to ILCAs, new to racing and experienced club racers! ILCA Fleet » Queen Mary Sailing Club

Finally one of our sub-committees was a new name - ILCA Women and Girls - and following their recommendation the Inlands in November at Grafham will have separate ILCA6 starts for men and women, as a follow-up trial to the one done last year with ILCA4s.

Snippets

ILCA UK Winter Training

ILCA UK are offering many opportunities for winter training 2024/2025 - See our calendar for more

Regional Open Training for ILCA 4,ILCA6 and ILCA 7

ILCA 4

ILCA 4 Regional Open Training is a six-week programme for sailors under the age of 18yrs. Sailors are expected to have experience of club sailing , be confident in sailing in strong winds and comfortable managing full days in inclement/cold weather. Sailors are required to sign up for the six weeks to ensure continuity and getting the best from the programme.

The training programme will take place across three different regions.

Twelve places are available for each region. The ILCA 4 programme is now open for sailors to sign upon the ILCA UK calendar; a great opportunity to develop skills and meet other sailors in your region.

ILCA  6 and ILCA 7 Regional Open Training

Now open for sailors to sign up on the ILCA UK Calendar. The format will be 6 weekends running between October and March. Four of the weekends will be hosted in each region, with two joint camps when all of the regions will join together, one at WPNSA and one at Draycote SC

ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 training will be open to all ages and entry will be on a per-weekend basis. An excellent opportunity to continue to develop sailing skills in your region.

National Training

National Training will be available following the October qualifiers in WPNSA. National Training is open to sailors who come in the top 50% male and top 50% female in at least  three of the following events

  • ILCA UK Nationals

  • Plas Heli Qualifier

  • Qualifiers at WPNSA in October

  • Inlands at Grafham

The National Training is run by ILCA UK at WPNSA .

Don’t forget the Chair’s playlist of three virtual training sessions on Youtube

ILCA UK events

Masters Nationals enter here – 100 entries so far - entries close 24/09/2024

Q5 & Q6 - entries open tonight (Monday 8pm)

Masters Inlands - entries open tonight (Monday 8pm)

Inlands - entries will open on Monday week (30th September 8pm)

Other ILCA events

See our calendar for more

Other news

ILCA Thames Valley Travellers Series Open at Frensham Pond Sailing Club

2024 ILCA Master Europeans Sets New Participation Record - EurILCA

Win Micky Beckett’s Paris 2024 ILCA

Sailingfast ILCA Welsh National Championships 2024 at Plas Heli Welsh National Sailing Academy

 

 

 

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair Blog # 104

Fun in waves?

I was at the ILCA Open meeting / Qualifier in Pwllheli over the weekend (along with 109 other ILCAs) and I was reminded what a great location this is for waves in a south westerly wind. It blew about 20knots all weekend and with a long fetch across the Irish Sea and a shallow bay, we got some steep waves that made for exhilarating conditions. It is not often we get to sail in these conditions and for many these big waves were perhaps more test of survival than exhilaration. It was easy “to go down the mine” – in other words bury the bow into the wave ahead and fill the cockpit with water, making the boat unstable and prone to capsize. I managed to survive the whole weekend without a capsize until the last gate when my mainsheet caught around the boom on the gybe and in I went. Anyone can capsize especially when racing hard (I know one of the British Saling Team did !). Well done to everyone who made a go of it, especially those not used to the conditions or new to their rig.

It is amazing how varied our sport can. ILCA sailing in Pwllheli was mostly boat speed especially upwind (fitness and technique being key) with good boat handling downwind. This is obviously completely different to inland sailing in a light breeze and flat water. The best sailors are good in all conditions and need to be – think back to the ILCA races in Marseille and the varied conditions there.

But it is also the variety of wave conditions even in sea venues – Stokes Bay often produces tricky short waves when wind is against tide, Weymouth Bay at the Nationals had one day with a small chop but a rolling swell from the side.  Pevensey in the Southwester has long waves beautiful for surfing. I once sailed in the ILCA Worlds in Cape Town in a southerly - you could not see the boat 30 lengths ahead of you the waves were so big !

I wrote a little about wave technique in Blog #65 if you are interested.

Just to mention winter training especially for Regional Open training for ILCA4s for which places are limited – a couple of the regions are almost full (more below)

Snippets

ILCA UK Winter Training

ILCA UK are offering many opportunities for winter training 2024/2025 - See our calendar for more

Regional Open Training for ILCA 4,ILCA6 and ILCA 7

ILCA 4

ILCA 4 Regional Open Training is a six-week programme for sailors under the age of 18yrs. Sailors are expected to have experience of club sailing , be confident in sailing in strong winds and comfortable managing full days in inclement/cold weather. Sailors are required to sign up for the six weeks to ensure continuity and getting the best from the programme.

The training programme will take place across three different regions.

Twelve places are available for each region. The ILCA 4 programme is now open for sailors to sign upon the ILCA UK calendar; a great opportunity to develop skills and meet other sailors in your region.

ILCA  6 and ILCA 7 Regional Open Training

Now open for sailors to sign up on the ILCA UK Calendar. The format will be 6 weekends running between October and March. Four of the weekends will be hosted in each region, with two joint camps when all of the regions will join together, one at WPNSA and one at Draycote SC

ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 training will be open to all ages and entry will be on a per-weekend basis. An excellent opportunity to continue to develop sailing skills in your region.

National Training

National Training will be available following the October qualifiers in WPNSA. National Training is open to sailors who come in the top 50% male and top 50% female in at least  three of the following events

  • ILCA UK Nationals

  • Plas Heli Qualifier

  • Qualifiers at WPNSA in October

  • Inlands at Grafham

The National Training is run by ILCA UK at WPNSA .

Don’t forget the Chair’s playlist of three virtual training sessions on Youtube

ILCA UK events

Masters Nationals enter here – almost 92 entries so far. 

Other ILCA events

See our calendar for more

Other news

ILCA Thames Valley Travellers Series Open at Frensham Pond Sailing Club

2024 ILCA Master Europeans Sets New Participation Record - EurILCA

Win Micky Beckett’s Paris 2024 ILCA

Sailingfast ILCA Welsh National Championships 2024 at Plas Heli Welsh National Sailing Academy

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair blog #103

rules and winter training

Rules have been part of our sport for many years. Take this headline from 1934 America’s Cup BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES AND AMERICA WAIVES THE RULES. Here’s the news report from the time and a relevant quote Sopwith bore away to avoid an inevitable collision but again, the protest flag wasn’t flown as the custom under the Yacht Racing Association rules in England was to fly the flag at the end of the race. The NYYC reverted to its own rules on the matter and held firm, insisting that a flag must be flown immediately in order to give the protested yacht the chance to counter-protest should they see fit. As you can imagine this seemed to cause a lot of controversy at the time.

Of course, the America’s Cup has always had protests and still does today but what of ILCA racing? I think it is fair to say that in the cut and thrust of ILCA sailing, boats have always come together resulting in minor collisions, whether it is the touching of gunwales at the start and a boom hitting an outside boat at a leeward mark. While every collision should result in a penalty under the rules, many sailors will ignore these types of collisions when there is no obvious gain or loss. There are exceptions, for example a boat-to-boat situation at the end of a regatta when leaders are manoeuvring against each other. I remember before the start of the 1996 Olympics when the Laser made its appearance being told that every collision would be protested – well it wasn’t! 

While every rule infringement does not get a penalty, many should and do. Misjudging a port tack approach inside three boat lengths requires a penalty or protest as does barging in a mark when no overlap was established in time. Or if a boat comes in aggressively from behind and to leeward and bangs gunwales with no opportunity for me as windward boat to keep clear, wrecking my start – they should take a penalty.  Same with misjudging port and starboard or hitting a mark. I know some of you will say rules are rules and it is not up us to determine when they should apply but it is the de facto scenario when racing in a self-policing sport – we decide what warrants a penalty. When there is a blatant rule infringement, whether it is a national event or club racing, there should be a protest or penalty and we all know some sailors are consistently on the wrong side of this – there is only one answer - protest!

That being said, my own philosophy is to give others a bit of leeway as it creates goodwill next time you are in a tricky situation. So, someone doesn’t quite make it across on port, I am likely let it go and put the goodwill in the bank and hope it will be reciprocated. But sometimes other sailors don’t get that – live by the sword, die by the sword, I guess. Of course, if it is head-to-head at the sharp end of a regatta that’s different.

