Noble Marine & Ovington ILCA Autumn Qualifier (Q5) at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy

ILCA sailors were met with a particularly cold chill on Saturday morning which for many seemed like the first signs of winter.

The ILCA 6 fleet had a slightly different format to normal qualifiers to cope with the impressive fleet size of 84 boats. Instead of racing in one fleet like usual, we had a qualifying series on Saturday which would be used to divide us into a gold and silver fleet on Sunday. After a cold reach out into Weymouth Bay, a very shifty 8-12 knot northerly greeted the sailors.

Race 1 was the lightest of the day - around 10 knots. It was a very tricky race with many opportunities to gain and lose huge amounts. Robin Phipps took a big lead up the first beat after being one of the few boats to spot the right shift which had come through during the Ilca 4's first beat. However, Matilda Nicholls had caught up on the downwind and took the lead at the gate as the two split. The race finished with Matilda in first, Jon Emmett in second and Henry Redmond in third.

In the Blue and Yellow fleet, the race was won by Daisy Collingridge with Ben Elvin in second and Alfie Noel in third, an impressive result having led for a large proportion of the race.

UKLA ILCA Autumn Qualifier (Q5) at Weymouth & Portland - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

After race one, the wind built to around 12 knots and also shifted right which changed up the racecourse. After the race committee had promptly reset the course we were back under way. For this race, there was a bit more of a theme with port becoming the prominent long tack and a gain feature on the left as you appeared to be lifted coming in on the port lay line. Up the first beat, Toby Bush showed great speed and strategy in his new boat to round the windward mark in 3rd and was extremely unlucky up the second beat to miss out on the podium. Hannah Snellgrove took the honours in the blue and green fleet with Molly Sacker and Chloe Elvin taking 2nd and 3rd. In the other race, Ben Elvin was 1st with Matilda Nicholls in 2nd and Daisy Collingridge in 3rd, following an impressive comeback after getting stuck on the first mark.

Race 3 was much the same and in the yellow and green fleet Daisy Collingridge won with Ben Elvin in 2nd and Leo Yates in 3rd, having only just recently joined the six fleet. Hannah Snellgrove took a back-to-back win in the other flight with Matilda Nicholls and Jon Emmet in 2nd and 3rd. So that was day 1, a very exciting and interesting day. The points were ever so close with the top 3 all being on 5 points, only being separated by countback.

UKLA ILCA Autumn Qualifier (Q5) at Weymouth & Portland - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Day 2 saw us back in the harbour and an even colder breeze which was slightly stronger than expected. Today we were separated in to a gold and silver fleet and race 1 got away very quickly. It was even trickier than Sunday and sailors had to keep heads out of the boat to look for the huge pressure bands and shifts coming off the harbour wall as place changes were constantly happening.

Race 1 of the finals in the gold fleet was fantastically won by Archie Munro Price, another sailor who has only just moved into the ILCA6. Next was Matilda Nicholls and rounding off the podium was Molly Sacker. In the silver fleet, the girls dominated by locking out the podium. Ciara Murphy, another sailor just moving into the six won with Flo Tovey and Millie Lewis in 2nd and 3rd.

UKLA ILCA Autumn Qualifier (Q5) at Weymouth & Portland - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Race 2 was even harder to get right and again, being in phase with the pressure and shifts was the key. Freddie Sunderland and Joe Rowe, both sailors from Draycote Water rounded mark one 1st and 2nd and both managed to extend away from the fleet on the downwind impressively by staying in the pressure. Unfortunately, they were unable to hold onto this controlling position as a large shift caught them out on the starboard lay line which saw Jon Emmett and Leo Yates take 1st and 2nd. They held onto these positions until the finish and Freddie Sunderland took 3rd. Again Silver Fleet was won by Ciara Murphy with Ruariri Herrington in 2nd and Millie Lewis in 3rd. The wind had already been dropping throughout race 2 and sadly did not come back in enough consistency to race so that was when the event finished as AP over A was raised.

UKLA ILCA Autumn Qualifier (Q5) at Weymouth & Portland - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

So, after a great event, Matilda Nicholls came out on top followed by Daisy Collingridge in 2nd and Ben Elvin in 3rd. Hannah Snellgrove was 3rd girl and Jon Emmett and Leo Yates rounded off the boy's podium in 2nd and 3rd, an extremely impressive performance by Leo who also was first under 17 at just his second ILCA6 event. Joe Rowe was 1st under 19 boy and Carrys Attwell was 1st under 19 girl. Charlotte Videlo rounded off the prizes by coming first under 21 girl. Also, a massive thanks to all the volunteers again this weekend, who without we simply would not have these events.

Also we must thank UKLA's terrific sponsors for their continuing support at the qualifiers. Many have been supporting us over a number of years through difficult times... thank you. Noble Marine, Ovington, Sailingfast and Rooster.

The final autumn qualifier is the same time and place next week!

Overall Results: