Late September Yachting on the Solent (South Coast of England) with Dron...

RYA Scotland Youth and Junior Championships 2019

RYA Scotland hosted British Youth Sailing’s Regional Junior Championship at Dalgety Bay Sailing Club 102 junior and youth sailors took to the Forth, over the weekend of 21st and 22nd September 2019 in a series of races as part of a nationwide festival of youth sailing. Dalgety Bay hosted one of 8 events over two weekends as part of British Youth Sailing’s Regional Junior Championships which offers a championship format with sailing for all levels of ability with plenty of fun mixed in. RYA Scotland were joined by RYA Northern Ireland and RYA Cymru Wales in starting the festival of youth sailing before the English regions host 5 more events next weekend. Over 1,500 youth and junior sailors took part in 2018 across all 8 venues in the UK. The RYA Scotland Youth and Junior Championships ends the official season as the winter performance training gets underway for the young sailors. There were a lot of keen sailors ready to prove their knowledge on the race course ahead of the Performance Team training block. The conditions were pretty epic on Saturday with sunshine, a solid easterly and a lumpy race areas, with up to 5 races taking places across 3 race areas on Saturday. Bravo Course had the two person classes of the 29er, 420 and Feva racing alongside the windsurfing fleet who made the most of the breeze. Further to the east on Alpha Course the single person dinghies of Optimist, Toppers and Lasers shared Inverkeithing Bay with a backdrop of Keelboat racing as the Hunter 707 sprint series took place nearby. A regatta fleet course for younger sailors sailing was just off the club for some of the younger sailors new to racing enjoyed some calmed waters to learn their way around a race course. “The conditions on Saturday were amazing and it was really great to see the sailors really enjoying the breeze and waves. All the volunteers and helpers at DBSC were outstanding both on and off the water. Most of all the sailors out there were a tough lot and had a big day out on the water with smiling faces which was really amazing to see.” Notes Abbie Hewitt the event director. Sunday was overcast with lighter winds setting a different challenge for the sailors. Some managed to change gears very well and keep up a solid set of results. Among those was Elise Fitzgerald who won the largest fleet, the Topper Class after race wins in both sets of conditions. Elise said “It was a good day for me, with a lot learning around the tide. You had to go right out so you sailed in the tide and it created more wind but you had to be careful not to over-stand the lay lines.” “Thanks to the John Merrick’s Sailing Trust I got the boat brand new Topper a couple of years ago, which was really helpful. You need to take care of it and it’s been very useful to get these results. ” Her boat, Red Arrow, was supplied by the John Merricks Sailing Trust which aims to help junior sailors with equipment to maximise their potential in sailing towards their goals, with applications closing on the 1st of October. 29er coach and British Sailing Team member Gillies Munro commented on the sailors in the double handed fleet noting. “Lots of learning through the fleet not just in the 29er but in the Feva and the 420’s where the racing was very close. All told a really good weekend.” Para Sailor, Rory McKinna of the Clyde Cruising Club Dinghy Section at Bardowie Loch joined the Topper fleet in his Hansa 303 to get some experience at a different sea venues and commented. “Brilliant racing, thoroughly enjoyed it. The tide made it quite difficult at times, especially today at the start with loads of people getting pushed over. Going up the course it would help and you could turn before you needed to and the tide would push you up. Harnessing nature and all that.” With so many great results the local sailors at Dalgety Bay Sailing Club they were awarded the Championship Trophy for 2019. This was received by Gavin Homer who thanked the enormous support from the volunteers afloat and ashore. The RYA Scotland Performance programme for pathway classes runs throughout the winter with open Class Academy training run at clubs across the country. RYA Scotland Youth and Junior Championship Results Summary For full results click here Optimist Overall and 1st Boy Rory Gifford 2nd Boy Alexander Cogan Sivararjan 1st Girl Sophie Kennedy 2nd Girl Macy Law Topper Overall and 1st Girl Ellise Fitzgerald 1st Boy Jamie Briggs 2nd Boy Max Vella 3rd Boy Roo Purves 2nd Girl Morven Wood 3rd Girl Anna Miller Laser Radial Overall and 1st Boy Scott Forbes 2nd Boy Finlay Tullett 1st Girl Suzanna Homer 2nd Girl Molly Tullett Feva Class 1st Jamie Tennant and Scott Dunlop 2nd Finlay Cooper and Martha Cooper 420 Class 1st Finlay Herrington and Tess Crooks 2nd Eva Herrington and James Gifford 29er Class 1st Daniel Scott and Tom Irving 2nd Alistair Coombs and Sam Carr Windsurf 4.5 1st Zak Nicol Windsurf 5.8 1st Kyle Clark Windsurf 6.8 1st Kai Beattie Windsurf 7.8 1st Millie Johnson

