SCOTLAND'S Boat Show At Inverkip This Weekend With Attractions On And Off Shore

THOUSANDS of visitors from all over the UK will head to Kip Marina, Inverclyde this weekend as the 33rd annual Scotland’s Boat Show takes to the water and shore with an unrivalled display of boats and attractions that places it in the forefront of the Scottish marine calendar. Opening on Friday (11 October), the three-day show -- the largest of its kind in Scotland and second largest in the UK -- promises something for everyone with an interest in the marine and leisure sectors. There will be displays of new and pre-owned boats to suit every taste and budget including new models making their Scottish debut. Visitors can explore a range of high quality pre-owned boats from Michael Schmidt & Partners. Roseann Sweeney of the brokerage said: “We will have a full display of boats for all budgets at Scotland’s Boat Show this year and there is great demand already from customers." In the new boat area, Inspiration Marine will have the spectacular Hanse yachts on display together with the latest addition to their portfolio, Ballistic RIB’s. These boats will be open to the public and there is the chance to book a demo trip. Sail enthusiasts can enjoy Swedish company Arcona’s cruising and racing offering. There will be a selection of new sail and powerboats from prestigious companies like DDZ Marine, Windermere Aquatic, Sunbird and Redbay. Marine Sales Scotland’s spectacular powerboat display expands again this year and promise boats for all budgets and interests including the latest stunning models from Quicksilver and Bavaria. Managing director Stan Prosser said: “Scotland’s Boat Show at Kip Marina has firmly established itself as the most important show in the North and continues to attract more visitors from all over the UK year on year, with Marine Sales Scotland similarly enjoying increased sales each show.” At the small boat area, Hartley Boats display of award-winning sport dinghies always attracts large numbers of visitors. Meanwhile,the ever popular RYA (Royal Yachting Association) Scotland pavilion showcases the latest marine and leisure products from UK wide companies and, with the aim of encouraging more people to get involved in boats and boating in Scotland for the first time, it’s also the base for free sessions on powerboats and RIBs under the expert eye of RYA Scotland’s instructor partner You and Sea Training. The 60-foot Clipper round-the-world race yacht Taeping will be open to visitors throughout the show and with the opportunity to step on board, get an up-close view of the accommodation and ask the crew questions. Back on shore, the Cruising Association are the new main sponsor of the popular stage and theatre in the RYA Scotland pavilion and they are presenting three days of entertaining and informative free lectures and presentations on topics ranging from expert advice on Sailing Round Britain to sampling fresh Scottish seafood. More under cover exhibition space is added for 2019 with the Inverclyde Pavilion becoming the venue for various marine and leisure exhibitors, sailing clubs and an expanded Kip Marina chandlery and outdoor clothing Store plus The Chartroom café. In the car and motorhome area, visitors can see the latest models from Porsche, Morgan and other prestigious manufacturers, luxury holiday homes from Cloch Caravans, and West Coast Harley Davidson's latest iconic motorbike models. The Caledonian MacBrayne Lifestyle Pavilion will be full of artisan craft and luxury goods exhibitors with everything from fashion to furniture, and there will be food and drink exhibitors in the adjacent West College Scotland Food and Drink Pavilion including seafood, baking and cheese form some of the country’s best producers. The pavilion will also host cookery demonstrations from hospitality students as they show off their skills using fresh Scottish produce. On Sunday, TV chef Nick Nairn presents three live demonstrations. Entertainment will include pipe bands, Inverclyde and Largs Rock Choirs and birds of prey from KG Hawks. There will be a food truck area and youngsters can enjoy the children’s play area. Holt Leisure managing director Gavin McDonagh said: “The Boat Show team have worked tirelessly to build on previous years’ successes and, together with our key partners and sponsors, we are delighted to have established Scotland’s Boat Show as the major event on the Scottish marine calendar for both our visitors and those involved in Scotland’s marine and tourism businesses." Admission is free. Car parking is £5 per vehicle.

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Jonny guides GB blind sailors to world title

A SAILOR from Milnthorpe has used his expertise to guide the Great Britain Blind Sailing Team to a world championship. Each team at the Blind Fleet Racing World Championships in Ontario, Canada, was allowed a sighted tactician and Jonny Cormack filled that role for the GBR B3 team. And his long experience working with blind sailors proved crucial as the team landed a silver medal in their category, with their contribution helping the British squad to the overall team gold. "We have been training hard for this event, using Windermere as one of the venues to get the team used to lake sailing conditions," he said. "Coming away with silver and competing for gold shows we are up there with the best and contributing to the overall team's world title is awesome." Mr Cormack is hoping in the future to take the team a step further by providing instruction for them to sail unaccompanied with the help of sighted sailors in accompanying boats and buoys which give off bleeping sounds to guide the partially sighted crew. He has been involved with GBR Blind Sailing for more than 20 years, and has taken the team to four previous world championships with his Windermere Outdoor Adventure Centre colleague Jonny Stevenson. Mr Cormack's role is to guide the team of Mr Stevenson and two visually impaired sailors without actually touching any of the boat's controls, with the helm and main sail controlled by the two visually impaired crew members. The World Championship consists of three fleets, B1 with no sight, B2 with very low level useful vision and B3 with a small amount of useful vision, and with a bronze in B1 and gold in B2, Mr Cormack's B3 team's silver helped the squad to that overall gold, seeing off powerful teams from the likes of the USA, Canada, Japan and France. The medals are just reward for Mr Cormack whose time in training and competing with the team is all volunteered and who has played a major part in charity fundraising to enable the team to compete.

