ILCA UK National and Open Championships 2025 at Plas Heli Welsh National Sailing Academy - Day 1
by Jonathan Stirling 12 Aug 12:14 BST
10-15 August 2025
ILCA UK National and Open Championships at Plas Heli - Day 1 © James Harle
Two hundred and thirty five competitors from fifteen countries descended on Plas Heli, the Welsh National Sailing Centre for the ILCA UK National and Open Championships. All the sailors and one hundred volunteers were warmly welcomed by Event Director James Hynes and Plas Heli Director Mike Butterfield on Sunday morning.
Principal Race Officer Paul Jackson opted to run all the racing on one course area with ILCA 7s followed by ILCA 4s and then two flights of ILCA 6s
With the British Sailing Team and senior squads including reigning ILCA 6 National Champion Matilida Nichols, competing at the Senior Europeans Championships in Marstrand in Sweden, some fancied their chances but may not have reckoned with the strength of ILCA's youth development programme: Toby Waggett, transitioning from ILCA 4s into the 6s, laid down a marker with a bullet in the first race; Millie Lewis led at different stages in each of the two races on Sunday.
The regatta is being used as a selection event for the GBR Youth Squads and entry to the Youth Worlds adding an extra frisson of competition. Mark Lyttle the ILCA Chairman had stressed that we compete hard but fair and that ILCA is a class for everyone where world class sailors and relative novices competing who must always be treated with respect.
Putting Mark's words into action, day 1 saw two RRS Rule 42 infringements (repeated body movement 42.2(b)(1) and sculling on the start line 42.2(d).
Many mark roundings breached RRS31 and RRS 44.2 observed but also some sailors not completing their penalty turns were noted down, which the Jury may protest if repeated.
Light winds of 7-11 knots allowed for a perfect start to the week with all fleets completing two races in the bay. Launching and recovering over two hundred boats from the shallow shelving beach with a narrow entry was only made possible by the incredible teams of volunteers on tallies and trolleys.
Isla Hutchinson, winner of the day in ILCA 4s commented, "Day 1 was all about getting a good start and then connecting the shifts and pressure together which for me was middle right and then keeping the flow on the downwind. As it was my first races in an ILCA 4 I was pretty happy with the day."
"The ever competitive ILCA 6s started bang on bang on brand..." observed Megan Thompson "...a General Recall, happily the only one of the day. Amélie Hacker dominated the Yellow Flight with two second places and a very good first race where she led most of the way round. Thommie Grit is the overnight leader with a first and a second in the Red Flight."
The first race was very much decided by who could distinguish between a left right tidal lift strengthening towards the windward mark and those who stuck to the middle of the course. Downwinds were a game of snakes and ladders, where there were big movements in the fleet. Some sailors opted for sailing to one side of the course in search of clean air, while others chose to straight-line the downwinds minimising distance sailed while staying up tide. Sam Graydon (first) from Notts County and Freddie Sunderland (fourth) from Draycote demonstrating that inland sailors can master the tides!
The fleet of thirty-five ILCA 7s weren't to be left out of the hot start stakes, escalating through General Recalls to U Flags and a Black Flag in the second race before eventually getting away. There was an immediate split between boats heading out to the 'promised land' of the pressure favoured right and those boats choosing a more shift based approach heading out to the left. Sailors on the centre left who could sail the shifts and then get into the top right pressure topped the leaderboard as mark one was rounded.
Downwind, with the tide shifting, the left side offered both better pressure and a tidal advantage. The following upwind, boats who played the shifts / pressure, who then went top left to avoid the oncoming ILCA 4 armada seemed to make gains.
Claudio Natale from Italy won the day ascribing his fourth and first consistency less to shifts and more to a strong fuelling strategy of "two big pizzas before I go out!"
Continuing the Italian theme, sailors refuelled on complementary pasta before Fi Attwell hosted the daily prize-giving and ran the prize draw of Rooster holdalls, Body Armour Buoyancy Aids and Dri-Bags provided by our generous sponsor.
Following the prize draw the ILCA 4 and 7 sailors enjoyed Ovi Insights with James Parker-Mowbray of the Performance Academy using Trac Trac data to give sailors an insight into the winning strategies for the day.
Event website: ilca.uk/2025-ilca-uk-nationals
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