Instruments aren’t your only tools

By Adam Loory :-During our evening racing series, I got pushed over the line early and had to restart. There were only three boats in our class,it’s still early in the season—but it was still good competition. We worked the shifts and the current on the first leg of a windward/leeward race and, by the time we got to the top mark we were two lengths behind the second boat and probably 14 lengths behind the leader. The challenge we faced was how to making gains two leading boats on the downwind leg. Spoiler Alert: we did pass the second-place boat and almost nipped the leader on elapsed time – but we did win on a corrected basis. But what are the things we did that made the difference? Here’s a list: 1. In the lulls, we heated up our course and burned down in the puffs. Sure, that’s not rocket science; however, we know enough not to get greedy in either direction. If we went too high or too low, we’d be sailing a poor VMG and could have hurt ourselves. 2. The trimmer, tactician, and myself (on helm) shared a steady conversation of data inputs. The tactician called puffs, the trimmer indicated increases and decreases in pressure on the sail/sheet, and I let them know if I was heating up the course or soaking to leeward. 3. We didn’t let ourselves become mesmerized by the instruments. Sure, they help; but they provide data…not decisions. And, their readings lag behind the actual boat changes. We gained by “seat-of-the-pants” sailing. Feeling the boat slightly heel or flatten. Listening to the volume level of the water rushing past the transom. Getting our heads out of the boat…watching how we were doing versus the competition. If you only watch the instruments, you end up over steering. Most of the times if you sail by the speedo, the speed will crash and you’ll have to turn up a lot to get your speed back. But if you can hear or feel the speed going down, you can correct when you have only lost a few tenths. 4. Soaking down promptly when our speed increased allowed us to pull even and three lengths below the second-place boat. When it was time to gybe we were ahead. 5. We avoided small boat traffic when we could. With the smaller boats starting first, you end up having to wind your way through a crowd sometimes. We picked our holes better than our competition. 6. We didn’t get tense. OK, a Thursday night beer can race isn’t the America’s Cup…but you can still get worked-up if you’re not careful. After we restarted, we left that faux pas behind us and returned to our game plan which was to tack to port soon after the start. 7. Finally, we were sailing with friends…so we had a great time and, in the end, when we corrected out to win our division, we rediscovered why it’s called a beer can race.

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British Sailors Dominate International 2.4mR Open Championships at Kinsale

Ireland was outclassed as British boats took the podium places at the International 2.4mR one-person keelboat Irish Open Championships at Kinsale Yacht Club today. Megan Pascoe, a past World and European champion in the class, dominated the four-race event with four straight wins and was followed by Katherine Hedley with four seconds. Brian Harding was third. The top Irish sailor was John Patrick in sixth place overall. Five UK visitors travelled to Kinsale for the championships. With Saturday's racing washed out as Afloat reported here, the pressure was on to complete all racing today in the ten-boat fleet. It is the first time the event was held on the south coast with last year's championships held on Carlingford Lough. Sunday dawned with a flat calm but racing soon got underway with London 2012 Olympic Race Officer Jack Roy in charge. Races were each of 40 minutes duration in the 10-knot winds from the northwest. At the first start, the wind took a big shift moving from NW more into the north and so Roy abandoned that start to allow the course be moved. The boat is primarily used for racing and the class holds highly competitive national events in many countries. In some countries, it features mainly as a class for sailors with a disability. The 2.4mR is ideal for adapted sailing since the sailor does not move in the boat, and everything is adjustable from right in front of the sailor. Both hand-steering and foot-steering are possible.

