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All the news that's fit to print for New Zealand ILCA racers.

Sailing fair and proud of it

Thu 26 Oct 2023 5:41am
Hi everyone,

As the new season starts it a great time to reflect on how fairly each and every one of us sail.

The answer is that 99% of ILCA sailors play fair 99% of the time, and that fantastic. Thanks to everyone who respects their fellow sailors, plays fair and plays by the rules. It's great that ILCA is blessed with such a great bunch of fair sailors.

There are of course times when we have a momentary lapse, and either forget the rules or forget that if we have forgotten the rules, or that dammed weather mark just jumped up by itself and hit us, we should take the initiative and do our turn/s. Be fair, do the penalty, deal with it then and there and then carry on and set about recovering.
 
Sure it's tempting to think "it's just a club race" or "I did not mean to hit the mark, it was the marks fault", or maybe "I did not really impact their race" or even "there's no judge so that odd extra pump and roll will not get picked up", let alone "well port is pretty close to starboard". 
 
Let's put all the excuses away once and for all. We all know marks are not to be hit. We all know we can't just be pumping, rocking and rolling when we feel like it and really all of us know port should give way, every time. 
 
So let's all play fair 100% of the time. If you do unfortunately infringe you probably know deep down that you have. You normally at least have a pretty dam good idea that you have probably infringed, particularly if someone takes the trouble to hail you about it! It does not matter whether you are a world ranked sailor in a world championship or a casual club racer anywhere. If you think you have had a hiccup, do your turns, feel good about playing the game fairly then carry on. Avoid any ill feeling and know you have done the right thing.
 
Let's all sail by the rules, but at the same time let's not annoy everyone else in the fleet by being a pain and trying to over use (or misuse) every last nuance of the rules to squeeze out the opposition. 
 
So this season let's have 100% of ILCA sailors play fair 100% of the time. Let's all feel good about how we sail, every time we sail, regardless of if we are at the front or back of our fleet; ILCA 4,ILCA 6 or ILCA 7; Youth, Open or Master; Pupuke, Bluff or anywhere in between, or even at a World Champs if we are lucky enough to be there.
 
Sail fair, enjoy sailing fair and let's all be proud of it.
 
Thanks
Nick Page

2023 ILCA.nz Chairmans Report

Wed 25 Oct 2023 10:02pm

It was great to have a 2022/23 season free of Covid disruptions and with many successful regattas completed. Standouts were an extremely successful nationals at Murrays Bay, the very well attended NI Freshwater champs at Taupo and of course George Lane as ILCA 6 Men’s World Championship win and George Gautrey’s podium finish at the ILCA 7 worlds. It was also good to see many other NZ ILCA sailors competing internationally, at Youth, Open and Masters levels.
 
Our Nationals at Murrays Bay were again a great success. We had excellent fleets in both the ILCA 6 and 7 at all levels. There was plenty of variety in conditions on the water, excellently run races and a fantastic host club. We again had a good response to our free entry initiative for any sailor who has not competed at an ILCA nationals for 10 years and have decided to continue this at Napier again this season. It is a significant financial commitment for the class, but we believe helps attract new sailors and lays a foundation for ongoing class success.
 
We will also be continuing with our always popular pre-Nationals free coaching sessions again this year, which have become a popular feature of the days before the nationals, again using paid coaches.
 
The NI Freshwater Championship, sailed for the first time last season in March at Taupo, was very successful and we will be repeating it again this season. Many sailors from around the NI took the opportunity to get together and enjoy some late season high quality racing at a central location, and LTYC were great and enthusiastic hosts for the event.
 
We are looking froward to this season Nationals in Napier and  have confirmed the Nationals for 2025 will be at Nelson Yacht Club, the venue of several previous very successful contests but one we have not visited for some time.
 
Financially we again had a satisfactory year, and the Association remains in good financial health.
 
We have progressed the move to embedding the name change of our Association to ILCA.nz as discussed last year and will be continuing to progressively transition the website etc to the new name.
 
Thanks to the committee, and especially Ken and Mike for all the work they do behind the scenes.
 
We are always keen to have anyone interested join the committee or propose or discuss any ILCA (Laser) issue. You are always welcome to contact me or any member of the committee via the NZLA website e mail contacts.
 
