ILCA Qualifiers 2023 report - By Charlie South
Published 16:48 on 5 Apr 2023
The weekends of March (4th (Stokes Bay), 18th & 25th (Weymouth)) meant ILCA Qualifiers. The qualifiers are the ILCA UK Open events that rank competitors for entry into the International Regattas such as the senior & U21 Europeans and Worlds as well as indicators for the GB sailing squads. Having joined the Royal Navy in September and completed basic training and settling into Collingwood my time in the boat was limited to ½ a dozen sails since September! However I arrived at Stokes Bay fitter than I've ever been and also now a definite heavy weight!
As Stokes well known to me, I'd hoped to pop in a good performance for my return but the Wind Gods had other ideas! With a light Northerly all weekend and a strong tide it was always going to be a challenging weekend of head out of the boat racing. I was definitely rusty but took some great positives. My starts improved and race 6 saw me leading up the 1st beat before it all went pear-shaped at the windward mark and picking up a yellow flag on the next downhill for perceived illegal propulsion by the jury boat - I ended up 22nd overall.
If anyone is ever racing at Stokes, Steve Cockerill describes brilliantly the challenges and what to do about it in his write up for the ILCA 6's: https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/259425/Noble-Marine-Rooster-Spring-ILCA-6-Qualifier-1
Next stop was our first trip to Weymouth The long range forecast was promising "Dogs off Chains" and a chance for the heavier sailors to use the toe strap at last Again the Wind Gods had other ideas and we were greeted with another day of light shifting winds. The prescribed wisdom at Weymouth is ALWAYS go left except when you need to go right!
If anyone ever races out of the Portland Academy at Weymouth this link should take you to a really useful guide on the venue by Jim Saltonstall https://welshsailingevents.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Weymouth-Bay.doc
I started OK scoring an 8th though poor downwind speed was evident as I was swallowed up by the peloton - A theme for the day alongside another yellow flag. Day two dawned accompanied with white horses at last Time to use the toe strap! The theme for this day was definitely going to be working the shifts! I took the pin end, popped the bow down and worked the shifts up the left, pulling into the windward mark with a narrow lead again downhill I struggled but held the 3rd swapping loses downwind for gains up. The breeze settled to a nice 12-14knts for the final two races and I was really pleased with the day, scoring 3-4-2 to haul myself up the score sheet (to 6th overall). My determination to keep going after day 1 and working the starts really paid off. Again the long range forecast for the following weekend was looking like the Dogs would definitely be off their leads Fingers were crossed!!
My last ILCA Qualifier and we were back at Weymouth - The Wind Gods had done their bit It was going to be sketchy! 25 30knts! Two races were scheduled for the day and I was ready to give it beans! However my pre-start was a little too enthusiastic arriving at the pin end with too many seconds left till Go Time and Sam Whaley (Olympic representative hopeful) breathing down my neck needless to say in the near gale force conditions I'd miss judged it and watched the fleet disappear upwind as I sat upside down and entangled on top of the pin end boat nice.
After a stern word with myself and penalty turns, I leant into the challenge and followed in hot pursuit After one of the windiest and toughest races I was very pleased to actually finish and then to be 10th was a real bonus. Race two was held in similar conditions and after the embarrassment of the pin end debacle race 1, I decided discretion would be best and hid away at the committee boat end definitely not the right spot but saved awkward exchanges with the RIB crew and gave me an excellent clean lane! With so much energy expended race 1 and the gusts hitting 30knts +, a 7th was respectable.
Sunday dawned with one hour less in bed and No Wind! We were held ashore to allow for the breeze to come back with it switching around, filling in and fading away between 5 and 15knts. Pre-Start I'd spotted the breeze on the right coming and after a great start and with the fleet committed to the favoured left I broke right and went for the breeze. This proved a moment of tactical genius (that could have gone the other way!) as I peeled around the windward mark 2nd and rapidly dispatched the then 1st place boat to take the win! Race two and the breeze was up and down again but a solid start and good choices on the shifts landed me in the leading pack where we extended on the peloton crossing the line a comfortable 4th moved up to 3rd as Sam was over the line at the start. If the day could have ended there it would have been an amazing end to my ILCA sailing but with a dropping breeze the race officer squeezed in one last race let's not talk about that one! All in all over the moon with a result of 5th overall and 1st under 21 for my last qualifier in an ILCA!
So that's a wrap! Qualifiers completed for me as the time has come to move my ILCA on to a good home and move up to the next step. After 7 years of ILCA racing through 6's into 7's it's been fantastic fun, racing hard, travelling, meeting and making friends but it's time to put all I've learnt on to a single trapeze string and hang out with the Musto Skiff Clan!
Charlie South
