Dinghy Sailing Coniston Water and Wild Cat Island as part of the Yodare ...

Offshore Sailing Top Tips from Yannick Lemonnier of UK Sailmakers Ireland

The Mainsail The main is the one sail that we always have up, no matter the point of sail. Trimming and managing it is crucial to success – so how can you make life a bit easier? Stitch all your battens. This is as simple as using a hand sewing needle to put a quick stitch at the extremity of each batten pocket. This fully secures your battens no matter what weather you encounter. The consequences of losing battens can be dramatic for the integrity of the sail and its performance. Reefing. Tie the bottom part of your mainsail with small diameter bungee and plastic clips instead of solid rope. Releasing your reef with one tie remaining can seriously damage your sail – and can easily happen when tired or on a dark night. Glow-in-the-dark draft stripes. These make trimming your sails at night so easy. Each stripe should be marked at the 50% chord length to give a good shape reference. These stripes can be retrofitted to older sails (depending on their age). Reef assistant. This is a great option for regular offshore racers. Basically it is an additional pennant set just above your reefing eye at the luff end of your mainsail. It gives you a solid anchor to either pull your reef towards its hook or release pressure to unhook the reef in strong winds. Tie up the sail, not the boom! This is one we see a lot. When lashing up your reefed sail to not tie it around the boom. Instead, lash it around itself. You should have a tie going from the leeward side, around the loose sail between itself and the boom, and tied securely on the windward side with an easy to release knot. Headsails When sailing upwind or tight reaching, depending on your inventory, you will be using your headsails – quite likely multiple headsails. Keeping on top of them and practising crew manoeuvres with them is critical to a successful offshore race. Stitch all your battens. This is the same as with your mainsail – but even more so as your headsails are more exposed to flapping as they are hoisted and dropped. Securing the battens is essential. This is a really quick and basic job which can prevent a lot of trouble down the line. Peels and tack peels. This manoeuvre is a must – and it is not complicated with proper training and the correct setup. Having a second attachment either side of the tack attachment point is recommended. And make sure to keep a close eye on your halyard to ensure no wraps occur. I would recommend to always drop the sail on the inside as dropping outside is risky and can lead to you losing your sail! Glow-in-the-dark draft stripes. As with the mainsail, these make setting halyard tension, car positions, sheet tension etc much more efficient at night. Glow tell tails on the luff make steering and trimming a doddle on those dark nights. Spare sheet and block. This is to clip onto the outside rail, or purpose installed padeye, to outhaul the headsail on a reach. This is essential. Every time your clew moves up and down you are losing power. A well-positioned outboard lead padeye and the hardware to go with it makes a huge difference to off the breeze speed. Know your inventory. Knowing your sails is critical regarding wind range and angles. Where is your limit between J2 and J3? Between an outhauled genoa and code zero? The only answer is practice and recording. Experiment with different setups and take note of what works, and more importantly, what doesn’t! Spinnakers We all love sailing downwind when offshore. It can be fast and fun. It can certainly be a lot more comfortable than beating into a gale! But it brings its own challenges. Choose your colour carefully. White spinnakers are difficult to trim at night. They are like a ghost. I would recommend a dark colour to get more contrast – I also find white harder on your eyes in bright sunshine. Velcro for control. Heavy spinnakers should be equipped with Velcro banding to keep them deflated while hoisting. They allow you to hoist the sail and stabilize the boat, then pop the sail out when everything is ready. Repair early. Gets lots of 100mm insignia tape (stick-back dacron) to fix small tears that can become a bigger problem. This tape can also fix other sails along with a bottle of acetone (nail varnish remover) to remove salt and dry the sail surface. Inspect for chafe. Don’t worry, we’re talking about your halyards! If on a long spinnaker run chafe can become a real issue. Covers can wear on sheaves or deflectors overnight. Ease the halyard a foot and check with the binoculars for visible signs of damage. If you can see it with binoculars it will be a bigger problem sooner rather than later. Peeling practice. Peeling spinnakers is actually easier than peeling headsails. The most crucial element is good halyard management. Have a spare peeling sheet, with snap shackle, ready and accessible. Think and talk the manoeuvre through – and, as always, practice! Storm Sails Whether we like to admit it or not, there is a tendency to see storm sails as a box-ticking exercise. Not many sailors have a clue how to rig them, never mind use them properly! Storm sails Firstly they should be stored in a separate dry bag. Piston hanks tend to corrode in an offshore environment unless used regularly – they should be replaced with soft shackles. The storm jib should have a tack strop of a set length. This should position the sail at a height that lines the clew up nicely with your jib car position. The trysail should ideally be on a separate track. It should be rigged with spinnaker sheets lead inside the guard rails – as we discovered after training in just under 50 knots! Summary A huge part of offshore racing is managing your energy. By making the boat as easy to sail as possible, and removing any potential issues before they occur, you can put 100% of your energy into making the boat go fast. Plan, practice, and enjoy your offshore adventures

