Summer ILCA (Laser) Racing

Hi everyone,

This summer, I'll be coaching an ILCA (Laser) Team out of CBC. ILCAs are performance single-handed boats that are sailed from learn-to-sail programs to the olympics. They are a very popular sailboat for youth sailing as they have multiple different sail sizes depending on size of sailor. They are highly tunable boats that push sailors both mentally and physically. 

We will be attending regattas in the Northwest Youth Racing Circuit (NWYRC) summer series. It is a series of big regattas with 150+ sailors across 5 different kinds of boats and is great competitive racing. The ILCA fleets are huge, usually with 20 to 25 boats at regattas.

The summer season runs from June 24th to August 28th. We have two practices and one race night each week. The team will attend four NWYRC regattas and two local smaller regattas. More info linked here.

Summer Sailing is different from High School sailing in a couple of ways. The biggest is there is no rotating at regattas. Each sailor will race all day and be supported by me on a coach boat. Food/water/coaching between each race. This allows for each sailor to get more on the water time and more racing! Because of this, the race team is limited to 10 sailors.

The Community Boating Center offers both full and partial scholarships for programs including the race team. We do not want cost to be a reason for not joining; If you are a sailor looking to improve and compete, let's get you on the water! Please fill out the online Scholarship form if needed. Let me know if you have any questions about scholarships. 

ILCAs are incredibly fun boats to sail in Bellingham breeze. Summer racing offers high level regattas with amazing weather. ILCA sailing is the best way to grow racing skills and confidence. I find that it transfers back to FJ sailing for high school racing. I recommend talking with seniors Avery or Bella about what the team is like from the sailor's perspective tomorrow at the end of season party. They are both captains on the high school team and raced ILCAs for multiple summers.

I know that summer is a busy time. If you are interested in summer racing but worried about it being too big of a commitment or missing practices or regattas, please let me know and we can discuss options. The goal is to get sailors on the water and racing at a high level, let's make it happen!

Let me know if you are interested in learning more. I'll be happy to discuss more at the end of season party tomorrow.

Thanks,

Cooper