ILCA 4 National Championship at Hayling Island Sailing Club - Overall

2022 ILCA Nationals at Hayling Island prize giving - ILCA 4 - 1st Henry Redmond, 2nd Freddie Sunderland, 3rd Fred Salter © Georgie Altham

The ILCA 4 Nationals kicked off with a light wind day of sailing. This is not my strong point, however I have been slowly improving in the light wind conditions throughout the year. This strength of wind saw more of the technical sailors prevail and come to the top.

With tide being a huge factor on Day 1, it made the top mark brutal. There were plenty of positions lost from people who under-layed the mark and were pushed down due to the strong tide. Noah Evans and Alex Cogan-Sivarajan took first and second place respectively, as they sailed off into the distance from the rest of the fleet. Tom Hakes showed promise in race 1 too, being just 14 years old and fairly new to the fleet, he sailed over the finish line in third place.

Race 2 saw much similar conditions with Daniel Kin Ching Cha from HKG taking a bullet and another great performance from Alex coming in second. In yellow fleet, Freddie Sunderland took two bullets from the days racing, putting him into first place overall, by 2 points to Noah Evans.

At the end of day 1 (Southeast Sailboats Day), I was sitting in eighth place, trailing by 9 points. I was comfortable with my results as I knew I was able to improve as the wind was forecast to build in the middle of the week.

2022 ILCA Nationals at Hayling Island - photo © Georgie Altham

Race day 2 (Vaikobi Day) saw us launch and sail out to Hayling Bay for what was going to be a good days racing in a moderate breeze. However, as soon as we reached the race course, the wind dropped completely and showed 0 knots on the weather stations. After a short wait, the race committee made the decision to put AP over H. We all returned to shore to wait for more information.

Eventually the day was abandoned allowing the ILCA 4 sailors to go for a swim in the strong tide we had sailed in hours before.

2022 ILCA Nationals at Hayling Island - photo © Georgie Altham

Day 3 (SailingFast Day) was looking nice on the weather forecast showing around 13 knots, gusting upwards of 18 knots. This was a promising day for me as I'm more of a physical sailor, preferring stronger winds. We got out to the race course and the wind was up, and I was ready. The heavier sailors I think were all excited for a 4 race day.

Race 1 started with sailors you'd expect to get off the start line first, with Robin Phipps and I starting pin, along with Freddie Sunderland further up the line, and Alfie Noel and Max Steele further towards the committee boat. Robin managed to cross the fleet on port, putting him into a good position for the first beat. Coming into the top mark, I could see Max Steele powering in from the right of the course, as I approached in from the left. I knew it was vital to beat him to the mark as he is a very strong sailor and hard to overtake once in the lead.

Thankfully I made it to the mark before Max and managed to hold the lead for the rest of the race. The rest of the day saw me take three more bullets to take a clean sweep of four wins on the day. This would become vital for deciding the overall results at the end of the week. Notable performances came from Alfie Noel who finished the day with a second, and had 3 other strong races.

Freddie Sunderland also managed to have a good day, getting four top ten results, three of which were top fives too!

2022 ILCA Nationals at Hayling Island - photo © Georgie Altham

Day 4 (Ovington Boats Day) saw a light breeze forecast, however the trend of the week followed and it was slightly more than forecast, with the wind picking up at points to around 11 knots.

With the first race of the day looking good for Max Steele and Freddie Sunderland, they sailed the fleet to the top mark in first and second place respectively. However, the top mark they rounded, was not the correct mark...

Unfortunately, they sailed to the International Canoe course as they were in "the zone" to stay ahead of one another. This saw a lot of the top sailors come in the high 30s for this race, and gave some of the less experienced sailors a chance of a good result. This race saw Ben Anderson from Gurnard SC sail through the finish line first, with Toby Bush in second and Jacoby Keegan in third.

Although Freddie, Max and Noah may all have used their discard in this race, I also used my discard with UFD restricting me from pushing the line for the rest of the event.

Race 2 saw some new names come to the top with Peter Jossop from HKG and Angus Beale showing good performances winning the race in their respective flights; Freddie and I also took second in our respective fleets, with Toby Smith and Samson Cross taking third. Henry Keegan won the days racing with a first and seventh, helping him win on countback for the daily prize-giving.

2022 ILCA Nationals at Hayling Island - photo © Georgie Altham

Going into day 5, I had a 6 point lead on Freddie, who had an 8 point lead on third. With a larger point gap to the rest of the fleet, the top three sailors were keen to race to compete for the championship. You could tell there was some tension in the air, each and every sailor ready to race.

Max Steele, Millie Lewis and Noah Evans all had a great start down towards the pin end, initially putting them out in front. The top mark saw the early leaders coming in from the left side of the course, due to less tide, more wind, and a lift because of gain features. Freddie rounded the top mark first, putting him in a good position to lead the race and possibly win the title.

However, Max Steele sailed fast on the second beat, beating Freddie to the second windward mark to take first place. Many familiar faces finished well in the final race of the nationals, however a notable performance was sailed by Tom Moss, getting his best result of the week, tenth place.

2022 ILCA Nationals at Hayling Island - photo © Georgie Altham

The national championships finished how it started, with Freddie and myself on the same points. However, the championship was decided in countback, with myself becoming ILCA 4 open and national champion; Freddie Sunderland in second, and U16 open and national champion, with Fred Salter third and Millie Lewis first girl.

I had a great time at my last UK ILCA 4 event, reaching one of my long term aims I set for myself a few years back. Now looking forward to battling it out with the ILCA 6s in September qualifiers.

Sponsored by: Ovington boats, Sailingfast, Vaikobi, Southeastsailboats, Harken, Fenrnhurst books.

A special thank you to all the Volunteers from UKLA and HISC on the off the water. The teams were dedicated, professional and enthusiastic and all the competitors whole heartedly thank you all.

Gold Fleet Results:

2022 ILCA Nationals at Hayling Island - photo © Georgie Altham

Silver Fleet Results:

2022 ILCA Nationals at Hayling Island - photo © Georgie Altham