We want to see sailors winning fairly on the water and don’t want to see them lose for frivolous or seemingly unfair protests from other competitors. That said at times, organisers need to do these protests to ensure racing is run properly, safety and fairly, but this needs to be applied with some empathy. Let’s hope the result of the current America’s Cup doesn’t end up being tainted by protest.

ILCA UK Winter Training

ILCA UK are offering many opportunities for winter training 2024/2025 - See our calendar for more

Regional Open Training for ILCA 4,ILCA6 and ILCA 7

ILCA 4

ILCA 4 Regional Open Training is a six-week programme for sailors under the age of 18yrs. Sailors are expected to have experience of club sailing , be confident in sailing in strong winds and comfortable managing full days in inclement/cold weather. Sailors are required to sign up for the six weeks to ensure continuity and getting the best from the programme.

The training programme will take place across three different regions.

Twelve places are available for each region. The ILCA 4 programme is now open for sailors to sign upon the ILCA UK calendar; a great opportunity to develop skills and meet other sailors in your region.

ILCA  6 and ILCA 7 Regional Open Training

Now open for sailors to sign up on the ILCA UK Calendar. The format will be 6 weekends running between October and March. Four of the weekends will be hosted in each region, with two joint camps when all of the regions will join together, one at WPNSA and one at Draycote SC

ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 training will be open to all ages and entry will be on a per-weekend basis. An excellent opportunity to continue to develop sailing skills in your region.

National Training

National Training will be available following the October qualifiers in WPNSA. National Training is open to sailors who come in the top 50% male and top 50% female in at least  three of the following events

  • ILCA UK Nationals

  • Plas Heli Qualifier

  • Qualifiers at WPNSA in October

  • Inlands at Grafham

The National Training is run by ILCA UK at WPNSA .

Snippets     

Don’t forget the Chair’s playlist of three virtual training sessions on Youtube

ILCA UK events

Pwllheli open meeting / qualifier on 14th / 15th Sept closes tonight – just over 100 entries so far

Masters Nationals enter here – almost 70 entries so far. 

Other ILCA events

See our calendar for more

 Other news

2024 ILCA Master Europeans Sets New Participation Record - EurILCA

Win Micky Beckett’s Paris 2024 ILCA

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair Blog#102

sports pros.....

I am a fan of Emma Raducanu – how could you not be after she won the U.S Open tennis as a qualifier at the age of 18!  She played some stunning tennis in that competition with some sports performance analysts putting that down, at least partially, to “momentum”, whereby initial success breeds confidence and even better performance. But in the last three years, she has struggled to get results on the pro circuit, dropping down the rankings, suffering injuries, with many changes in her coaching her set-up and criticism of her scheduling and involvement in commercial opportunities. There has been a lot of negative media headlines but I think much of the criticism is wide of the mark and instead can be put down to one main factor – being a (young) professional athlete on a world circuit is incredibly difficult. Let’s think about it and how that might relate to ILCA sailing.

 

Firstly, the competition is fierce in any pro sport. Everyone trains as much as they can so there is no advantage there. Today there are hundreds of ILCA sailors racing and training full-time, working on boat speed and boat handling, trying to be all-rounders in different wind strengths – some trying to be better in light winds and others in heavy air. Differences  end up being tiny and probably only manifesting themselves for short moments of transition, adapting to slight a change in wave pattern that provides a half boat length or so of distance gained. Race decisions are down to balancing risk and rewards-based outcomes that are not definite. In this context making the right strategic and tactical choices consistently is very hard. Now add to this the elements outside our control – wind and waves. So, it comes as no surprise that looking at the results of the ILCA races at the Olympics, it is hard to be consistent. The French ILCA7 sailor, a former world champion, finished 3rd and 5th in two races and 30th and 31st in another two. Or the Hungarian ILCA6 sailor finished the regatta with two first places but whose average score up until them was about 20th. In summary, the competition is fierce, boat speeds are very similar and even if you execute your tactics perfectly, the random elements of wind can interfere.

 

Secondly competing 10 or more events per year is physically demanding. You need to stay in peak physical condition for most of the year, watching your diet, sleep and recovery, while avoiding injuries. The resilience needed to do this is developed over years and is unlikely to reside in an 18-year-old. Bodies just aren’t up to it. For others with constant training, they lose their flare and become “stale”, reaching a plateau and no longer improving.

 

Finally, there is the mental strength needed to compete month in and month out. The need to raise your game for each regatta, not letting setbacks affect your performance. Even if some events are less important than others, you don’t want your performance in those to affect your confidence and belief. And then the Olympics themselves are a special event whose environment can only really be reproduced every four years. But on top of that the Olympics is the top prize in sailing and when you are knocked back a little during the racing, it requires a big effort to keep on track. It is after-all your big moment. It is worth remembering both the ILCA6 and ILCA7 fleets have sailors who a former world champions having competed in multiple Games, perhaps even Olympic medallists and for these sailors, a place of the podium is what they want, not a top 10 and top 20 finish. As result, they respond to slight setbacks with further risk taking to try and achieve that podium. I also heard an interview with two ILCA6 and ILCA7 Paris 2024 Olympians (not GBR) who referenced the need to reset expectations after the first few days of competition. That’s the nature of it – a need for serious mental preparation and resilience in a unique environment.

 

So when we reflect on performances in the ILCA at the Olympics we must remember that the competition is fierce and takes place in an environment that is unique and the weather isn’t predictable, so that when the inevitable minor setback occurs, it can be very hard to keep it all on track. While we can be thankful that ILCA sailors are not under running commentary and analysis of their performance by the media it is worth remembering that in higher profile sports, those pro athletes, like Emma Raducanu, will get hugely positive headlines when they win but also have to endure negative ones when they won’t, without the appreciation of how hard it is to be a pro.

Snippets     

Please fill in survey on Nationals 2024, here. 

ILCA UK events

We have four National events this autumn starting with our open meeting / qualifier in Pwllheli on 14th /!5th Sept. Entry is open for one more week. Come and enjoy the waves!  We also have two pen meetings / qualfiers in Oct at WPNSA which will open shortly and the Inlands at Grafham on 2nd /3rd Nov.

We also have two Masters events coming up – Nationals on 27th to 29th Sept at Hayling Island and the inland masters at Rutland on 26th / 27th Oct.

The dates of Regional Open training are in our calendar.  There are four weekends in each of three regions plus two “joint” weekends. These will be available to book early next week with venues. ILCA4s are a replacement for the RYA RTG program will require sailors to sign up for all weekends but at a discounted rate (with the support of the RYA). ILCA6 and ILCA7 can be booked per weekend.

There are also five National training weekends  - National Training for the ILCA 4s and ILCA 6s will be open to all sailors who have come in the top 50% male and 50% female in at least 3 out of the following 5 recent ILCA UK events: being the ILCA UK Nationals at WPNSA, the three Autumn Qualifiers (Plas Heli in September and two at WPNSA in October) and the Inlands at Grafham in early November.

 

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair Blog#101

Post Nationals.....

Short blog as I am still exhausted !

What a great week we had at the Nationals, at least according to most of the informal feedback I have had. My own perspective was very positive. We had 250 entries at a time when doing these events is expensive. In particular, 77 ILCA4s was super and the 60 ILCA7s was probably the most competitive ILCA7 fleet in the UK in at least a decade. We had a whole variety of conditions, light and heavy, in the harbour and the Bay. The temporary exclusion zone around the North entrance meant a lot of sailing to and from the course at the start of the week but at least it was nice summer weather. We almost got a full schedule in without making it too hard on the sailors. It is certainly true that with 250 sailors, there will not be full consensus on schedule, conditions and course locations and we must cater for the bulk of the fleet, who appeared very happy.

The Race Hub at WPNSA was a brilliant addition. The race clinics, Q&As, daily prizes, mentoring and of course the daily prizedraw with the exceptional support of our sponsors all worked as I hope the social program did. The large number of volunteers helping on and off the water was impressive. The reception for Micky Beckett on Friday was emotional as was the moment Peter Sherwin got an award for being the oldest competitor (aged 71 😉).

Anyway, please your feedback in the survey  here.