Encountering Storm Force 10

Guy competes with the British America's Cup team | Guy Martin Proper

Two North West Clubs to Merge

Two North West sailing clubs are set to merge. Wigan Sailing Club and Pilkington Sailing Club have agreed to combine as Wigan and St Helens Sailing Club (WiSH SC), the merger to be finalised in 2020 after remaining formalities are completed. Wigan SC was formed 51 years ago and is based at Scotman's Flash and Pilkington SC is 62 years old, being based at Eccleston Mere, St Helens since 1960. The move has been brought about because of growing pressures on Pilkington SC, including massive increases in rental, imposed by new landlords who bought Eccleston Mere from the Pilkington glass-making company five years ago. At the time the club had been negotiating to take over the lake themselves but were told it had been sold. Leading members of the Pilkington SC committee visited other local clubs in search of a solution. At Wigan one Sunday they were met by Neil Hornby (now Commodore) who promptly invited them into the clubhouse for a coffee and chat. Neil asked the club what had happened with its landlord and promptly responded with: "Would you consider a merger?" That led to more meetings and plans began to develop. "We chatted to them and asked about their vision and realised that as a club they are just the same as us. They have different faces and names but we fit together very well." When the talks got to formal proposals, Wigan’s Extraordinary General Meeting voted unanimously to merge. For Pilkington SC Commodore Andrew Melding, the future had become more positive: "The welcome was almost unbelievable. After two meetings we realised that the future lay with a bigger club, with bigger water and better sailing." "We have really only been discussing the merger since January so we have made enormous progress. The new plan will continue to supply sailing to the St Helens community just as Pilkington has done." Pilkington Sailing Club have now held their special meeting to endorse the merger. Fittingly on Sunday 15 September, the club won the trophy they had donated to the West Lancashire Sailing Club 24 Hour Race on the Marine Lake at Southport, sailing under their old name for the last time. In the image, Neil Hornby is on the left shaking hands with Andrew Melding

Young teens sail from Greenock to Inverness as national charity relay hits half way mark

Ten students between the ages of 13 and 14 are sailing from Greenock to Inverness this week in a relay-style charity sail across the UK coastline to raise money for YMCA Newark and Sherwood. Newark and Sherwood is currently ranked 323rd out of 324 in the UK by the Social Mobility Commission. As a result, YMCA Newark and Sherwood have joined forces with Tall Ships Youth Trust to host 80 residents from the district as they sail around the UK to raise funds for the £13m not-for-profit YMCA Newark and Sherwood Community and Activity Village. The teens, from Magnus Church of England Academy in Newark, are setting off on the fifth leg of the national sail, as it passes its halfway point in Scotland. They will be sailing for five days to Inverness, where the next team will then take over. With the help of experienced sailors from Tall Ships, they will get the full experience - eating, sleeping and learning to sail on a 72-foot Challenger Yacht. Each group falls under a different reason for the Community Village - the teens make up the “Education for All” section, representing the fact that all school pupils should have the same learning opportunities. Other groups include “Inclusion for Excellence” which are those who are not currently in employment or education, and “Tackling the Challenge”, sports representatives from the district. The full trip will see other members of the Nottinghamshire community sail to and from cities such as Hull, Portsmouth and London, where the Tower Bridge will ceremoniously open. The Community Village will be the first of its kind, aiming to ultimately bring opportunities to the isolated rural area. Craig Berens, Chief Operating Officer of YMCA Newark and Sherwood, said: “The cornerstone of our work is to create equal lifelong opportunities for all, no matter what their background is. Early life experiences influence your core values into adulthood and opportunities for young people to thrive often rely on an unfair postcode lottery which negatively affects social wellness, healthy living and youth development in deprived communities. “We know that poor developmental opportunities can significantly contribute to not just wealth, but to life expectancy. This community project is about inclusion and opportunity for those of all ages - five or 50 - to belong, contribute and thrive.” YMCA is a national charity which supports youth development, healthy living and social responsibility to build stronger communities through a plethora of services. From accommodation for homeless young people to a range of skills-based training and apprenticeship schemes, the charity is based on Christian values of caring, honesty and respect. The voyage has been made possible by BNA Charitable Incorporated Organisation, which has funded the trip around the UK so that all fundraising goes towards the YMCA Community and Activity Village.

