2015 Fireball World Championship

2015 Fireball World Championship - The Notice of Race and entry forms for the UK Fireball Worlds have just been released. The event offers two weeks of unrivalled sailing in the beautiful waters of North Wales. Situated on the Llyn peninsular, just 10 miles from the Snowdonia National Park, racing will take place in Cardigan Bay within easy reach of the sandy beach from where the fleet will launch. The event is expected to attract some of the best sailors in the world, and participants from as far afield as Australia, Japan, Namibia and Canada to name but a few. The last time the event was held in UK waters, 170 boats from 15 countries made the start line. Bob Fisher, the first ever Fireball World Champion and renown sailing journalist, is guest speaker at the Black Tie dinner event on the Tuesday evening of the Worlds. Full details and the entry form are available on the event website. For further details please email worlds2015@fireballsailing.org.uk.

Sailing from Tobermory to Canna 2014

Sailing 2014 - West Coast of Scotland - Day 05

Sailing 2014 - West Coast of Scotland - Day 04

Sailing 2014 - West Coast of Scotland - Day 03

Sailing 2014 - West Coast of Scotland - Day 02

Sailing club feeling buoyant after £5,000 boost

A SAILING club is feeling buoyant after receiving a £5,000 cash boost to help more disabled people get into sport. The Jumbles Sailing Club was one of only five sports clubs in the UK to receive the £5,000 bursary. The club, which is based in Jumbles Country Park, Edgworth, secured the money as part of the BT 25th Birthday Bursary, a fund of £25,000 given out by BT to celebrate the British Paralympic Association’s 25th anniversary. The £5,000 bursary will be used to purchase a new boat, in order to provide local people with more opportunities to get out on the water and enjoy sailing. In recognition of its good work, the club was recently accredited for Sailability, the Royal Yachting Association’s scheme for disabled people. Vic Buckley, the Jumbles’ Sailability champion, said: ”We are committed to helping disabled people to enjoy sailing and were thrilled to receive this bursary, which will enable us to buy a specially adapted boat that will give complete control to people with a range of disabilities.” Previously, the club has borrowed fully accessible boats to give disabled people the chance to try sailing, which has proved such a hit there is currently a waiting list for potential new members. Tim Hollingsworth, CEO of the British Paralympic Association, said: “I am delighted to see that Jumbles Sailing Club will benefit from the BT 25th Birthday Bursary with this award. It is fantastic to see how the money will be used to increase the opportunities and resources available in their community. “It is a fitting way to mark both our 25th anniversary year and our long-term partnership with BT and The Telegraph, so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them both for their ongoing support.” Entries were judged by a panel that featured BT’s group marketing and brand director Suzi Williams, Paralympian Nathan Stephens, comedian and Channel 4 presenter Adam Hills and the Telegraph’s Gareth A Davies.

Otley sailor has her sights on Pacific challenge

SAILOR Heather Thomas is hoping to follow in the wake of famous yachtswomen by taking on the world’s most treacherous seas. The 18-year-old from Otley was bitten by the sailing bug on a family sailing holiday to Greece when she was seven. She joined Otley Sailing Club, spending every spare hour and weekend on the club’s Weston Water, a flooded gravel pit, where she quickly mastered the basics of handling smaller craft. But the A-level student at Otley’s Prince Henry’s Grammar School is taking her hobby to a new level with a tilt for a place aboard an ocean racing yacht. She has reached a shortlist of two to take part in a 5,500-mile, month-long journey from China to the United States, crossing the world’s largest ocean as part of the Clipper Round the World race. The Pacific leg starts in Qingdao, China in March 2016 and ends on the West Coast of America. If she gets the place, it will be reward for the hard hours sailing off the coast of England, Scotland and Ireland. For the past two years she has volunteered as a watch leader on the training vessel James Cook, run by Ocean Youth Trust North. She also works as a volunteer at Otley Sailing Club and has been a dinghy training instructor for the two years, using her skills to encourage newcomers to learn the ropes. In March she will travel to Clipper Race HQ in Gosport, Hampshire for a training assessment to determine who gets the place. She is up against a 19-year-old man from London. Yesterday she admitted that sailing solo around the world is her ultimate dream. “It’s an expensive thing to do, but if I get the chance, I would want to do it - that’s my dream.” In the meantime she is hoping to get her A-levels and then a job as a yacht’s bosun in charge of the equipment and engine. Asked why she enjoys sailing, she said it was the “feeling of freedom” which came from being out on the water, often alone. And for anyone considering taking it up, a sailing club is a good way to start - or a sailing holiday in Greece, she said. “You have your own boat on a flotilla holiday. It’s quite a safe environment to start sailing in. It’s simple and is a brilliant holiday.” Her father, Matt, said his daughter had shown great skill on the water. “Heather has taken to sailing like a duck to water. All she wants is to be around boats and wants to make a career out of it.” He said: “The Pacific is a real adventure, with the worst of the weather that can be thrown at you. It’s about battling against the elements and I have no doubt that Heather is fully up to the job - I have no worries about her on that score. She has experience on large boats.” The family’s love of sailing can be traced back 43 years when Mr Thomas’ father Eric built his own boat in the garage and then joined the local sailing club. “My dad had a great passion for sailing. We sailed locally in Cheshire and in France, Ullswater and Coniston. “We still have the boat that he built when I was six.” Heather had enjoyed her first sailing experience as her grandfather had his final trip, he said. “He (his father) invited me and my family to sail on a yacht in Greece. There was a little trepidation as I thought my girls would hate it but everyone enjoyed it. They said it was the best holiday they ever had. “My dad had had a stroke and wanted to experience sailing one last time.”