 Daily race reports (overall to follow):

 Day 1 – 2024 ILCA UK Open & National Championships at the WPNSA

 Day 2 - 2024 ILCA UK Open & National Championships at the WPNSA

 Day 3 - 2024 ILCA UK Open & National Championships at the WPNSA

 Day 4 -2024 ILCA UK Open & National Championships at the WPNSA

 Day 5 Ovington Boats Big Prize Draw with Micky Beckett during the ILCA UK Open & National Championships

There are 100 sailors booked on Skills week on 26th August. The next ILCA UK event is Plas Heli on 14th/15th Sept – opens tonight. There is lots more in the calendar including most of the winter training dates (please note open training for ILCA6/ILCA7 still need to be added on same dates and venues at ILCA4 RTG training). The Masters Nationals at Hayling Island is now open as well.

 

 

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Blog #100

Annual report from Chair…..

ILCA UK Chair report – Aug 2023 to 2024

In the UK and across the world, the ILCA class is booming. Entries for World and European championships remain strong and in some case at records levels - the recent ILCA4 World Championships had applications from 660 sailors from over 50 countries. In the UK ILCA racing remains in robust shape from club to National level. Hundreds of clubs have ILCA racing and there are about 100 ILCA open meetings each year. ILCA UK has around a thousand members, run over 10 National competitions, mostly processing over 100 entries, provide 1,800 sailor training days per year and have hundreds of sailors aged 13 to 80 competing in international events. Both youth and masters sailing continue to attract good numbers and we have two sailors competing in Paris 2024. Why is the class doing so well?

Firstly, I believe culture is a big factor. We welcome sailors of differing experience and ages at our events and there is no “us” and “them”. We don’t select, nor have squads or teams. People often think “oh it’s the Olympic ILCA class, it’s going to be cut-throat”. Yes, it is the most competitive class in the world (and the UK) but for the most part the top sailors will support and encourage those that are less experienced. That’s our culture, our openness and inclusivity, and we want to protect it.

Of course, as a boat that has been around for over 50 years, it is easy and relatively cheap to acquire a competitive ILCA and go racing. While there is no doubt newer equipment is needed to compete at the top, you can’t buy a faster ILCA! And that’s the essence of the class, highly competitive racing in equal boats where your skill and fitness (and maybe a bit of luck) determine your result. And you can choose the type of racing you want, many continuing to race at club level or doing the odd open meeting. Youth sailors (and their parents) are often exploring how far their talents will bring them and others are returning to the sport after decades to compete at masters level.

That mixture of ages and experience also creates a balance. Our top youth sailors must show some humility when lining up against British Sailing team sailors. It also provides incentive and there is the pathway that the ILCA provides from ILCA4 through different age group events to Olympic single-handed disciplines. It is transparent to sailors – if you want to compete against Micky Beckett and Hannah Snellgrove in the senior World Championships the process is 100% clear – it’s up to you.

The quality of our National competitions, including Masters, remains strong. We also back this up with an extensive training offering, catering to all levels from club racer to National level. There are number of initiatives to mention:

1. We launched “skills week” at WPNSA several years ago with support of an RYA grant and it has proved incredibly popular (and copied by other classes) with 125 sailors this year. So we now have “skills week” in Plas Heli which is also proving popular. In fact, it has been great to see the rise of consistent ILCA UK in North Wales thanks to the support of our volunteers and RYA Cymru Wales.

2. With our (quite) new Females in ILCAs sub-committee chaired by Fiona Atwell, we held our first Women’s regatta at Rutland in July with training and racing for women with a wide range of experience and ages. We hope this becomes an annual event but there is much more to do to increase diversity in our sport and in ILCA sailing. In particular, I would like to see many more women competing in our Masters events.

3. Next year Hayling Island Sailing Club and ILCA UK will host the Master Europeans in June. I am looking forward to seeing many UK Masters competing including those returning to racing after some years away!

In addition to above, there are many more improvements and changes we have made (taking on the RYA ILCA4 Regional Training Group program, rebranding to ILCA UK, mentoring trial for ILCA7 sailors, our improved National Co-ordination of the Grand Prix series with John Ling, more virtual winter training, I could go on).

But also, I wanted to acknowledge the increasing cost of sailing, racing and training and I know this is a concern for many of us. I know clubs and venues have had rising costs but as a sport we need figure out together how to sustain participation. ILCA UK aim to run our events and training at a loss (even before admin costs), enabling us to keep prices as low as possible for members. This is only possible through our membership income, our volunteers, our sponsors, and the support of the RYA. Many thanks! While Ellie, our class secretary works very hard for the class (with the support of Leo in the office), she works part-time and the bulk of the organising is done free of charge by volunteers.

This is not the only challenge we have and there are many improvements for us to focus on. As an example, we need to improve our regional co-ordination and provide a periodic stepping stone or a next step for younger sailors who want to race in a one-design fleet without the need to go “National”.

Another challenge remains getting enough volunteers to help organise and manage our activities which simply would not happen without them.

I would like to pay tribute to four special committee members who have made a very significant contribution to the class in the last six years as it has transformed itself. Ben Nicholls has been a passionate supporter of Youth sailing and Vice-Chair for the last few years. Likewise, Alan Davis as an advocate of Masters sailing (and a great sailor) and as class measurer. Ben and Alan are both retiring at the AGM based on term limits. Steve Taylor has done the unsung work as Treasurer keeping us on tracking (and encouraging us to spend more money). He will be helping us transition over the coming months. And Keith Videlo as Sailing Sec has kept the show on the road over many years and many events. He will also be helping us transition over the coming months. Thank you to all of you for your selflessness in giving something back to help all of us.

Thank you to those retiring from the committee (Pamela Cross), those staying on and those coming in. We should we very grateful to all our volunteers, including our volunteer committee members, those that perform unseen work and those that help at events. I can’t mention each of you and I appreciate your support. We are a unique class and you are part of something special!

Mark Lyttle – ILCA UK Chair

Click below to find further AGM documents and reports

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair blog #99

Just snippets….

With lots of summer sailing and the Olympics in full swing, not to mention around 45 ILCA UK sailors at the ILCA6 Youth Europeans in Ballyholme, just a couple of reminders and snippets this week.

One item that caught my eye was 9 ILCA sailors were flag bearers at the Paris Opening ceremony (see story)

ILCA racing in Marseille starts later in week. If you are one of thousands of ILCA sailors around the country that can relate directly to their competition as you sail exactly the same boat, please support Hannah and Micky and like the post in our FB channel.

Snippets       

ILCA UK events

You can enter the ILCA UK Noble Marine Open & National Championships 2024 (late entry from 1st August) – WPNSA here

AGM Notice here

Other ILCA events

Over the summer there are many open meetings and Grands Prix all over the country. See our calendar.

Poole Week is popular with many ILCA sailors – more info here and ILCA Big Monday at Parkstone Yacht Club

An opportunity to sail against other ILCA’s at Mersea Week 2024. Whilst the ILCA Nationals take place up to 17th August on 18th August to 23rd August there Mersea Week. The 50th Anniversary. Targeted at our Regional sailors in the East of England there is up to 5 days of racing, all the ILCA classes together, their own start. For entries who wish to participate for a week there is an entry. For those on a tighter budget there is the chance of taking part for three days. Further information is available at  https://merseaweek.org/

RYA British Youth Sailing Team Squad Applications for 2024-25 are now OPEN - Please Click here to apply.  

In addition, for those youths looking for regional racing throughout the season, check out these (none of these are ILCA UK events so for details please see the organisers):

You may be interested in a link to this book by Robin Griffith (not endorsed by ILCA UK) Six Boats: My metamorphosis from dinghy racer to liveaboard cruiser. eBook : Griffith, Robin: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Race reports

Queen Mary Junior Open

ILCA 4 South and South West Regional Junior Championships at the WPNSA

Great experience for ILCA UK sailors at ILCA 4 and 7 Worlds in Viana, Portugal

Sailingfast ILCA Thames Valley Series Grand Prix at Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club

Sailingfast ILCA Thames Valley Series Grand Prix at Queen Mary Sailing Club

ILCA Open at Notts County Sailing Club

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair blog #98

Olympics….

The Opening Ceremony for the Paris 24 Olympic Games takes place this coming Friday 26th July with the ILCA single-handed events starting on 1st August. Olympic sailing remains the pinnacle of our sport with sailors from all over the world striving to participate and get on the podium. While some sports may have a different attitude to the Olympics (I am thinking in particular about sports like golf and tennis where an Olympics Gold medal may not have the cache of winning The Open or Wimbledon), sailing has a long history of being in the Olympics. The biggest change is recent years is perhaps the equal number of men and women competing for the same number of medals but there is also the evolving classes used. Here’s the low down on ILCA racing in Paris 24.

