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Glandore Harbour Yacht Club’s Latest Sunday Dinghy League Has Members Hungry For More

From its foundation in 1985, there was always something of a ‘pop-up’ nature about Glandore Harbour Yacht Club in West Cork which would see craft and operations arrive and thrive from early summer to disappear again in September. This began to change with the purchase and opening of a clubhouse in 2013; gone was the shipping container HQ. The sailing was, however, still confined mainly to summer. In 2018, club members Kevin Percy, Warren Browne and Tim Forde held a meeting which led to the establishment of Autumn and Spring Dinghy Leagues. It was imagined that it might involve a fleet of five or six dinghies each Sunday. Ronan Daly Jermyn (RDJ) sponsored a perpetual trophy and they were off. What was intended as a league for young sailors, with a welcome for the not so young, has seen Lasers being dusted off, bought and borrowed by parents and club members in the Masters and Grand Masters age categories, with a member in the Great Grand Master age range showing how it’s done at the front of the fleet. To reflect and welcome this reality, the club split the prizes into an overall result and U18s result. The recent league also saw the club’s first foray into digital race management by local race officers John Williams and Tim Forde with race management being run and scored from a tablet on the water, the data file being emailed ashore for entry on Sailwave and website publication. The league has become a very social Sunday event in the clubhouse, with catering by a great team of volunteers and even swimming by the hardiest competitors. The growth in the league has exceeded all expectations, with 30 boats registered for the recent series, again generously sponsored by RDJ. The Autumn League closed out last Sunday 20 October with Squib sailor Sean Thompson overall winner and Dragon sailor Peter Hayes winning at U18 — and all the talk was, ‘When are we starting again?’

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HANSA EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - Team VLOG from Portugal

Scottish chef Martin Wishart to sail across Atlantic Ocean for charity

A Michelin-starred Scots chef will attempt to sail across the Atlantic Ocean next month to raise money for a Parkinson's charity. Martin Wishart will be joined on the boat by four other people as they take on the four-week challenge, and hopes to raise £40,000 for The Cure Parkinson's Trust (CPT). A decade ago, Mr Wishart's mother Georgia was diagnosed with the disease, which affects around 145,000 people in the UK. The chef will be joined on the trip by Rupert Jenkins, Lindsay Henderson, Kenneth Leask and Duncan Lonie, who will sail in a Hanse 415 named Nizuc for 24 hours a day non-stop with a rotating shift of three hours on, four hours off. Social media pages on Facebook and Instagram will chart the group's progress over the 3,500-mile journey. Having already sailed trips up to Shetland and across the North Sea to Denmark, the crew are now waiting to leave from Portugal in two weeks. Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Friday, Wishart said: "Sailing across the Atlantic sets its own unique challenge - for instance, the waves can be huge, although that doesn't usually pose a problem because the boat should actually just surf down these waves. "But you could come across bad weather, heavy rain. We'll be keeping a firm lookout on the weather forecast and safety is the priority here." After leaving Portugal they will follow the coast of west Africa before plotting a south-westerly course via Gran Canaria to pick up trade winds and head west towards St Lucia. Mr Wishart, from Edinburgh, said his "great team" will look after his Edinburgh restaurant, adding he is "in safe hands leaving them running the restaurant while I'm away". He said: "We came up with the idea back in March so we've been preparing for the nine months. "A lot of the preparation's down to getting the boat ready with all the safety equipment we need, training involved for the crew and obviously we've been preparing getting the boat ready with food. "I've got special nets to keep fruit safe and fresh. We'll make fresh bread every day - we've only got a small oven on board - we'll be fishing as well so we hope to catch some fish along the way. "I think working in the kitchen poses its own set of unique issues day-to-day working with the ingredients that we buy in. "The galley on the boat is a lot smaller, you can brace yourself, with only two gas rings to cook on I don't think the menu is going to be too adventurous." So far more than £12,000 has been raised for CPT through the Martin Wishart Atlantic Sail Virgin Giving Money website. Will Cook, CEO of the charity, said: "We are hugely grateful to Martin for taking on this incredible journey for CPT. "Not only is he planning this challenging sail across the Atlantic but he has also been working tirelessly to raise money and awareness of CPT's work on finding a cure for Parkinson's in his restaurants and across the culinary industry. "Thank you, Martin and good luck - may you have fair winds and following seas."

TWELVE teenagers have sailed 250 miles along the English channel, tackling a Force 8 storm in the process.