Project which helps transform lives is back in Scunthorpe after four-year break

A project that has helpd thousands of people to change their lives over the last decade is back in Scunthorpe after a four-year break. The CatZero charity has completed the first of six new programmes in North Lincolnshire, supported by the European-funded Community Led Local Development (CLLD) scheme, administered through North Lincolnshire Council . They will see up to 14 unemployed people on each course – all with different issues and challenges that they need to overcome. Participants are taken through a series of team-building activities, business support work, volunteering, CV compilation, mock interviews and personal one-to-ones. Together the 14 people on the first CLLD course achieved 142 certificates of achievement and qualifications, including food hygiene and health and safety, with a 95 per cent pass rate. Sailing is also an integral part of the work, with the charity using its floating classroom – a 72ft challenge yacht – to take people on short and long sails. The participants experienced an eight-day sail from the Humber to the Orkney Islands, working four-hour on and four-hour off shifts to sail the boat while carrying out all the on-board duties in an environment free from peer pressure or outside influence. A celebration event for successful participants has been held at The Baths Hall in Scunthorpe . Jordan Godwin, 21, from Scunthorpe, took part in the programme and has now applied for cruise ship work. He said: "I would recommend this to anyone, it will change your life around. I have done other programmes before, but nothing like this." CatZero programme manager Pete Tighe said: "We are delighted to be back here, working with a group of people who have wanted to be inspired, to move from the lives they have now to the lives they want. Well done Scunthorpe for rising to the challenge." To enquire about future CLLD programmes in Scunthorpe, email pete@catzero.org

Hugo Boss yacht launches on Thames with sailing star Alex Thomson and Poppy Delevingne

Celebrities, models and yachting enthusiasts flocked to the banks of the Thames on Thursday evening for the launch of the HUGO BOSS yacht. The sleek black vessel, which will be raced by British sailor Alex Thomson, was christened by model and actress Poppy Delevingne, who poured champagne over its side to declare it officially launched. The sustainably-minded IMOCA 60 yacht, which features custom-built solar panels and an electric motor, is now destined for the 2020-21 Vendee Globe, one of the toughest solo sailing races in the world. Alex Thomson has previously finished third in the race in 2013 and came second in 2017 but is now aiming for first place. After the atmospheric sunset christening ceremony, guests including model Sam Rollinson, Lady Sabrina Percy and Neelam Gill decamped to the stylish La Pont de La Tour restaurant by Tower Bridge to toast the boat's launch with more champagne. The yacht will race for the very first time on 27th October when Alex Thomson competes in the Transat Jacques Vabre race from France to Brazil.

