Sailingfast to support the UKLA ILCA Spring Qualifiers in March 2023

The team at Sailingfast enjoy an event-packed year and 2023 is to be no different. As soon as we have unpacked after the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show, Duncan will be back on the road and heading to Stokes Bay for the first of the UKLA ILCA Spring Qualifiers.

Sailingfast are proud sponsors of the UKLA ILCA class: not only does this mean we sponsor the prizes for the Qualifiers, we also provide T-shirts for the Nationals and chandlery support at as many of the UKLA ILCA events we can get to.

The reasoning behind our event support is for us to provide you, the sailor, with chandlery support in the unlikely event that you suffer gear failure while on the water. Some of you are prepared, and have an arsenal of spares and a well-stocked toolbox at your disposal to enable a quick fix and return to the race course in time for the next race. However, experience shows that not everyone is as uber-organised, so if we can be on hand to help, we will. The last thing we want is for you to drive 4/6/8 hours or more to attend the Qualifiers only to go home after a race or two because of gear failure.

The first UKLA ILCA event of 2023 sees us all down at Stokes Bay with its notoriously stony beach but otherwise a great place to sail. If you haven’t come across our event support vehicle, then you will usually find us parked up in the Stokes Bay car park, as near to the beach as we can get. This saves you having to run too far in the event of a catastrophic failure mid-race.

Keep your eyes peeled for Duncan, usually in a Sailingfast branded jacket, chatting away to various folk. He will be in or around the branded trailer, which we turn into a mobile chandlery unit, complete with card machine and rope cutter and, if you ask really nicely, you might even get to borrow the rivet gun. (Bring the boat/spar section with you because the tools don’t leave his sight!) For the UKLA ILCA Spring Qualifiers, we will have a variety of ILCA specific kit from covers to carbon tillers & extensions, friction pads to pre-cut control lines and mainsheets. If you would like us to bring something for another dinghy class, please pre-order through the website (instructions below)

The last two weekends of March, we will be back to the home of most big sailing events in the UK, the Sailing Academy at Weymouth and Portland. Again, we endeavour to be close to the water, within the dinghy park, but this does depend how busy the Academy is.

These are events are a great opportunity to chat to Duncan about part exchanges, new boats, charter boats, delivery time frames or just put a face to a name. We offer free delivery on any pre-orders which can be collected during the Qualifiers (handy if you need a new spar section!):

1. order via the website
2. Select ‘collect from event’ at the checkout
3. Tell us which event you will be collecting (in the comments box at checkout)

Pre-ordering means we will have your order bagged up for quick and easy collection but we are also able to process orders onsite.

We look forward to seeing you get out on the water and having some fun at the first big ILCA event of the 2023 season!