The Year 8 and 9 pupils from Portsmouth Academy took part in the five-day voyage from Gunwharf Quays to Chatham in Kent as part of an initiative run by the Essex Sailing Trust. Not only were the youngsters responsible for sailing the 22 metre yacht but also had duties including cooking and cleaning. Holly Manning, aged 12, said: ‘This was was the best experience I’ve had at school. I enjoyed helping others while on board and I really feel more independent than at the start of the trip.’ Fellow crew member, Andreea Robu, 13, added: ‘I was really proud when we completed the journey and the biggest thing I learnt was to have patience with other people. I really enjoyed doing the night watch when you had to make sure we didn’t collide with other vessels.’ The crew set off on September 23 into a Force 8 gale and the stormy conditions and high seas led to the youngsters having to deal with challenging conditions, including bouts of sea sickness. Adina Robu, 12, said: ‘It was scary at times and after two days I wanted to go home. However, I’m really glad I stayed as it was a brilliant feeling knowing we had battled through and completed the journey.’ The children were inspired to undertake the sailing adventure after tracking head of geography, Kirsty French, in her own maritime challenge. Kirsty said: ‘The school gave me permission to take part in the ARC rally, a trans-Atlantic sailing race, and some of the students really enjoyed tracking my progress. It really ignited that little spark and when I returned to school they were keen to take part in an adventure of their own.’ The pupils had to go through a rigorous selection process including writing a letter of application and interview. For Kirsty, the experience was all about allowing students to develop as individuals. ‘There was a real change in some of the students during the the week. Those who were the most quiet at the start developed as real leaders by the end. Everyone on board the vessel stepped up to the mark; overcoming all challenges that came their way. I couldn’t be more proud of the students,’ she said.

Sir Ben launches Britannia – the America’s Cup yacht he hopes will rule the waves

THE boat with which Sir Ben Ainslie hopes to rule the waves, skippering a British team to America’s Cup glory, has been officially christened. The former Lymington resident, Britain’s most decorated Olympic sailor, was on hand to unveil the boat’s name, Britannia, alongside multi-billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Sir Ben is heading up Team Ineos GB, which will contest the coveted sailing trophy when the America’s Cup heads to New Zealand in 2021. The bid is being sponsored to the tune of £110m by petrochemical giant Ineos, which still has offices in Lyndhurst and was founded by Sir Jim, who has a house in Beaulieu. Sir Ben hailed Britannia, adding: “The quest to win the 36th America’s Cup has required a fresh approach, a new strategy and serious support from Ineos to focus entirely on the mission in hand. “I’m hugely proud of the team’s commitment to design and build our first race-boat, it’s taken a serious amount of hard work and now we can’t wait to get Britannia out sailing on the Solent.” The AC75 vessel has an estimated top speed of 50 knots – or 57.5mph. Mechanically it has 25,000 individual parts, weighs 6.45 tonnes, its hull and rig were constructed using carbon fibre and it can carry 11 crew members weighing a maximum of 990kg. Outlining the challenge, the boat’s chief designer, Nick Holroyd, explained: “This AC75 is the first foiling monohull of this size, it’s unlike anything ever seen on the water before.” Its name is a homage to the racing cutter yacht Britannia whose name in turn was taken from James Thomson’s famous poem Rule, Britannia! written in 1740. The original was built in 1893 for the then-Prince of Wales who became King Edward VII, before King George V took ownership and converted her into a J-Class racing yacht, the type sailed in three editions of the America’s Cup, 1930-1937. She eventually finished with a lifetime record of 231 race wins and 129 further podiums making her the dominant yacht of the time. King George V decreed his yacht should not outlive him, and after his death in 1936, she was stripped of her spars and fittings, towed out to St Catherine’s Deep off the Isle of Wight – the same waters in which the first America’s Cup was raced back in 1851 – and scuttled by the Royal Navy. The mast and fittings of the yacht were saved, with the wheel subsequently fitted to the wheelhouse of the Royal Yacht Britannia, steering her for the next 44 years. Ineos Team UK will test the new vessel on the waters of the Solent in Portsmouth before heading to Sardinia for winter testing ahead of the first America’s Cup World Series event in April next year.