Osprey Nationals 2019

Wales’s top young sailors shine in the rain in Mumbles

Around 80 of the best up and coming sailors in Wales braved some testing weather conditions in the sea off Mumbles in the 2019 Welsh Regional Championships.The Welsh Regional event is part of the British Youth Sailing Championships, with similar trials for the best young sailors being held all round the UK. Llandudno sailors came down from North Wales to take two of the top prizes in the main fleets, with Cardiff Bay and Pembrokeshire Performance Sailing Academy (PPSA) also claiming top spots. One of the most impressive performance was the General Handicap fleet win for 13 and 12-year-olds Freddie MacClaverty and Kiera Luke from Llandudno, winning the last two races to come out on top of the Under 18 category in their junior RS Feva boat. Llion Morris, of Llandudno/Rydal Penrhos, claimed two wins out of the four races possible to claim the Topper title. Llandegfedd’s Alicia Biggs was eighth overall and top girl. It was Cardiff Bay’s Ellie Creighton who came out on top overall in the Optimist class, thanks to a perfect record of four wins, with second place in the final race taking Cian Epstein of Llangorse into second overall and top boy. It was a PPSA one/two in the RS Tera Sport category with Macsen Barber coming first up against clubmate Sirene Le Petit. “We managed to complete the event this year with four races on the second day after the first was just too windy,” explained RYA Cymru Wales High Performance Manager Paul Simes. “It was challenging conditions, heavy rain with strong gusts of wind, however even the Regatta fleets, which is ages eight up to 11, completed four races. “The main fleet were out there for four hour-long races, and there were still loads of smiling faces at the end. “It helped the weather got better and we finished in sunshine, but you have to applaud our sailors – they put themselves through the mill to try and go away with a medal. “There were many impressive performances. To have a Feva win in the General Handicap fleet is unusual, Freddie and Kiera won the last two races and that was one of the highlights because they are aged 12 and 13, beating 17-year-old children. “Another outstanding performance was Alicia Biggs, in the Topper fleet, finishing first girl. She has not been doing it that long and has come a long way from the back of the fleet to the front of the fleet. “Cian Epstein in the Optimists main fleet has worked his way into the Wales national squad and finishing as top boy here was a breakthrough for him. “Numbers overall were good, 60 boats in the main fleet, 15 more in the regatta fleet, so eighty odd sailors here despite the forecast for Saturday. “This is always one of the highlights of the Welsh boating calendar, but next year this event will be a major selection event, along with the Welsh Youth and Juniors Championship, for anyone who wants to be picked for the Welsh squad and the pathway to international honours because the RYA are choosing not to have RYA UK Junior Squads from October 2020 onwards.” In the Regatta Fleets, there was a Topper win for Edward Corbett, Llangorse, while top girl on home waters was Florence Tovey of Mumbles. Matilda Corbett, Llangorse, came first in the Optimist, with Cardiff Bay’s Emily Kinsella second and Rowan Joseph of PPSA in third. Stella Le Petit won the RS Tera Sport category of the Regatta Fleets, with PPSA clubmate Keira Edwards in second.

Hop on a yacht, RIB, dinghy or paddleboard and head to the world's biggest floating Macmillan coffee morning — off the Isle of Wight coast

MACMILLAN coffee mornings will be held across the Isle of Wight on Friday — including one onboard a fleet of boats anchored at Osborne Bay. Intended to be the world's biggest floating coffee morning, the event has been organised by Ballistic RIBs and Boat Club Trafalgar, both part of the Trafalgar Group teams, based in Portsmouth. Staff will be serving cakes baked by the team onboard the Selene, a 22ft powerboat, and fresh coffee donated by the Raw Bean Coffee Company. RIBS will zip around the bay between 10.30am and 2.30pm, delivering coffee and cakes to customers on other boats, kayaks and even paddleboards. Event organiser and cake contributor Heather Shepherd, from Ballistic said: “Cancer touches many lives, and we wanted to do something a little different for our world’s biggest floating coffee morning, to support Macmillan. Doing it by getting as many people out on the water as possible seemed like a fun idea.” “Everyone is welcome to come and help raise much needed money for people living with cancer, and you can arrive by kayak, paddleboard, rowing boat, powerboat, dinghy or sailing yacht — just remember to bring a donation for your coffee and cake.” During the event, there will be a visit by the Bubblehead Rowers, a team of four professional divers taking part in the 3,000-mile Talisker Whisky Atlantic Row in aid of the Wessex Cancer Trust. Every two minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with cancer, with more than 2.5 million people suffering with the disease. Numbers are set to grow to nearly four million by 2030. Macmillan said it was almost entirely funded by donations and cannot support the growing number of people with cancer without the public’s help. For more details on the event, email Heather Shepherd at heather@ballisticribs.com

King Tubby & Poppy Draycote Playing

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.