Festive fundraising for youth sailing charity Challenge Wales

YOUTH sailing charity Challenge Wales has launched its ‘Jump Aboard’ fundraising pack to help raise funds to enable young people to experience Wales’ Tall Ship. The sail training vessel, which uses sailing to teach young people life skills to improve their employment prospects, subsidises Welsh residents aged 12 – 25 years and needs to continue to raise funds during winter to ensure young people continue to have the opportunity to jump aboard in 2015. Although the Challenge Wales fundraising pack gives lots of ideas to raise funds, with Christmas on the horizon the Penarth-based charity is keen to focus on recycling from stamps (from Christmas cards) clothes (ideal if you are losing weight after Christmas and don’t want to throw clothes away) and unwanted small items (such as old Christmas presents from Christmas past). Vicky Williams, volunteer and trustee, said: “Passing on unwanted items to us is a great way for us to raise funds and also helps avoid waste going to landfill.” This week also sees the charity launching its first fundraising 2015 charity calendar, featuring some amazing photos of the charity’s journey over the last five years since it launched, capturing beautiful seascapes, wildlife and landscapes. The aim of the calendar is to raise awareness of the work that Challenge Wales and its army of volunteers does. The highlight of the fundraising festive season for Challenge Wales is its Festive Sail and Curry sailing day on Sunday, December 28, from Penarth Marina, an opportunity for people regardless of their sailing experience to blow away the winter cobwebs and try something fun and exhilarating and a very different Christmas present. To get involved in Challenge Wales’ festive fundraising activities visit www.challengewales.org or contact them on 029 20 220 266.

Gold medallist Helena Lucas opens new Portland sail making centre

PARALYMPIC gold medallist Helena Lucas is on the road to Rio, thanks to a Portland sail making business. The sailing star was on hand to cut the ribbon at the new sail loft for Moatt Sails at Osprey Quay on Portland on Saturday. The new facility means the company can now work on boats up to 60feet. Helena said the company had helped her out over the years with gear and were now involved in her campaign towards the Rio Games in 2016. She said: “They have massively helped me out over the years, they have been a great support. “It’s a great privilege to be here to cut the ribbon. “They are very much part of my program and road to Rio campaign. They have been absolutely brilliant.” Helena said the campaign to 2016 was looking good, with two great results recently – two medals at the two world championships. She said: “We have got lots of exciting things in the wings. We have been doing some development and will start introducing the new kit.” In fact, she has just returned from a training camp in Rio, which she said was ‘very successful’ and the team had been learning about the winds and tides. She said that because of the mixture of mountains and high-rise buildings in Rio it was an even more challenging course than Portland had been. And even though she now lives in Southampton, Helena said she loves coming back to her ‘second home’ of Portland. She added: “Whenever I’m here I always get such a good welcome. “It definitely feels like a second home. I’m pleased I picked here for my gold post box- there will always be a little bit of me here.” Mayor of Weymouth and Portland, Kate Wheller, was at the opening, she said: “We always hoped this area would become a centre for marine excellence and this is what is happening. It’s achieving what we hoped it would, which is great.” Steve Moatt, owner of Moatt Sails, said that the opening of the sail loft marked a turning point in the business, he said they had come a long way from working out of a shed seven years ago. He said he was very proud of his team, adding: “We are very passionate about what we do- we love what we do. We appreciate our customers, we know without them we wouldn’t be here.”

Ben Ainslie teams up with Red Bull ahead of 2017 America's Cup

Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) have teamed up with Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) to work on their challenge for the 35th America's Cup in 2017, the British team announced on Thursday. The BAR team, conceived by the most successful Olympic sailor of all time in June 2014, will draw on the "simulation" and "modelling skills" of the winners of four of the last five Formula One World Championships. "BAR are really excited to be partnering with Red Bull Advanced Technologies," Ainslie, part of Oracle Team USA's triumph last year, said in a statement on Thursday. "We are in a unique position in this country, and this campaign is about assimilating the very best of British in design and engineering - RBAT epitomises this."

Torbay: To Host World's Toughest Sailing Race

Torbay will host the UK leg of the Solitaire du Figaro race in 2015 - a 2000 mile solo yacht race, unofficially known as the world championships of solo offshore sailing. The Solitaire du Figaro is a sailing endurance race divided up into 500-mile legs between several European host ports. Now in its 46th year, the race draws only the best sailing talent to its start line, and attracts sailing fans and the general public alike to its bustling race village. It's hoped more than 100,000 people will visit with the location chosen as it is within 2 hours of more than 100 yacht clubs and sailing academies. Recognising the race as an opportunity for increased tourism, international publicity for the town and community involvement, the Royal Torbay Yacht Club and Torbay Council have been the driving force behind the host venue bid The Solitaire du Figaro - one of the world's toughest sailing events - comes into the Bay between the 17th and 21st June. The arrival of the race will mark another significant chapter in Torbay's rich maritime history, the Bay hosting the 1948 Olympic sailing competition. The Artemis Offshore Academy, the UK's only training centre for British solo sailors, has been working closely with Torbay representatives to successfully prepare the town for the race. Training and supporting British solo competitors since 2010, Artemis supports eight UK Solitaire competitors, including well-known southwest Solitaire competitors Robin Elsey (Falmouth), Sam Matson (Exmouth) and Henry Bomby (Dartmouth) - with all 3 now training for the race in 2015.

Sailing Scotland