 
Nick Page
Chairman NZLA

Caleb Armit 3rd in ILCA 7 Under 21 World Champs

Mon 23 Oct 2023 7:43am

Congratulations to Caleb Armit who has come 3rd in the ILCA 7 Under 21 World Champs in Tanger Morocco.

Fantastic result.

Photos at: facebook.com/YachtingNewZealand

Full ILCA 6 & 7 results - click ILCA 7 to that fleet


 

DripDry Seat Covers for Olympic Fundraising

Thu 28 Sep 2023 3:50am

Check out these DripDry seat covers and support ILCA sailor Eroni Leilua in his Olympic Fundraising campaign.

2024 & 2025 NZ ILCA Champs

Sat 16 Sep 2023 9:41pm
2024 Nationals

Hopefully most of you are planning to be in Napier for the 2024 Nationals.

Measuring Wednesday 17th and racing Thursday 18th through Sunday 21st January.

Free entry again to anyone who has not sailed in an ILCA(Laser) nationals in the last 10 years.

We will as usual have free coaching sessions on Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th, details to follow closer to the time.

Don’t forget to book accommodation early as it will be at a premium as the region continues to recover from the floods.

Regatta details here. More to come and entry will be open shortly.

2025 Nationals

We are pleased to announce that the 2025 Nationals will be at Nelson Yacht Club from Wednesday 15th to Sunday 19th January 2025.

It's quite a while since we have been to Nelson for our Nationals. Its a wonderful venue with beautiful sailing on the waters of Tasman Bay so put in the diary as a feature for for your 2025 South Island holiday.

2024 Season events

As well as the Nationals there will be a full slate of events for the 2023/24 season as usual. There are lots of club, local and regional regattas scheduled through the season, check with your club website etc, but a few feature ILCA ones to flag up:

The North Island champs in Napier on 25th/26th November will provide a great warmup for the nationals later in the season at the same venue.

The South Island champs will be at Naval Point on 9th and 10th December, a key leg in the South Island ILCA regatta circuit

Our late season highlight, the North Island Freshwater champs at Taupo 9th and 10th March, which attracted a fleet of 50 at the inaugural regatta last season and is sure to be a favourite again this season.

Keep up to date with the sailing calendar.

We look forward to seeing you all on the water.

Nick Page

February 2024 Adelaide ILCA Masters Worlds

Tue 18 Jul 2023 11:43am
Hi Everyone
 
Most of you will probably be at least vaguely aware that the 2024 ILCA Masters Worlds will be sailed in Adelaide next year - 2nd to 10th February 2024, and you may even have thought that it might be a good regatta to think about sailing in.
 
Well time flies, and in a couple of weeks registrations for the event open, so I thought I would stir the pot and get as many of you as possible revved up, keen and ready to register and compete. 
 
Masters Worlds are always great events, just ask anyone who has been to one. Having one just across the ditch is the perfect opportunity for everyone to experience one. You do not necessarily need to be thinking of winning, its absolutely well worth attending just to enjoy a great event, have a fantastic holiday and meet lots of great people as well as enjoying some really great racing. It's quite a while since we had such an opportunity, remember the 2020 World Masters in Geelong got canned because of Covid, so I urge everyone to give it serious consideration. 
 
The Aussies tell me that they expect there to be room for everyone, so don't fret about ranking or qualification. They are committed to delivering a really great event. They reckon they can pretty much guarantee:
  • Warm weather
  • Sunshine
  • Excellent charter boats
  • Close, enjoyable racing in every Masters group
  • Engaging après sailing 
  • Meeting lots of Aussies (and plenty of other internationals)
  • Lots of the best wines Aussie has to offer
So what better way to spend a week of your Masters career. Take the plunge, register, plan the trip, think about training if you feel inclined (voluntary) and lets get a big Kiwi contingent to Adelaide to keep the Aussies honest on their home turf.
 
The link to the ILCA website with all the info on the contest is https://sailing.laserinternational.org/public/site/event-site/160. 
 
If anyone would like any help with the registration process, or anything else for that matter, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.
 
Thanks
 
Nick Page
021 908 596

George Lane wins gold in 2023 ILCA 6 Open world champs

Wed 12 Jul 2023 8:56am

Congratulations to George Lane for winning the ILCA 6 Open world champs in Poland. Awesome result and NZ's first gold in this event since Mike Bullot won 22 years ago.