The ILCA7 has been part of the Olympics since 1996 with the ILCA6 being added as the women’s single-handed event in 2008. Of course, ILCA is renowned as the most competitive racing there is. We are the “universal class”, with more countries competing than any other class – 43 in Paris. But across all the ILCA World championships, the accessibility of the ILCA is profound – the recent World Sailing Youth Championships had 62 and 53 countries respectively in the ILCA men and women categories, way more than many other class.

Of course, it is not just that the ILCA is sailed everywhere, it is that the boats are equal, In Paris where the boats are supplied, no sailor has a better sail or a more flexible mast. Here is the technical story of the ILCA for Paris.

While ILCA sailing probably does relate well to the Olympic ideal of “fastest, highest, stronger” more than most classes, there are challenges to retaining sailing in the Olympics. We need to make sure the sport is marketable. That means engaging across media channels not just with sailors but also a broader audience. We need “stars” and we need to evolve how we run racing to make it more engaging to those audiences without compromising what we like about our sport. The ILCA is highly accessible but there is more to be done to engage countries in places like Africa, Oceania and the Caribbean. We certainly need to reduce our carbon footprint in connection with equipment, travel and events to make the sport more sustainable. And we need greater diversity at all levels, not just among sailors but also coaches and officials.

Finally, best of luck to Hannah and Micky. If you are one of thousands of ILCA sailors around the country that can relate directly to their competition as you sail exactly the same boat, please like the post in our FB channel.

Snippets       

Get ready for the summer – Chair’s playlist of three virtual training sessions on Youtube

ILCA UK events

You can enter the ILCA UK Noble Marine Open & National Championships 2024 – WPNSA here

AGM Notice here

The Youth Open event at Royal Lymington YC 27/28th July has sadly been cancelled

Other ILCA events

Over the summer there are many open meetings and Grands Prix all over the country. See our calendar.

Poole Week is popular with many ILCA sailors – more info here and ILCA Big Monday at Parkstone Yacht Club

An opportunity to sail against other ILCA’s at Mersea Week 2024. Whilst the ILCA Nationals take place up to 17th August on 18th August to 23rd August there Mersea Week. The 50th Anniversary. Targeted at our Regional sailors in the East of England there is up to 5 days of racing, all the ILCA classes together, their own start. For entries who wish to participate for a week there is an entry. For those on a tighter budget there is the chance of taking part for three days. Further information is available at  https://merseaweek.org/

RYA British Youth Sailing Team Squad Applications for 2024-25 are now OPEN - Please Click here to apply.  

In addition, for those youths looking for regional racing throughout the season, check out these (none of these are ILCA UK events so for details please see the organisers):

You may be interested in a link to this book by Robin Griffith (not endorsed by ILCA UK) Six Boats: My metamorphosis from dinghy racer to liveaboard cruiser. eBook : Griffith, Robin: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Race reports

Queen Mary Junior Open

ILCA 4 South and South West Regional Junior Championships at the WPNSA

Great experience for ILCA UK sailors at ILCA 4 and 7 Worlds in Viana, Portugal

Sailingfast ILCA Thames Valley Series Grand Prix at Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club

Sailingfast ILCA Thames Valley Series Grand Prix at Queen Mary Sailing Club

ILCA Open at Notts County Sailing Club

 

Read More
Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair Blog #97

Nationals and lots more…..

Lots going on at the moment, our Nationals in August, Skills Week in Plas Heli, recent Women’s Regatta at Rutland and Masters event at WPNSA and lots more.

Let me start with the ILCA UK Open & National Championship at WPNSA. Entries close 5th August 2024 - that's less than a month! We have also held the entry fee until 31st July so the late entry will only apply from 1st August onwards. The team has published this overview of the event.  What’s Included:

  • World Class Racing at Olympic venue

  • Sailor Hub with chillout zone

  • Mentor/Mentee Scheme

  • Briefing on local conditions

  • Welcome Pizza night (meal included in entry)

  • BBQ night  (meal included in entry)

  • Après sailing snack

  • Sponsor technical top t-shirt

  • Evening entertainment every night

  • Race Clinics

  • Photo/Video coverage

  • Event/sponsor merch

  • Full event support

  • Daily Spot Prizes

  • Fantastic daily prize draws with a main prize a brand new Ovington ILCA for your club & much more!

A quick reference to the entry fee. Our aim is to provide a high-quality event  (at last year’s Nationals in our survey overall 93% of respondents felt the organisation was excellent or very good versus, race management was 89% (excellent or very good) and onshore activities was also 93%) and as a result we budget to run the event at a deficit, appreciating the cost to sailors and their supporters of coming to the event.  Also a very significant percentage of the entry fee goes directly to the host venue.

Finally Andrew Simpson Centre at WPNSA are offering a 10% discount to parents / siblings during the Nationals

Our first Women’s regatta was held at the weekend at Rutland and I hear it went down very well. Please see photos on our social media channels.  Thanks to Fiona and her team for organising. We also held another successful Masters event with over 70 entries including 6 in the ILCA4.  ILCA4 report, ILCA6 report, ILCA7 report

Finally the Olympic Regatta starts in two weeks – could you please like our post on FB in support of Hannah and Micky? Racing for ILCAs starts on 1st August.  If you are one of thousands of ILCA sailors around the country that can relate directly to their competition as you sail exactly the same boat, please like the post in our FB channel.

Snippets       

Get ready for the summer – Chair’s playlist of three virtual training sessions on Youtube

ILCA UK events

You can enter the ILCA UK Noble Marine Open & National Championships 2024 – WPNSA here

AGM Notice here

Welsh Championships welcome sailors of all ages on 19/21st July and Youth is invited to sail at the Youth Open event at Royal Lymington YC 27/28th July.

Other ILCA events

Over the summer there are many open meetings and Grands Prix all over the country. See our calendar.

Poole Week is popular with m any ILCA sailors – more info here and ILCA Big Monday at Parkstone Yacht Club

An opportunity to sail against other ILCA’s at Mersea Week 2024. Whilst the ILCA Nationals take place up to 17th August on 18th August to 23rd August there Mersea Week. The 50th Anniversary. Targeted at our Regional sailors in the East of England there is up to 5 days of racing, all the ILCA classes together, their own start. For entries who wish to participate for a week there is an entry. For those on a tighter budget there is the chance of taking part for three days. Further information is available at  https://merseaweek.org/

RYA British Youth Sailing Team Squad Applications for 2024-25 are now OPEN - Please Click here to apply.  

In addition, for those youths looking for regional racing throughout the season, check out these (none of these are UKLA events so for details please see the organisers):

Race reports

Queen Mary Junior Open

ILCA 4 South and South West Regional Junior Championships at the WPNSA

Great experience for ILCA UK sailors at ILCA 4 and 7 Worlds in Viana, Portugal

Sailingfast ILCA Thames Valley Series Grand Prix at Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club

Sailingfast ILCA Thames Valley Series Grand Prix at Queen Mary Sailing Club

ILCA Open at Notts County Sailing Club

 

Read More
Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair Blog #96

Committee volunteers…

John F. Kennedy's inaugural presidential address stressed the importance of public service. His historic words, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” still challenges us to today. Organised sport is not a commercial activity for the most part but relies on volunteers at every level. And ILCA UK is no different.  We are a class association that comes together to organise ILCA activities in the UK. We have around a thousand members, run over 10 National competitions, each processing over 100 entries, provide 1,800 sailor training days per year and have hundreds of sailors aged 13 to 80 competing in international events. And I am not counting club sailing or the hundred or so ILCA open meetings each year organised by clubs. None of this happens, despite our hard-working part-time class secretary Ellie, with support from Leo in the office, without a hoard of volunteers. And it not just the volunteers at events, it is those that plan and organise behind the scenes between events. My sincere thanks as ever to those volunteers.

One thing I am passionate about for ULCA UK is our openness. We welcome sailors for differing experience and ages at our events and there is no “us” and “them”. We don’t select, nor have squads or teams. People often think “oh it’s the Olympic ILCA class, its going to be cut-throat”. Yes it is the most competitive class in the world but for the most part the top sailors will support and encourage those that are less experienced. That’s our culture and we want to protect it.

Of course we don’t always get everything right and there are things to improve. And that’s where we need your help – to keep the class strong and improving.