Irish Sailing Pathfinder Women at the Helm 2019

Olympic Sailor Offers Top Ten Tips for Race Officers

Olympic helmsman Mark Mansfield, who is now a sailing coach, provides some sailor-focused thoughts for Race Officers Over the past few years, I have been competing in various sailing events throughout Ireland, the UK, Europe and the USA. Very often it is the same issues that repeatedly come up which the sailors are not happy with. Invariably, it is either race course set up or the conduct of the race management or both. Race Officers roles are primarily linked to on-the-water race management. They are responsible for laying the course and starting and finishing the races. The most experienced become International Race Officials recognised by the International Sailing Federation. Here in Ireland, we are blessed with having some excellent Race Officers who not only officiate in events in this country but also further afield, all the way up to the Olympic Games. Some others, however, are still learning their trade and this can lead to frustration with the sailors so here are some tips for Race officers from a competitors perspective. Tip 1. The Waiting Game The biggest complaint from sailors is always waiting around between races to get the next start going. Often when there are three or four classes on the same course area, there can be an hour between the first class finishing and the final competitors for the last class to finish. This is very frustrating. At an event I did this year, the J Cup in Hamble, the race officer used a separate finishing boat (a rib) to record the finishers. The start line was always positioned behind the leeward gate with the start buoy always in place and ready for a new start. At the end of each class's last leg, the fleet went around the left-hand gate (facing downwind) which was positioned to the left of the startline and reached to the finish. Once that class was finished they were told to get to the start and a new race sequence would start again in 10 minutes. There were six classes on the one racecourse and three races were completed in record time. Each day. classes were starting again while other classes were still coming down the last run. Tip 2. Pick Your Time Start the racing early (or late) if possible. Though not always a race officers decision, if only one or even two races are being sailed, try and not use up the whole day with sailing. Boats are finding it harder and harder to get crew, and sailors often have family or other commitments at weekends. Races starting at 12 midday, as often they are, involve realistically a full day in order to maybe just do two races, each lasting one hour. Were racing in these cases to start at 10.30 and if the time between was kept to a minimum, then the sailing could be finished by 13.00, leaving an afternoon free. Likewise, as they do with DBSC racing, starting at 14.00 or 14.30, leaves the whole morning available for other matters. Tip 3. VHF Banter Keep the chat over the VHF to a minimum during the race sequences. Often you hear Race officers over the VHF “coaching” competitors that they are too close to the line, and sometimes even telling boats that they are over, even before the start. I can understand this is local league racing, but in recent years it is sometimes also happening in bigger events. Starting is part of the sport and working out whether you get to the line early or late is a tactical choice. Tip 4. 'Ping' the Line Nowadays most competitive boats are using startline GPS aids like Racegeek or Velocitek pro starts. These require the boats to 'ping' both ends of the line. If a race officer decides to move either the Committee boat or the pin, they should allow 5 minutes or so before going into a sequence, as many boats will need to ping the line again. This came to a head at Scottish series this year when an Irish boat was disqualified for being around the start line as another class was in sequence. The reason for this was the pin was moved late, and then the Race officer went straight into a start sequence so many boats needed to re ping. Later in the regatta boats were in the same position needing to re ping, and were not disqualified. Tip 5. Perfection Not Required Often, a lot of time seems to be wasted by some race officers trying to get the perfect line and perfect first beat. Sometimes it is better to not be perfect and just get the race away. If it comes to pass, in 10 minutes or so of the race, that it was unfair, abandon it, and go again. Tip 6. Reaching Start is Toss of a Coin Avoid reaching starts if at all possible on inshore races. This is particularly so if the start line is near a shore and part of the line is affected by possibly less wind. In a big event, this type of start can determine a whole series. Often these starts are a toss of a coin as to which area of the line is best to start. At one regatta this year, a reaching start happened for various reasons in two races. The pin was closer to the first mark but in a bit of a lee from the shore. In these races, within a five minute period, competitors in one class got hammered for starting near the Pin. Then five minutes later, the pin was by far the place to start for the next class. It all depended if a gust came down to that part of the line or not. There's just too much luck involved with reaching starts. Tip 7. Keep Competitors Up to Date Before the race keep the fleet informed over the VHF if there are delays due to a lack of wind, huge shifts or other matters. Some Race officers in Ireland are very good at this, others less so. Tip 8. Big & Small Boats If at all possible, try not to start two different classes together in the same start in important regattas. A big boat with big sails can ruin a smaller boats start in the same race. All very well if they are in the same class, but if the bigger boat is in the class ahead, then a regatta can be decided by whether another big class boat comes over the top of you at a start and kills your ability to get away clean from the line. This is possibly more a race organisers decision, but race officers can be involved also in making these decisions. Tip 9. Vary Courses In a mixed fleet, race officers should try to vary the courses as much as the sailing instructions will allow. In IRC racing, asymmetric spinnaker boats like reaching, whereas the symmetrical boats generally like the windward/Leeward courses. A race officer determining to use all windward/leeward courses is effectively giving an advantage to the symmetrical boats. A mix of courses is better, if possible. Tip 10. Shorten When Needed Race officers need to be more proactive in shortening races to prevent, on occasions, half the fleet not making a finish in time and end up being scored DNF. This has happened a few times recently in Irish events and can be very frustrating for those that do not make the finish. Time out might be ok for tail-enders but certainly not ok if, say, only the top half of a fleet finish. When there is a dying breeze, the Race Officer should be on high alert to running out of time as competitors must finish within 30 minutes of each other. Options include shortening the leg of the course or finishing at the end of the previous leg.