More details at YNZ yachtingnz.org.nz/news/diapers-medal-dais-new-kiwi-world-champs-surreal-triumph
 

Waikato – Bay of Plenty Regional Update for 2022 ILCA.nz for AGM

Wed 26 Oct 2022 5:57pm
Waikato – Bay of Plenty Regional Update for ILCA.nz for AGM 25 March 2022
 
Last season we scrambled through Covid lockdowns & traffic lights, awaiting a fresh season, esp in Waikato.
 
Winter ILCA sailing happened in Tauranga (fortnightly) providing a regional gathering point for ILCA6 racing. Sailors came from Ohope, Taupo, Rotorua, Ngaroto, and Hamilton.
Keeping everyone to a single ILCA6 fleet kept numbers around 8-12 and competition strong.  Over & above the individual scoring, we informally ran a masters v youth competition (recording the best 3 places). This made for some good spirited competition, humour, and the odd patch of match racing.   At Queen’s Birthday a strong regional contingent attended Ohope’s annual regatta which is a major boost for their regatta.
 
In July, Tauranga’s Teagan Denney attended the youth worlds as the female youth rep.  Tom Saunders, also Tauranga, continues to hold his top position on the World ILCA stage.   Both are outstanding role models & inspiration for our youth.  Ex World Champ Nik Burfoot is now coordinating coaching in Tauranga; thereby making it an attractive drawcard for up & coming youth in ILCAs; rather than having them graduate from starlings & spread across several fleets.
 
As the summer season gets underway, ILCA club racing has vibrant fleets in key places. Tauranga now draws a strong fleet of 10-12 ILCA6s each Sunday. They continue to encourage everyone to remain in ILCA6s so that it is a tight competitive single fleet. Several youth are now entering/eyeing AON squad over the next couple of seasons.  And the masters continue to push them for excellence. 
 
Taupo continues to hold a combination of ILCA6s & 7s, with several members investing in newer boats.   In mid-March 2023 Taupo’s regatta will also be used as an ILCA North Island Freshwater Champs, hoping to attract sailors from across the NIs. This may offer a NI wide regatta for end of season.
 
Hamilton continues to hold its core of strong masters, very skilled at picking wind shifts on a lake. George Lane continues to win open ILCA6 events, keeping HYC on the NZ radar.  They are rebuilding the starling fleet and getting outcrop regattas.that will likely move into ILCAs next season.  
 
At Ngaroto and Raglan a core of club ILCA7s meet for club racing, but not much travelling beyond.  Two families in these contexts are now travelling their ILCA6 youth beyond to Auckland and Tauranga in order to connect with other youth, and increase their competitiveness.  The dads are also racing ILCA6s outside their clubs, and will likely take these experiences back to their local clubs.  They are now committing to NIs in Napier and look forward to the free entry for Nationals as a helpful incentive.
 
As a combined region, we considered setting up a 5 regatta ILCA Traveller Series this summer; but instead have focussed on encouraging attendance at two key regional regattas; Tauranga (late Feb) and Taupo (mid March); with Ohope offering a pleasant Queens Birthday winter option.
 
Recently across the region ILCAs made a commitment to support the Rotorua Sprints regatta in mid-October.  Tauranga fleet committed to forego club racing points being counted, in order to encourage attendance at Rotorua.  We look forward to Rotorua getting its ILCA sailors to hopefully Tauranga & or Taupo regattas as a reciprocation.
 
We’ve talked of a coaching weekend, but with busy schedules, regattas booked, and Tauranga already offering strong youth coaching, we haven’t found a date to book.
 
Female ILCA6 sailors continue to feature as strong competitors amidst these ILCA6 fleets; and are attentive to encouraging one another. Having singular ILCA6 fleets benefits youth & women. Where clubs mix ILCA6s & 7s, we recommend having prizes for both fleets; but also consider having separate starts.  Good ILCA6s are unfairly buried by average ILCA7s off the start line; which becomes a disincentive for racing an ILCA6; and risks them changing to a different boat.
 
Overall, regional networking over several seasons is paying dividends with ILCA vibrancy in a number of clubs.  We strongly encourage reciprocation if clubs want others to attend their home regattas.  Having a core of masters in ILCA6s provides fleet stability as youth age in and depart out of the fleet.  Creating good spirited competition, with humour and encouragement for the youth, also adds attraction & retention in the fleet.
 
Thanks again to ILCA.nz for offering support to the region. We look forward to being a strong presence at NIs & Nationals.
 
Helen Spencer
Waikato-BoP Rep
 
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