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Kiteracer from Poole crowned European champion

A 22-YEAR-old from Poole has been crowned Formula Kite European champion just a year after taking up the sport. Ellie Aldridge, who started out sailing at Parkstone Yacht Club at the age of seven, switched from sailing to kiteracing last year and has since gone from strength to strength. She finished on the podium in 12 of the 19 races at the Formula Kite European Championships, held in Torregrande, Sardinia, from Tuesday, September 24, to Sunday, September 29. She was only beaten to the overall European title by world champion Daniela Moroz of the USA. “It’s crazy, I can’t believe that it’s only been a year since I started foiling,” said Ellie. “This event has been the ultimate goal since we started this journey and it’s incredible to come away with a win. I’m speechless.” Ellie made the change from sailing the 49erFX skiff sailing boat to kite foiling, a sport combining racing and kitesurfing, when the British Sailing Team launched its #kite4gold talent search in September 2018. The initiative, in conjunction with the British Kitesports Association and the English Institute of Sport, was a response to the decision to include kite foiling at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She continued: “It was a big risk leaving my 49erFX campaign when it was going well but I felt this was something I needed to do. “The #kite4gold programme has been amazing. To get so many girls interested in the sport in the first place and now to have five of us now racing on the international stage has been great.” Ellie was one of seven talented young women chosen from hundreds to join the programme and begin training under the expert tutelage of experienced riders Connor Bainbridge and Johnnie Hutchcroft. Mark Nicholls, who leads the RYA’s Paris 2024 kite programme, said: “Winning both the European Championships and Mixed Relay event is an important milestone on the journey to kite gold in 2024 and a great success. “There is still some way to go to match the speed of the fastest riders on the world stage but as the #kite4gold project concludes and the athletes are considered for selection on to the British Sailing Team we are now well placed to match the high expectations we set when we started this journey – that of having three world class female riders capable of matching our exciting male talent to win gold in 2024.”

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Women On The Water 2019

A grassroots project, ‘Women on the Water’ at Prestwick Sailing Club in Ayrshire, has received an award to purchase new boats from Sunsail and received a unique VIP training session from the RYA’s Director of Racing, Ian Walker MBE. The club was awarded £5000 from a Sunsail’s Funding the Future competition in June which included a live Q&A which took place at the end of September. You can listen here to an interview here after the presentation. The sun shone for the session on Prestwick beach for the double silver-Olympic Medallist, winning Volvo Ocean Race skipper and America’s Cup veteran as he ran a fun session with the cadets, presented prizes and shared his story of his life in sailing. Ian even got back into a 420 with local sailor Tess Crook, who has just started in the class. We asked Sarah Green about the project. “We started our Women on the Water programme at Prestwick this season. It’s aimed at female sailors of all ages and abilities and it’s growing. We’ve had weekly sailing sessions throughout the season as well as a training course for women and girls in September. For next summer we’ve been lucky enough to get some John Merricks Sailing Trust funding to enable us to hold some subsidised girls-only Feva training. The aim of this training is help girls to build their confidence in double handed dinghy sailing and, for those interested in learning how to race, to establish some girls pairings to compete in the Scottish Club Trophy in August 2020. Sarah has also joined the Pioneer Project, a RYA Scotland Initiative which looks to collaborate in finding opportunities and exploring ideas to increase the activity of women in the sailing community from participation, coaching or performance aspects. “What drives me to get out on the water? It’s the sense of freedom and the magic of driving the boat around by using the wind, and of course the fun of sailing down waves. Every time you sail it is different. One time I had a porpoise breach almost right over the bow of my boat! That was amazing. Sailing is a great sport for building confidence and independence. For girls especially the friendship groups you can make through sailing are very important.” Neil Beveridge of Prestwick Sailing Club commented on the Women on the Water activities by saying. “The club has realised for some time that our women and girls representation on the water was much lower than we were happy with. We get lots of women and girls through our youth and adult training, but encouraging them to continue to sail is difficult. “The real impetus came from Sarah Green, who is a very keen sailor and racer, and shehas been able, not only be the friendly contact for women that wanted to continue to sail, but also helped us identify some reasons why they were not. One issue was that the two person training boats that we were using are just too heavy for two women to handle on the beach and on the water. That's why, having received the Sunsail Award, we decided to but two Hartley 12.2s. Sarah test sailed one and confirmed that they would be ideal. “As a club we have improved the clubhouse environment, and provided safety cover on the water on non-race days, both to make sailing for maybe less experienced women, more comfortable and welcoming. Add on top of this the sessions that Sarah had organised to encourage women and girls to sail together as a sociable group, and we have seen the numbers increase. The club hope to build on this next year with the purchase of another Feva and women’s coaching from the John Merricks Trust to continue the upward trend in participation.

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