You will see the notice below of our AGM to (re)elect our new committee. ILCA UK is run by a main committee. There are six Flag Officers (Chair, Vice-Chair, Sailing Sec, Training, Treasurer and Measurer) and up to 11 General Committee roles. There has been a significant shift though away from the Main Committee to Sub-committees to manage the day-to-day activity of the class and this will continue after August. All roles are up for re-election every year so if you are interested, you just need a proposer and seconder in the first instance. Please talk to any current committee member or myself if you want more information.

There are some specific areas we are looking to fill roles on the Main Committee, Sub-committees and others. Please let me know or any committee member know if interested in one of these.

 Main Committee

Master Rep – we have an active Masters sub-committee doing a lot of the work but need a Chair to lead that sub-committee and be the appointed Masters Rep.

Treasurer – we are looking for someone to lead the Finance sub-committee, with the role now divided into 4 key parts. We are also supplementing the role with some paid support (see below and subject to approval).

General committee roles – these roles will also involve active participation on one of the sub-committees.

 Sub-committees

These have delegated authority to make day to day decisions, noted by the main committee. There is no requirement to be a Main Committee member for these roles, nor are they elected at the AGM.

Sailing Sub-committee – we are looking for several people to join this who have experience in organising events and/or race management /safety

Finance Sub-committee – we have four roles to fill on this new sub-committee, each with around 2 to 3 hours per month

Training sub-committee – we are looking for another person to join this sub-committee. No experience of training is required.

Other roles

Welfare / Governance - we have a mini-project to update some of our welfare policies (using RYA model templates) and processes, working alongside our Safeguarding officer, Fiona Attwell.

Social media co-ordinator – co-ordinating a group of younger sailors around Insta and possibly Tik Tok. Role to be defined but flexible.

 Paid role

Bookkeeping role – around 6 hours per month – would possibly suit a student studying business or economics. No formal training is required but some skills is using excel are needed.

Snippets

Get ready for the summer – Chair’s playlist of three virtual training sessions on Youtube

ILCA UK events

You can enter the ILCA UK Noble Marine Open & National Championships 2024 – WPNSA here

AGM Notice here

The next ILCA UK event is the Masters weekend at WPNSA on 6th/7th July. Taking late entries until Tuesday mid-night. 75 entries already included 7 ILCA4s. Why not come and start your program for the Masters Europeans in Hayling Island next June? For those of you considering a return to competitive ILCA sailing after some years at this Masters event, remember you are not expected to perform at the same level as you did as a youth!

After that we also have the Women ILCA Regatta - Rutland Sailing Club on 13th/14th July. If you want to ask more about this, Fiona’s contact details are on the link. She would love to hear from those thinking of transitioning from junior classes and masters and anyone else.

Welsh Championships welcome sailors of all ages on 19/21st July and Youth is invited to sail at the Youth Open event at Royal Lymington YC 27/28th July.

Other ILCA events

RYA British Youth Sailing Team Squad Applications for 2024-25 are now OPEN - Please Click here to apply.

Over the summer there are many open meetings and Grands Prix all over the country. See our calendar.

An opportunity to sail against other ILCA’s at Mersea Week 2024. Whilst the ILCA Nationals take place up to 17th August on 18th August to 23rd August there Mersea Week. The 50th Anniversary. Targeted at our Regional sailors in the East of England there is up to 5 days of racing, all the ILCA classes together, their own start. For entries who wish to participate for a week there is an entry. For those on a tighter budget there is the chance of taking part for three days. Further information is available at  https://merseaweek.org/

In addition, for those youths looking for regional racing throughout the season, check out these (none of these are UKLA events so for details please see the organisers):

Race reports

Cambridgeshire Youth Sailing League at Grafham Water

A busy weekend at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club with the North West Youth and Junior Travellers and a Laser / ILCA Open

UKLA ILCA/Laser Northern Grand Prix

GP at Bristol Corinthian

South area GP series

Read More
Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair Blog #95

summary….

At this time of year, many sailors are getting into the swing of the summer season – club racing, youth weeks, open meetings, Nationals, Skills week and for some international events, so it is probably a good time to write about ILCA sailing in UK and if needed allow you share with others. There is information of the website under each class / rig. For example

We want our class to be inclusive and welcoming to all. That means we have hundreds of youth sailors, masters and club sailors mixing together. We have sailors in the Olympics this summer and we have sailors who will sail just at thair club. Almost all our events are open - we don’t run squads or teams - enabling that inclusive environment.

Club level

Many sailors learn to sail and race ILCAs in their local club or transition from Junior classes to ILCA at their club. Many clubs around the country have a very active ILCA racing fleet.

The clubs are encouraged to develop fleets in all three rigs for all age groups. If you want ILCA training at your club, ask your class captain or organise it yourself. Most clubs love voluntters to step forward to organse sailing activities and it is not as hard ss you think.  ILCA UK can advise on local coaches and if your training is open to non-members, ILCA UK will help you promote it. Also ask your class captain if they are on the ILCA UK Class Captains WhatsApp group.

 Regional level

Some ILCA sailors will want to start venturing further afield. ILCA UK maintain a calendar of open meetings and Grands Prix which are usually open to everyone in all rigs. These regattas help develop your skills in lots of different types of venue and you can decide to do a couple every year or more. Many regions also have youth racing leagues during the summer, often with mixed classes.

ILCA UK run regional training once per month during the winter for all rigs and these are open to all members of ILCA UK. This winter (24/25), the RYA will no longer be running Regional Training Groups for the ILCA4 and ILCA UK have taken over the running of these.

ILCA UK also run an annual skills week during the summer – this year in Pwllheli in July and Weymouth in August (please note these events may be full / waitlist only - please check on website) and sailors transitioning to the ILCA from a junior class may these useful.

National level

ILCA UK run seven Nationals regattas each year and the National Championship (a fun week of good sailing and onshore activities) and these are open to all age groups and rigs, with club sailors encouraged to enter.  In addition we run a number of Masters events (aged 30 and over).

 We also run National training once per month during the winter. In order to ensure you are at the right standard for these, you ask that sailors do a number of Nationals events before this and finish in the top half of the fleet. ILCA UK does not run squads.

The great thing about ILCAs is the number of international events that are open. In addition there are European and World championships in each rig which have restricted numbers. The good news is that we normally get more than enough places for sailors interested. We don’t select teams from these events and regatta support is available through ILCA UK

Snippets

Get ready for the summer – Chair’s playlist of three virtual training sessions on Youtube

ILCA UK events

You can enter the ILCA UK Noble Marine Open & National Championships 2024 – WPNSA here

The next ILCA UK event is the Masters weekend at WPNSA on 6th/7th July. Why not come and start your program for the Masters Europeans in Hayling Island next June? For those of you considering a return to competitive ILCA sailing after some years at this Masters event, remember you are not expected to perform at the same level as you did as a youth!

After that we also have the Women ILCA Regatta - Rutland Sailing Club on 13th/14th July. If you want to ask more about this, Fiona’s contact details are on the link. She would love to hear from those thinking of transitioning from junior classes and masters and anyone else.

Welsh Championships welcome sailors of all ages on 19/21st July and Youth is invited to sail at the Youth Open event at Royal Lymington YC 27/28th July.

Other ILCA events

Over the summer there are many open meetings and Grands Prix all over the country. See our calendar.

In addition, for those youths looking for regional racing throughout the season, check out these (none of these are UKLA events so for details please see the organisers):

Race reports

Cambridgeshire Youth Sailing League at Grafham Water

A busy weekend at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club with the North West Youth and Junior Travellers and a Laser / ILCA Open

UKLA ILCA/Laser Northern Grand Prix

GP at Bristol Corinthian

South area GP series

Read More
Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair blog#94

masters …. and roger

  • Would you like to sail at the London 2012 venue with like-minded masters?

  •  Are you worried that the ILCA6 sail is a bit too big?

  •  Why not come and try an ILCA4 on our Masters event on 6th/7th July at WPNSA with an entry fee of £10?

 Masters sport is growing dramatically, and it is not hard to see why. ILCA Masters sailing is part of that trend with our numbers increasing but we need more of you and we have a rig that suits many sizes – ILCA7, ILCA6 and ILCA4. It keeps us physical active and engaged. Why not join us?

 One of other comment, technically this is a “qualifier” meaning that if places to go to an international event (like the Master Europeans in Hayling in June 2025) are restricted, this would be one of the events used to rank sailors. This doesn’t apply to most sailors, and we encourage all competent club sailors to come to our national Masters events. Of course, if you plan on going to Hayling and want to guarantee a place, you should plan on coming to at least two of our events this year.