The Swallow Yachts Coast 250 by Sailing Today magazine

Top Tips for the Pit Role on a Cruiser-Racer

The pit or “strings” is a vital role aboard any boat; but not just mechanically, explains Barry Hayes of UK Sailmakers Ireland. A good pit person is involved in everything. Every sail manoeuvre, the start, on the rail, aiding communication and keeping the plan cohesive from front to back. Although often overlooked; it is actually one of the most important roles on the boat. Many of us over our time sailing have done the pit and experience the pressure points of the role. Here are some tips to make your life easier and help the pit team, and boat, run like clockwork. 1. Main Halyard Tie the main halyard back on to the clutch. We’ve all seen it. There is a high-pressure drop and in the rush, the wrong clutch is opened. This can easily happen if the halyard isn’t marked and it’s your first time on the boat. Tie it off good and tight so it’s never opened unless its meant to be. 2. Hatch Halyard Bag Build a long halyard bags for the jib and spinnaker halyards. Two long pockets with wide openings. Each halyard goes into its own pocket so it never gets messed up / stood on / tangled or knotted. It also keeps the rope out of everyone’s way. I normally make them out of mesh. 3. Halyard Organiser Add a Harken 56 mm crossover block to your pit setup. This allows you to take a halyard across to the opposite side winch and grind it up, under load, without any issues. This handy little tool saves time and space. 4. Hobbles Use hobbles to your jib sheets. This frees up your genoa winches for bear away sets and drops. You can use the kite sheets on the genoa winch while having the genoa eased on the hobble for a hoist or drop. This gives you loads of time to load a sheet onto the winch. Simply put some spectra lashing through the genoa sheet about 1ft in front of the turning block. Spice a spectra strop about 2 feet longer than that point. The jib can be eased out onto the hobble for the bear away, leaving the winch free for the kite sheet. 5. Fraculator This is a simple tool to help the pit to be ready to hoist the jib at a moments notice. A fraculator allows you to keep the jib halyard under load, both pulling the rig forward and keeping the halyard tight to the forestay, removing any chance of the kite wrapping inside it on a gybe. Once you unclip the fraculator the jib is ready to hoist. A fraculator is normally a 1.2 / 1.4 m strop with a snap shackle, tied to the base of the forestay. 6. Spinnaker Sheets If you use your top winches to trim the kite you can find yourself rushing to strip the winch and get the sheet loaded at the windward mark before the spinnaker hoist. Instead, loop the kite sheet loosely around the winch before loading up the genoa halyard for upwind sailing. That way it is ready for action when you drop the jib. The trimmer simply takes up the slack as you drop the genoa halyard off the winch. 7. Headsail Mark Instead of having a mark on the jib halyard, put a mark on the headsail foil and a corresponding mark on the luff of the jib. So you can set the halyard to the correct tension no matter which headsail you have up. As the luff length change the so does the marks on your halyard so having a mark on the foil and the headsail maker the luff tension perfect every time. 8. Work With Your Mast Man. Not Against Him Keep an eye on your mast man at all time. He is the key to your operations. Make sure your arm pulls are the same speed and length as his. You must keep the halyard flow going at a good even speed so the halyard doesn’t get jammed in the block. When hoisting you don’t need a winch to keep up with your mast man. The winch slows down the speed of the hoist. Just pull it from the back side of the clutch. 9. Code Zero When dropping the code zero the bow man should be bringing it down to windward. Ease the halyard a little when dropping. But just 2 feet. So he can swing the sail over the forestay and get it under control. It makes the drop 100 times easier. Always leave the code zero halyard on the winch. as the clutch is not designed to take the load. 10. Halyard Drops When dropping the kite you need to depower the sail quickly. The best way to do this, when the crew are ready, is to drop ¼ of the halyard. I normally have a blue mark on it so I know the point. Just open the clutch, fire the halyard and close it again when the mark comes to the clutch. I never use a winch to drop the halyard as it slows down the process. 11. Communicate from Start to Finish Keep the commutation flow in the pit throughout the start sequence and beyond. Call the time for the crew and help with the calls on boats which may not be visible to the helm. Make sure to ping the start boat and pin end with your starting instruments. You’re the key to the team working well and the flow in the boat. The pit is the best link between the back of the boat thinking and the front of the boat reality. You have to play in both fields and keep the communication going. Listen to tactical calls from the back while feeding useful information back from the rail. Relay potential hoists, drops, sail changes etc to the bow team so they can prepare for any eventuality. Be clear and concise. Communicate with the team and do the best you can to help everyone do their jobs.