Sailors from all over Northern Ireland are getting ready for RYANI’s Youth Championships this weekend.

It is the 30th year of the popular competition this year there is a focus on reducing plastic and ensuring the event is more environmentally sustainable. The Championships will run on Saturday and Sunday at Strangford Lough Yacht Club where over 160 sailors will also compete for the highly coveted Northern Ireland Schools Cup and Club Trophy. The Green Blue Charter is a UK-wide environmental awareness initiative which was developed by the RYA and British Marine and its aim is to work towards promoting a sustainable boating community. In line with the Charter, RYANI has this year committed to ensuring the Youth Championships have an environmental focus which will ultimately safeguard the waters and habitats for the future. Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful has also supported the Green Blue Charter and have provided litter pickers for the event. In 2018 the Green Blue and RYANI has already delivered a series of workshops to educate clubs and instructors in Strangford Lough, which is an area of natural beauty. Through the workshops, the importance of protecting marine habitats and species, including birds, was highlighted. A new-look website has also recently been launched, which provides useful resources as well as educational activities for young boaters that can be delivered on the water and onshore. The most popular of these is Marine CSI which gives young people the chance to become marine special agents by analysing fingerprints, unscrambling puzzles and testing water samples. Other resources include instructor teaching aids to help pass on environmental good practice to students on RYA courses, a variety of eye-catching infographics and video clips to help communicate sustainable boating top tips via social media, e- newsletters, emails, news articles and display screens. Campaign manager Kate Fortnam, said: “The Green Blue is excited to announce the launch of its brand new website. The new site will provide bespoke information on key environmental issues, current best practice guidance, green products and services, as well as an array of awareness raising resources to help boat users, clubs, training centres, instructors and marine businesses in communicating the good practice we can all adopt and facilitate to make our boating more sustainable.” The Green Blue also provides outreach activities to help the recreational boating community raise awareness and share good practice among others. Activities include workshops at RYA, British Marine and stakeholder conferences, presentations at the RYA Dinghy Show and Southampton Boat Show, talks to boating clubs, businesses and organisations, training for RYA instructors and interactive activities and stands for boating events. The Green Blue continues to work closely with the marine leisure industry and develop partnerships with those keen to raise awareness and help make UK boating more sustainable, including Sunsail Ltd, Dean & Reddyhoff Marinas, Elvstrom Sails, Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy, RS Aero Class Association, the Personal Watercraft Partnership, British University Sailing Association (BUSA) and the Andrew Simpson Foundation. The campaign has given them the tools to raise awareness and put in place facilities to enable their staff, customers, members, competitors and spectators to become ‘Green Blue Champions’. By working towards an environmentally self-regulating boating community, The Green Blue aims to help boaters minimise the impact they have on the environment and protect wildlife and its habitats so they can enjoy the marine environment far into the future. To get an insight into The Green Blue’s activities, explore collaborative opportunities, discover current good practice and access the variety of resources visit www.thegreenblue.org.uk follow @thegreenblue on social media, email info@thegreenblue.org.uk or contact Kate Fortnam on 023 8060 4227.

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