I am not a Roger Federer fan but his speech to graduates at Dartmouth University has drawn some attention and certainly has some compelling messages.

#1 winning effortlessly is a myth – he may well have looked effortless, but it is about hard work when no one is watching and the talent you need is grit and discipline

#2 every point needs to be fought for, then move on. He has won 80% of his professional matches but over that time has won just over 50% of his points! Work hard for every shift but don’t sweat missing one. Or improving is not a steady climb

 #3 life is bigger than a tennis court – be a great sportsperson when competing, a great student when studying and a great person in life.

Snippets

Get ready for the summer – Chair’s playlist of three virtual training sessions on Youtube

RYA Pathway Evolution Webinar Series Tuesday 18 June 2024 | 5pm | Online

ILCA UK events

You can enter the ILCA UK Noble Marine Open & National Championships 2024 – WPNSA here

The next ILCA UK event is the Masters weekend at WPNSA on 6th/7th July. Why not come and start your program for the Masters Europeans in Hayling Island next June? For those of you considering a return to competitive ILCA sailing after some years at this Masters event, remember you are not expected to perform at the same level as you did as a youth!

After that we also have the Women ILCA Regatta - Rutland Sailing Club on 13th/14th July. If you want to ask more about this, Fiona’s contact details are on the link. She would love to hear from those thinking of transitioning from junior classes and masters and anyone else.

Welsh Championships welcome sailors of all ages on 19/21st July and Youth is invited to sail at the Youth Open event at Royal Lymington YC 27/28th July.

Other ILCA events

Over the summer there are many open meetings and Grands Prix all over the country. See our calendar.

As some of you will have seen, the RYA Regional Junior championships have been cancelled (please note that the Scottish and Welsh events are unaffected https://www.rya.org.uk/racing/british-youth-sailing/events/regional-junior-championships). I am aware for three replacement regattas (click on venue for details) on 22nd/23rd June for ILCA4s at Queen Mary, WPNSA and Derwent.

In addition, for those youths looking for regional racing throughout the season, check out these (none of these are UKLA events so for details please see the organisers):

Race reports

Cambridgeshire Youth Sailing League at Grafham Water

A busy weekend at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club with the North West Youth and Junior Travellers and a Laser / ILCA Open

UKLA ILCA/Laser Northern Grand Prix

GP at Bristol Corinthian

South area GP series

Read More
Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair Blog #93

Who would not want to sail an ILCA and sailing other boats …..

Firstly a reminder, please send your support to Hannah Snellgrove and Micky Beckett who competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics as part of our ILCA community and are connected to us in ways that many others aren’t. There are thousands of ILCA sailors around the country that can relate directly to their competition as they sail exactly to same boat. That’s why I would like to ask you to send a message of support. We have pinned a post in our FB (I know some of you may not interact with FB but as a volunteer organisation, it allows us to get things going efficiently).

Who would not want to sail an ILCA? Check out this 2min video and send it around your friends and family (young and old). As a younger sailor I am sure this would have been appealing but back then Laser sailors had a reputation as one-trick ponies. This may have been given the fitness and technique needed to succeed in the class.

The ILCA remains a highly tactical boat. With its relatively slow speeds and one design nature, tactics and boat to boat manoeuvring remain a core skill. That’s what we all love. A couple of weeks ago we had 25 ILCAs racing ay Queen Mary on Sunday morning in 4 to 8 knots of very patchy and shifty conditions. Over four laps of two races, the place changes were dramatic - some down to luck and others skill. Many sailors had the chance to get close to the front, not based on technique or fitness but tactics. Of course, these skills are developed and refined as the racing becomes more competitive at national and international level. It is no secret that any ILCA sailor competing regularly in the gold fleet of Worlds and Euros is a highly skilled tactician with skills that are highly transferrable to other classes.

While I don’t think some of those skills will be developed without a focussed approach to ILCA sailing, I also believe there is a benefit to sailing other boats. While most of my sailing was in Laser /ILCAs, I also spent four years team-racing in Firelies at university, a number of years campaigning J24s as well owning and racing Fireballs, 470s and 1720s. In recent years (or decades!) it has been ILCA racing but I have also sailed a Waszp for the four years as alternative therapy. All this experience complements my skills when it comes to ILCA racing.

Today, ILCA racing is the route to professional sailing and many of the top ILCA sailors combine their ILCA racing and training with sailing other boats, anything from J70s to Waszps but also kitesurfing/foiling and wing foiling. Young sailors should always look for opportunities to try new things where they can. This may be borrowing a double-hander for a regatta, trying a wingfoil or even doing some instructing or coaching.  

Snippets

Get ready for the summer – Chair’s playlist of three virtual training sessions on Youtube

RYA Pathway Evolution Webinar Series Tuesday 18 June 2024 | 5pm | Online

ILCA UK events

You can enter the ILCA UK Noble Marine Open & National Championships 2024 – WPNSA here

The next ILCA UK event is the Masters weekend at WPNSA on 6th/7th July. Why not come and start your program for the Masters Europeans in Hayling Island next June? For those of you considering a return to competitive ILCA sailing after some years at this Masters event, remember you are not expected to perform at the same level as you did as a youth!

After that we also have the Women ILCA Regatta - Rutland Sailing Club on 13th/14th July. If you want to ask more about this, Fiona’s contact details are on the link. She would love to hear from those thinking of transitioning from junior classes and masters and anyone else.

Welsh Championships welcome sailors of all ages on 19/21st July and Youth is invited to sail at the Youth Open event at Royal Lymington YC 27/28th July.

Other ILCA events

Over the summer there are many open meetings and Grands Prix all over the country. See our calendar.

As some of you will have seen, the RYA Regional Junior championships have been cancelled (please note that the Scottish and Welsh events are unaffected https://www.rya.org.uk/racing/british-youth-sailing/events/regional-junior-championships). I am aware for three replacement regattas (click on venue for details) on 22nd/23rd June for ILCA4s at Queen Mary, WPNSA and Derwent.

In addition, for those youths looking for regional racing throughout the season, check out these (none of these are UKLA events so for details please see the organisers):

Race reports

*New this week* Cambridgeshire Youth Sailing League at Grafham Water

A busy weekend at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club with the North West Youth and Junior Travellers and a Laser / ILCA Open

UKLA ILCA/Laser Northern Grand Prix

GP at Bristol Corinthian

South area GP series

 

Read More
Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

ILCA UK Chair Blog #92

After a rare week off last Monday, there’s a lot to cover this week including supporting our TeamGB sailors, our new brand, more on the Nationals and my thoughts of race series focus.

Hannah Snellgrove and Micky Beckett competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics are part of our ILCA community and are connected to us in ways that many other aren’t. There are thousands of ILCA sailors around the country that can relate directly to their competition as they sail exactly to same boat. That’s why I would like to ask you to send a message of support. We have pinned a post in our FB and Insta channels.

You will have also seen that we have made the transition from UKLA to ILCA UK, the final stage in the process of moving from Laser to ILCA. ILCA is the international class association of which we are members. While there is a long history associated with the move, which is for another day, we should reflect on the strength our class. It is truly international with world youth events get around 50 countries competing in identical boats. At home, there are 20-year-old Lasers racing with newer ILCAs in almost every club, with a sailor age span 70 years, with those just starting to race all the way through to Hannah and Micky. Over the next couple of weeks, we will complete the branding transition.

Just a follow-up on the Nationals 2024 (of which I mentioned details in my last blog #91) with entries continuing to come in. We are hoping for great event like last year where in our post-event survey 92% of sailors thought the organisation was very good or excellent. On-shore activities also got 92% and the race management 89%. I know the weather makes a big difference, but I also know the team are working hard to put on a great event again. To ensure value for sailors, we do run the event at a significant deficit and even then it is only possible with our great sponsors and time and effort committed by a volunteers.

Finally, on race series focus. In blog #87 I discussed race focus which was all about “in race” approach. But typically, a race series is over many days or a campaign is over a much longer period and maintaining momentum and confidence is critical. As early as blog #4 I said Perhaps the biggest benefit is building resilience through the ups and downs of sporting competition. After all, the essence of sport is winning some and losing some or not knowing the outcome in advance. Our racing has so many factors outside our control like wind, current and other boats and helping and supporting younger sailors build that resilience when results don't match their expectations is key. In my view, building that resilience is a great skill in life.

