ILCA 4 UK Nationals at the WPNSA
by UKLA 31 Aug 2021 07:46 PDT
14-18 August 2021
Prize winners in the UKLA UK National Championships for ILCA 4 © UKLA
Being the UKLA's 50th anniversary and immediately adjacent to the ILCA 4 World Championships which were held in Ireland, the event was larger than recent years and with a number of overseas sailors participating.
With a total of 88 sailors, 2 flights, red and yellow, were made with 44 boats in each. Launching to music, the sailors sailed out to the harbour in high spirits - many wearing newly acquired @Vaikobi kit, many more with control lines by @Southeast sailboats, even more with everything else from @Sailingfast... and, for the lucky ones, new @Ovington boats.
Day 1 brought strong winds, testing the sailors immediately. In the red flight, Antonio Pascali (ITA) battled with Max Steele (GBR), with Antonio winning the first two races and Max the third. In the yellow fleet, Audrey Foley (USA) battled with Belgium's Boris de Wilde, with Audrey winning the first race, and Boris the next two. What about the rest of the fleet? We saw some great racing with hard hiking and even splits at the gate. They returned back to the committee boat with huge grins and enthusiasm for the next.
The evening saw the creation of the new ILCA-4 buddies whatsapp group, which provides a forum for the more experienced sailors to help and advise newer sailors to the fleet.
Day 2 also brought strong winds averaging 16 - 20 knots rising to 24 knots as the final racers finished. As the sun shone it was described as "champagne sailing but maybe at the upper end"! In the red fleet, Antonio continued his good form from the previous day taking 3 bullets in the 3 races of the day, with Audrey 2nd in all three races. In the yellow fleet, Max battled with Boris - with Boris taking 2 wins. The breeze picked up notably at the end, with some tired sailors capsizing on the way home, some even in the marina. Back on shore smiles returned and once changed the sailors were soon back on the table tennis table and having much fun in the boat park ahead of the 50th Anniversary gala dinner that evening.
The winds were forecast to drop to a more comfortable 12-15knots for Day 3, which would have been a welcome relief for many sailors, however for the ILCA-4's, sailing started early and the drop in winds was later than expected. The final day flights were separated into gold and silver based on previous results which brought the final chance for some sailors to test their metal against others. Starts were done under the U flag and were clean. Antonio was first to the finish in Race 1, with Boris winning the final race in the regatta.
Overall Results:
OPEN Boys
Antonio Pascale ITA
Boris de Wilde BEL
Max Steele GBR
OPEN Girls
Audrey Foley USA
Charlotte Webster CAY
Arwen Fflur GBR
GBR NATIONALS Boys
Max Steele
Henry Redmond
Archie Burton
GBR NATIONALS Girls
Arwen Fflur
Mogen Palmer
Megan Thompson
Antonio and Boris also take first and second place in the boys U16 Open category, with Hong Kong's Wai Check Sui in third place. Archie Burton, Noah Evans and Edwin Cross placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd amongst the GBR nationals.
USA's Audrey Foley also won the girls U16 Open category, with GBR's Arwen Fflur second in the U16 girls Open category (first GBR), and Imogen Palmer third overall (2nd GBR). Megan Thomson was third placed GBR U16 female.
Henry Smith took 1st place in the Silver Fleet.
Congratulations go to Antonio Pascali for winning the overall event, to Max Steele as the new UK ILCA4 National Champion, and to Archie Burton as the U16 GBR boys national champion. Congratulations also to Audrey Foley who wins the female category, and to Arwen Flur as the new UK ILCA4 Girls National Champion.
Full results can be found here...
Huge thanks must go to the Race and Safety Teams lead by Paul Kimmel the Race Officer. There were clean starts, even gates and races finishing within the calculated times. One race finished within 7 seconds of the 50 minute target time. This highlighted the professional manner in which the races were organised. This was a huge undertaking with a Regatta bigger than the sailing at the Olympics and could only have happened with the help of all the volunteers.
For many sailors, this was their first experience of a ILCA Nationals. Blessed with great wind, optimal race conditions and an action packed schedule in the evenings, with quizzes, prize draws, hiking competitions, table tennis, a new buddy system and to top it off the 50th anniversary Gala dinner with sailing legends including Iain Percy and our current Olympian Elliot Hanson, this was a Nationals they won't forget in a hurry. My bet is that they will be back again next year. Until then they will be full of tales and may have sore legs for a while.
A huge THANK YOU to our sponsors:
Sailingfast - Duncan brings his battle buss down from Scotland for most the big events, which is so ridiculously well equipped, you could replace everything on your boat. Although based in Scotland they will get anything to you super fast. He also supplied many of the prizes for the draw on Saturday evening. sailingfast.co.uk
SouthEast Sailboats - Max brings bespoke quality at affordable prices to the class. His passion for detail has made his products a must have for anyone who wants quality. He also supplied many great prizes for the event. southeastsailboats.co.uk
Ovington Boats - Chris Turner lives dinghies and has been a significance presence in the boat building world for decades. OB are now the official UK builders of ILCAs. A very smart new Ovington ILCA Dinghy was on display at the Masters event. www.ovingtonboats.com
Vaikobi - a brand born on the waters of Sydney Harbour, out of a passion for all ocean sports. Across the team, we paddle, Surfski, SUP, Wing Foil and Sail. Sailing has been a passion within the business right from the start. The senior management team at Vaikobi comprise more than fifty years of marine industry and sailing experience between them. www.vaikobi.com
Noble Marine - Ian MacManus (the man behind the name) has crafted a very competitive and excellent insurance product for all Laser/ILCA sailors. A very personal service and a extremely useful website help make this the 'go to' company. www.noblemarine.co.uk
Fernhurst Books - Jeremy Atkins has put together an incredible list of the most useful dinghy racing books. If you have books on racing you've probably got at least one Fernhurst book. fernhurstbooks.com