ILCA UK Women's Regatta weekend at Rutland Sailing Club
by Fiona Attwell 23 Jul 2024 09:40 BST
13-14 July 2024
ILCA UK Women's Regatta weekend at Rutland © David Ellis
The stage was set for the inaugural ILCA UK Women's Regatta weekend at Rutland Sailing Club on 13-14 July; 37 sailors were arriving from as far and varied as Largs, Exeter, Cowes and Swansea, diverse in age, 13-60, and in sailing experience, with top youth sailors and some trying the boat for the very first time.
ILCA UK have spent the last year shining a spotlight on representation for women and girls at their events and on their committee, including heavily discounted entry to the recent ILCA 4 Masters Nationals, a trial on separate fleet starts for ILCA 4 and a Masters Women's WhatsApp group. Fiona Attwell, Women's Rep and Safeguarding Officer, planned the Regatta Weekend to be a fun weekend of training and racing, with a particular focus on giving support and confidence to women and girls to attend our regional/national events.
Saturday saw the sailors take part training led by Flo Nicholls and the coaching team Daisy Collingridge, Christine Wood, Carys Attwell and Kaitlyn Wyatt, all current or previous ILCA sailors. An online pre-event training and Q&A was done by Matilda Nicholls, and then sailors selected two focus areas to form their morning and afternoon sessions. The atmosphere was buzzing over lunchtime and in the evening, with some having never had formal training before loving that, and all raving about the coaches.
One aim was to bring people together and make this a great social event, so entry included Pizza and Bingo Bongo in the bar. Rutland SC catering team whipped out 55 homemade pizzas, salad and strawberry cheesecake as sailors came together for the evening.
On Sunday morning a short and welcome Sailing Yoga session was led by RSC ILCA sailor Bev, before a quick briefing by PRO Fiona Tylecote and launch to make the most of the forecast. Fiona T led an all- female, top class, volunteer race team to put on 6 high quality races around a pasta lunch ashore. Racing was competitive and close at the front, at the same time as being inclusive to those new to racing, with most of our coaches staying to volunteer as safety for Sunday and coach the back of the fleet.
The wind kept volunteer national mark layer Ian Dooley and assistant Lauren Attwell on their toes to keep a good course. Results were posted by the time the last sailors got ashore, thanks to scorer Andy Wyatt, and following a couple of arbitration hearings, our first Women's ILCA 4 and 6 podiums were celebrated.
Congratulations to fleet winners Chloe Grayton (Notts County SC) and Kathryn Smith (Pennine SC/LLSC/Southwold SC) There were prizes from Sailingfast and Rooster for winners, chocolate for everyone from Fiona A and talk of the dates for the 2025 weekend; a brilliant weekend. Thanks to Rutland Sailing Club, especially the office, catering and coxswains for looking after us so well.
Sailwave results for ILCA UK Women's Regatta RSC at Rutland SC 2024
The support was incredible:
Duncan from Sailingfast arrived the day before to unload and fully rig five brand new Ovingtons, which he was offering for charter free of charge to support those new to the class to have a go.
Max from Southeast Sailboats travelled up for the weekend to run a rigging talk, showcasing rigging being used by our two GBR ILCA Olympians this summer, as well as demonstrating how they help your sailing. He and Duncan, along a full team of female coaches also helped with rigging before launch.
Rooster Sailing brought their pop up shop to allow some sailors to try different sizes and styles of wetsuits and also the amazing T-Shirts they designed with ILCA UK as their sponsorship of this event. Our design was done for us by one of the sailors' brother Dave Burnham.
Dave Ellis, husband of our Great Grand Master sailor Nancy, spent the whole weekend, and a lot of the week afterwards, taking and editing photos and videos for all at no cost.
ILCA 4 review by Chloe Grayton
I had an amazing time in the ILCA Women's Regatta at Rutland Sailing Club. Race Officer Fiona Tylecote and her excellent race team set triangular courses and skilfully adjusted for wind shifts. The ILCA 6s started first, followed by the ILCA 4s, making it crucial to find clear air and catch the wind shifts to stay ahead.
The competition was fierce, with close racing between myself and Kat Gunn for the overall win, and Ellie Thwaites keeping us both on our toes. Annabelle Hacker also put up a tough fight, narrowly missing a race win at the last mark in race 2. The fleet had a mix of circuit racers and newcomers, ensuring a suitable competition for everyone.
The event was fantastic, with everyone applying what they learned from great female coaches during the first day's training. I had a blast and will definitely enter again next year!
ILCA 4 review by Isla Preston
Being new to the ILCA, I found that this event had the perfect atmosphere with friendly sailors both on and off the water.
Despite the light winds, the coaching on Saturday was terrific and brilliantly done with exceptional female coaches. The racing was low-stress, perfect for a beginner like myself to find their feet in a new boat.
Training on Saturday was followed by pizza and bingo, a very fun social end to the day, and most went back to the campsite for bed.
ILCA 6 review by Kathryn Smith
A massive thank you to everyone involved in organising the Women's ILCA event at Rutland last weekend; it was a fantastic event. It was great to see so many female sailors together of different ages. The training on Saturday was great with fantastic coaches with a really friendly group of sailors. I haven't done any ILCA training before and found the whole experience really worthwhile.
Off the water was great, really welcoming and the club put on some lovely food which brought the fleet together. The morning yoga session was a new experience and something I'd like to do again.
The racing in Sunday was brilliant with a really friendly yet competitive atmosphere and some very close racing. There are some brilliant sailors in the fleet and I am still pinching myself about the result.
Thanks again to the organisers and sailors for a really good weekend. I hope there will be more events in the future and would definitely recommend attending to all female ILCA sailors young, old, new to fleet and experienced - there is something for everyone.
A special Thank You goes to Sailingfast (Duncan and Emma) - Southeast Sailboats (Max) - Rooster and Ovington Boats... Please support our sponsors as they support us....