I said to one of my boys recently that the lowest point of my sailing career came with a big lesson. I had given up working for Apple Computer in Oct 1994 to sail full-time and as you can imagine it was a big decision. I headed off to a training camp in the Med and then in the early New Year headed down the Floride Keys for another one with Chis Gowers and an up and coming Laser sailor called Iain Percy. (Chris told me at the time that Iain would win an Olympic Gold medal which was quite prescient). We all headed then to the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, which back then was one of the top graded regattas along with Hyeres, “Spa” in Medemblik and Kiel Week. For me it was my first Olympic Qualification regatta and I had a really decent result finishing in the middle of the Gold fleet, which I was very happy with. I thought onwards and upwards. A couple of weeks later, I attend the Laser Midwinters East events, which is a U.S. domestic event, probably not even at the standard of one of our Qualifiers, in Sarasota, Florida. One the first day, we had a qualifying series for gold and silver but with light wind we only managed a single race in 5 knots with a big right shift – I was on the left! So, I ended up in the Silver fleet. All I could think, I have given up my job in Apple to sail full-time and here I am in the Silver fleet of this domestic event. I couldn’t get it out of my head.

Afterwards, I decided I need to work with psychologist to improve my resilience (I would not have called myself un-resilient😊). I worked with her mainly on sustaining the right mental state from one race to the next. It became quite useful. After the warning signal of the first race at the 1996 Olympics, I went upwind on starboard to check the latest wind and then bore away back to the start as I looked at my watch. Bang! My bow went through the side of the Fijian sailor’s boat as he came up on starboard. I quickly did a 720 and then looked across at the Fijian Laser barely floating with its deck awash. I knew the 720 was probably pointless as that evening I sat in the jury room with Bryan Willis as Chair. With some empathy he read out the rule which said I should be disqualified because of the serious damage. The Fijian sailor, who showed real class in the hearing got his “average” points although in fact he was given one place better than his afternoon race in the replacement boat which turned out to be his second-best finishing place of the regatta.

With my resilience training, I was quite neutral about this. After all, although it was 100% my fault, it was really just a bit of bad luck. Next morning, I won Race 3. 

Snippets

Get ready for the summer – Chair’s playlist of three virtual training sessions on Youtube

ILCA UK events

You can enter the ILCA UK Noble Marine Open & National Championships 2024 – WPNSA here

The next ILCA UK event is the Masters weekend at WPNSA on 6th/7th July. Why not come and start your program for the Masters Europeans in Hayling Island next June? For those of you considering a return to competitive ILCA sailing after some years at this Masters event, remember you are not expected to perform at the same level as you did as a youth!

After that we also have the Women ILCA Regatta - Rutland Sailing Club on 13th/14th July. If you want to ask more about this, Fiona’s contact details are on the link. She would love to hear from those thinking of transitioning from junior classes and masters and anyone else.

Welsh Championships welcome sailors of all ages on 19/21st July and Youth is invited to sail at the Youth Open event at Royal Lymington YC 27/28th July.

Other ILCA events

Over the summer there are many open meetings and Grands Prix all over the country. See our calendar.

As some of you will have seen, the RYA Regional Junior championships have been cancelled. I am aware for three replacement regattas (click on venue for details) on 22nd/23rd June for ILCA4s at Queen Mary, WPNSA and Derwent.

In addition, for those youths looking for regional racing throughout the season, check out these (none of these are UKLA events so for details please see the organisers):

Race reports

A busy weekend at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club with the North West Youth and Junior Travellers and a Laser / ILCA Open

UKLA ILCA/Laser Northern Grand Prix

GP at Bristol Corinthian

South area GP series

 

Read More
Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

UKLA Chair Blog # 91

Nationals…..

UKLA Noble Marine Open & National Championships 2024 – WPNSA and other events

The Nationals takes place from 12th to 17th August and is based on the model promoted by Tony Woods as a “festival of ILCA sailing”. We aim to provide high-quality racing for sailors with a wide range of experience combined with onshore activities and socials. WPNSA was of course home to the 2012 Olympic sailing events, and we will be aiming to sail as much as possible in Weymouth Bay (weather dependent) with two racecourses. And with six days of racing, we schedule two races a day rather than three, allowing slightly later starts and more flexibility around the weather. As usual we will have three fleets with a mixture of club sailors all the way through to British Saling Team sailors, youths and masters. ILCA4 will be around 40% young women and is open to masters and is particularly attractive to sailors transitioning from other junior classes or just coming to sail as a “one-off”.

Ashore there will be daily talks from top ILCA sailors and a daily prize draw (that includes a brand new Ovington on one day – details nearer to the time). Included are two meals – a “pizza night” and a BBQ and DJ on the penultimate night with social events on each of the other evenings. We value regatta mentoring and will match up all sailors that sign up with an experienced sailor in their fleet, be it for their first Nationals, first sea event, first regatta in a new rig or for some top tips to improve.

I would like to say something about the entry fee which we have to raise this year. We try very hard to keep the entry fee as low as possible but the cost of the running the event is driven primarily by the host venues’ charges and like many things, they have all seen higher costs. We continue to have great support from our sponsors but even where most of the work is done by volunteers, we still run the event at a significant loss.

This year we will build on the sponsor hub we had at Hayling Island. Tideway Wealth have come in as a significant sponsor and will host our 'welcome day' and free pizza night. They say:

Tideway offers tailored wealth management and financial planning to individuals seeking to invest their savings wisely and grow their wealth. James Baxter, an avid racing sailor, founded Tideway in 2009 and since than Tideway has focussed ensuring that all of their clients receive the same passionate attention to retaining and growing their capital so they can live independently and pass wealth to their next generation. With an ethos of an active lifestyle and enjoying retirement, Tideway is honoured to sponsor the UKLA Open National Championships 2024.

Alongside Tideway Wealth, Rooster, Ovington, Sailingfast, Noble Marine and Southeast Sailboats return to the hub this year and continue as class sponsors. Each of the sponsor will host one of the days providing prizes and evening entertainment: Day1 - Tideway Wealth, Day 2 - Sailingfast, Day 3 - Rooster, Day 4 - Southeast Sailboats / Noble Marine, Day 5 - Ovington Boats, Day 6 Prize Giving.

Our sponsors provide significant cash and product benefit to the class in exchange for the promotion of their products and services. The more support you can give them, the better for the class.

 I hope to see many of you there.

 You can enter the UKLA Noble Marine Open & National Championships 2024 – WPNSA below.

 The next UKLA event is the Masters weekend at WPNSA on 6th/7th July. Why not come and start your program for the Masters Europeans in Hayling Island next June? For those of you considering a return to competitive ILCA sailing after some years at this Masters event, remember you are not expected to perform at the same level as you did as a youth!

 After that we also have the Women ILCA Regatta - Rutland Sailing Club on 13th/14th July. If you want to ask more about this, Fiona’s contact details are on the link. She would love to hear from those thinking of transitioning from junior classes and masters and anyone else.

Over the next 6 weeks, I count almost 30 open meetings and Grands Prix all over the country. See our calendar.

As some of you will have seen, the RYA Regional Junior championships have been cancelled. I am aware for two replacement regattas on 22nd/23rd June for ILCA4s at WPNSA and Derwent. In addition, for those youths looking for regional racing throughout the season, check out these (none of these are UKLA events so for details please see the organisers):

 

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

UKLA Chair Blog #90

PREMIER LEAGUE COMPARSION …

In 1990 I lived in San Francisco for the year and I was amazed by being able to go to watch the San Francisco Giants baseball team. Having grown up in Ireland in the eighties, there was virtually no professional sport with GAA and rugby both being strictly amateur. So getting a bus out to Candlestick Park on a Tuesday evening to see these pros I thought was a super experience. And it wasn’t just the game, it was the pre and post match coverage, mainly in newspapers in those days – who was our best pitcher, who would start in that role tonight, who would close out the game? There was just a great hype around the whole thing.

Back in Islington in1996, I started going to some football games, mainly Arsenal at Highbury and so when they moved to a new stadium a mere 20 minute walk from our house, I signed up on a waiting list of over 20,000 with little hope. But then Islington Council did an amazing thing – part of the planning permission was that half the new season tickets had to go to Islington residents and suddenly I had two season tickets. It brought me back to my SF days watching great professional footballers (mostly no longer English let alone local) but it also had community feel. It is extraordinary to leave the house and to be joined by more and more locals as you pass each street until it is a throng on the street to the stadium.

