UKLA National Championships at the WPNSA - Radial ILCA6 Fleet day 2
by Ben Elvin 29 Aug 2020 07:07 BST
27-29 August 2020
It was a fine but chilly morning that greeted the 97 ILCA 6 sailors for day two of the UKLA Nationals, colder than expected for August, but the sunshine was doing its best to make up for it. The fleet launched with a 12-15 knot westerly, which was forecast to flick around a bit to make things interesting.
In race 1 for the yellow fleet, it was a fairly pin biased line following a left shift when in sequence, with the majority deciding to tack immediately after the start. Tokyo 2021Olympic representative Ali Young got a good start from the final third of the line and punched out towards the right from under the bunch. It was a case of staying on the lifted tack rather than hitting one side or the other, and Ben Elvin used it to his advantage to recover from a less than perfect mid line start and punch his way through on a nice left shift to reach the windward mark first. Young inched her way past Elvin on the run, and then covered well on the second beat to take the win, with Elvin second and a battle for third being taken by Youth World Champion Matilda Nicholls.
In the red fleet it was Hannah Snellgrove showing people how it's done once again, turning a solid pin end start into a lead at the top, closely followed by youth sailor Arthur Farley who found a nice patch of pressure to pull things back at the top of the beat and Jon Emmett following around in third. Jon made his move on the downwind to nearly catch Hannah at the bottom gate, where they split to the left and right hand sides for the slog back upwind. Whilst it didn't look too great for a while, he pulled it back and finished the race in third behind Arthur and Hannah, who took the win.
Race 2 started in very similar conditions to race 1, but this time it was Stokes Bay's Chloe Barr who nailed the start, first pinching out Ben Elvin, then stopping a roll from Ali Young who also had to tack off, and then following it up by rolling former Olympian Paul Brotherton. It was a Stokes Bay 1,2,3 at the top mark with Barr, Elvin and youth sailor Shotaro Kikkawa, who was firmly in Young's sights. By the bottom gate Young had caught Elvin, but not Barr and a tactical battle ensued up the second beat with all three arriving together at the top, with Elvin securing a narrow lead. It wasn't to last however, as Young eventually snuck past to take the win once again, followed by Elvin and then Barr.
The red fleet had a left shift at the start, which put a large pin bias on the line. Hannah Snellgrove took advantage once again, and took the shift across the fleet with Daisy Collingridge in pursuit. After the downwind Snellgrovehooked into the shifts well to extend her lead, followed by Collingridge and then Welsh sailor Kai Wolgram who came in strongly from the right to take third by the finish.
On to race three and things weren't so simple any more. A band of pressure was moving in from the right and the resulting persistent shift was the most important factor. It had been spotted by Matilda Nicholls and Finlay Dickinson, who started towards the boat end and set off towards the right hand side, but only managed to take second and third respectively as Young managed to get her bow out from the middle of the line and tack over, and eventually took the win. A clean sweep of all three races for Young, who leads into the final day with a two point buffer.
Back in the red fleet it was Arthur Farley's turn to shine, after a punchy mid-line start he was narrowly beaten to the top mark by Kai Wolgram, followed by a large chasing pack. Snellgrove and Drew Barnes hooked into some pressure on the left downwind to break free, but despite her best efforts by the end of the race Farley still held a slender lead and took the win. Barnes made some gains on the second downwind to take third place from Wolgram.
Saturday brings the final day's racing, and yet another change of conditions. The forecast says strong northerly winds which should lead to some big shifts, patchy pressure and tough tactical decisions. The points are close at the top so there could be some changes!
Masters Roundup
The great thing about the ILCA 6 fleet is the diverse range of sailors who take part of it, and this includes a strong contingent of masters sailors who have been pitting themselves against the youths, seniors, and pro's of the British Sailing Team. It's a tough place to be at times, with a fair number of the sailors in the fleet doing it as a full time job, but the fun and close racing and the chance to pit yourself against the current top talent as well as those who are up and coming does enough to attract a good number of the master's sailors out from the safety of their own circuit to join the madness.
Ignoring the likes of Ben Elvin and Jon Emmett, who still do the bulk of their competition on the senior circuit and get mentioned elsewhere, there have been some moments of glory. Rob Cage (our UKLA Chairman) has been quietly building a solid series with some results in the low teens and is currently first Grand Master in front of Jimmy Carter. In yellow fleet race 6, he would have been first master on the course in front of Ben Elvin if it hadn't been for Ben being gifted an opening from another sailor's boat on boat tactics at the final mark (they obviously hadn't realised what was at stake!).
This event also sees a welcome return to the fleet by Ian Gregory, who's been getting back into the swing of things and has seen improving scores with every race.
Let's not forget to mention Paul Brotherton, who brings a wealth of sailing experience that the younger sailors couldn't begin to imagine. It's the first time he's been seen down south sailing an ILCA 6, and hopefully it won't be the last. He currently sits as 1st Master in front of Ian.
Results so far can be found here.
Day 2 Interviews:
Chloe Barr
Matilda Nicholls