Now as we reach the finale of the Premier League season, I am drawn to some parallels with ILCA sailing at the top end. It is not an obvious connection and as you will know, football is usually not talked about much in the sailing community but there are many hidden fans. Winning the Premier League requires sustained performance over nine months, producing top performances, week in and week out. A twelve race ILCA regatta over 6 days is not dissimilar as it requires a top performance in each race but consistency as well – a couple of bad races knocks you out of contention. “Form” or confidence is also a major factor in winning the league, building momentum and perhaps more importantly recovering from an unexpected loss. It is the same in sailing, an under par performance needs to be set aside the same day or in the following days. Psychology is critical in both sports. Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, has a mantra around “taking each game in turn” and “managing the stuff we can control and avoiding the stuff we can’t”. It is the same in a race series, as avid readers of this blog will know, take each race in turn (the first race has the same points as the last race) and don’t sweat too much over the result, but rather performance as after all we can’t control elements outside our control (an unlucky shift) and even the superlative performance of another sailor.

Of course, the similarities between professional football and ILCA sailing have narrowed dramatically in some ways. Now top sailors are “pros”, they compete and train full-time with support teams that include technical coaches but also fitness coaches, psychologists, physiotherapists and meteorologists. I started to see this change in the run up to the 1996 Olympic Games where many of the Laser sailors were full-time with elements of this support. Post 1996 in the UK, National Lottery money has allowed “world class programs” to emerge in most sports, providing a framework of support but also decent payments to elite athletes and sailors. As an aside, there remains an massive funding gap in almost every Olympic sport between younger athletes with the desire and attitude to take it to the top and those at the top). Sailing has now developed to the point where it is possible to make a living as a professional sailor or coach outside the Olympic environment if that’s what you want.

Many of our Pro ILCA sailors compete regularly in UKLA events and give something back to the sport through coaching and lectures. As I have said many times, we are lucky to be able to line up alongside these sailors from time to time as it is unlikely I will be playing football with any Arsenal players any time soon.

Snippets

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

UKLA Chair Blog #89

Masters in July

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

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

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

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

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

UKLA Chair Blog #88

winter training plans …..

Update on Winter Training Plans 2024/25

I know with the cold weather it seems strange to be discussing training plans for next winter, but with changes to the RYA Pathway coming down the line, I thought it worth sharing some of the principles.

UKLA ILCA4 RTGs with support of RYA

As you know for many years the RYA have run Regional Training Groups (RTGs) for the ILCA4s but as part of the Pathway Review they have decided not the run these from 2025/26 onwards. I am pleased to announce that with the support of the RYA, UKLA will run RTGs this coming winter. The plan is to run four regional weekends (in each of the three regions) and two “joint” weekends (ideally one on south coast and one in Midlands) starting in October and running through to March.

We plan for these RTGs to cater for a wide group of sailors including both those moving beyond club racing and those more experienced National racers. These will be open to U18 sailors. Like RTGs, sailors will need to commit to the full program. While we are finalising dates and venues, the plan is to go to clubs that can provide the resources to cater for our numbers (including ILCA6s).

 UKLA ILCA6 Open Regional training

Our plan is the run these alongside the ILCA4 RTGs above in the same venues and on the same dates. The booking process will be the same as currently.

 ILCA4 and ILCA6 National training

UKLA will continue to run National training during the winter, complementing our Regional training. Venues and dates are being finalised as are the specifics of qualification. However qualification will continue to be based on our events – the Nationals and the autumn qualifiers.

 ILCA7 U23 training

The feedback on this was very positive and it is our intention to run again this winter ideally in co-ordination with RYA

 Club Training

As I have mentioned before we want to promote club training and have started a coach register (please register if you are a coach) with the aim of providing members with access to coaches for this. We will also put training in our calendar if it open to non-club members - just let us know.

A bit of a plug for Weir Wood SC and Royal Lymington YC who have training scheduled in our calendar. There is also training in Plas Heli.

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

UKLA Chair Blog # 87

Race focus…..

A couple of weeks ago I watched Emma Raducanu come from a set down against France's Diane Parry to secure Great Britain's place in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. The final couple of games were tense as she had a 5-2 lead in the final set and had two match points on her own serve, only for the French woman to come back to 6-6 and bring the match to a tie break. Raducanu won that convincingly and it was reported “she held her nerve”.  It is a nice turn of phrase, but it is much more likely she kept her focus through many hours of mental preparation. All top sportspeople practice this – Michael Johnson (for younger readers, a sprinter who won four Olympic gold medals and held the world record in the 200m and 400m) says he has run world class 200 metres races thousands of times – in his mind.

Maintaining the right mental focus before and during races is critical. 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. Results come from a performance that has its basis in focussing on doing the right thing and maintaining proven procedures.

In Race 7 at the 2018 Master Worlds I lost focus. 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 would have been 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. I bowed to irrational behaviour and as a result lost ground. Luckily, I recognised the behaviour soon enough, but it was a timely reminder to avoid that type of thinking for the remainder of the regatta.

Sailing strategy and tactics is not governed by rules that result in defined outcomes, but more about positioning that improves your chances and limits risks. As soon as I start to think that I can predict the outcome, I’m dead. I remember losing a J24 National Championship on the last leg of the last race with this behaviour. Well ahead of our nearest championship competitor and closer to the favoured left side of the course, we thought we were in full control of the conditions and the race. As we headed back towards the centre of course with our competitor, another boat approached on starboard and we had to decide whether to “duck” them and perhaps lose a couple of boat lengths or tack back out left away from our rival for the championship. We choose the latter, after all the left was favoured and we knew best. Shortly afterwards the wind started to back further through 120 degrees and we lost both the race and the championship.

Conditions are unpredictable and one needs to sail like they are.  Don’t do the obviously wrong thing. Doing the right thing often comes from experience and from practice but I do three things that help re-enforce the lessons learnt and ensure that mistakes are not made time and time again.

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.

The second is to talk to myself (sometimes out loud) and keep reminding myself what to do the “normal” or “routine” way. Under pressure one must perform the same routine in the same way. These are moments in which to do things the same way as normal because pressure has a habit of making you think a poor decision, is rational, rather than irrational.

My third technique to keep focus and avoid getting distracted, is to use the words “focus on next steps”. I use this anytime I feel my thoughts are starting to get distracted by events around me. When there is lots going on in a race and lots of scenarios, it is easy to think too far ahead rather than the next step.

These types of technique allow performances to be almost subconscious, despite distractions and immense pressure. And it is probable that in this way, Emma Raducanu closed out on her win.

Snippets

If you are a coach and would like to be part of the coaching team across the country, please register your details with us through a short form

Shustoke SC ILCA Midland Grand Prix, sponsored by Sailingfast.

Women ILCA Regatta - 12-14th July - entry open

Sailingfast Welsh ILCA Championships - 19-21st July - entry open

Last Chance for 2024 Olympic Qualification

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Mark Lyttle Mark Lyttle

UKLA Chair Blog # 86

ILCA4….

Are you thinking of transitioning this summer from an Optimist, Tera or Topper or do you know someone who might be interested?  The ILCA4 may be the boat for you! It is the smallest rig of the ILCA boat that is seen in clubs around the country and it is easy to sail for those coming from Junior classes as well as having an active racing and training circuit.

The UKLA is offering three easy options to help with transitioning.

Firstly our Skills Weeks in July in Plas Heli and August in WPNSA. While the latter sold in 30 minutes, we have held back places for those transitioning from other classes. There is much more information in UKLA Chair Blog # 85.

Secondly there is Women’s ILCA Regatta at Rutland Sailing Club on 13/14 July. The ILCA4 is almost 40% young women, so why not come and join them? We can help you source a rig (see details on the website)

Thirdly, the UKLA National Championships is a festival of sailing with brilliant racing in Weymouth and with only two races a day, time for socialising, race clinics, a mentor/mentee scheme and daily prize draws.

As the ILCA4 is the same boat as other ILCAs (or Lasers as they were known), getting hold of a second-hand boat is easy and relatively cheap compared to other classes. This winter we will have a regional training program over 6 weekends and 6 national events as well as the Nationals.

The other great thing about the ILCA4 is that there are loads of international events in Europe that can be combined with a family holiday. There is a European and World Championship each year, and almost every year every GBR sailor who wants to attend is able to get a place – that meant 25 GBR sailors were amongst 436 sailors from 50 countries at the Worlds in Greece. While it is competitive it is also a unique experience for young sailors!

There will lots for information on our website including:

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