DINGHY SAILING TOP TIPS - WIDENING YOUR WIND RANGE with Shaun Preistley

Hooe Point Sailing Club keeps on boating through the winter

It’s been the most difficult of years for sailing clubs, but, remarkably, there have been some very positive outcomes. Hooe Point Sailing Club in Plymouth has discovered a whole new lease of life as a result of introducing covid-safe activity. When lockdown restrictions were eased in June, the club’s committee worked on ways to restart sailing while reducing risk. Their solution, as with many clubs, was to change to pursuit-style racing that depended on competitors’ honesty in recording their positions, rather than a finish line. Committee member Mark Prue explains how they managed it: “We post a course and issue the start times on a dedicated WhatsApp group. Two-handed boats are all sailed by bubbles, and we’ve tightened down our sailing criteria, particularly with regard to minimum and maximum wind conditions, because it is too difficult under the restrictions to have a two-man safety boat out during a race. Instead, we have a one-man patrol boat on the water, not in a safety capacity but to monitor what’s going on; if the conditions are getting lively or something unanticipated happens, he can cancel the race.” In September, when traditionally dinghies have been taken off site and yachts are stored at the club till spring, the pursuit racing group – representing about 18 boats – asked if they could keep going through the winter. Fortunately, the Yacht Havens Group were very understanding of the situation and allowed the club some additional storage at Turnchapel Wharf, at a low price. This means that the dinghies can be kept available to sail over the winter. “Now we are running a winter series,” says Mark. “We’ve had 16 entries and have picked up some boats from other Plymouth sailing clubs. We’re sailing once a week on Saturday mornings - the general feedback from members was that they wanted a one-hour pursuit race before lunch. So, we’re planning on keeping it going right the way through, unless the weather gets too bad, and we’re lucky that we’re fairly sheltered in the river. We still have the same safety criteria, and we don’t go out if the forecast is more than 15 knots.” Not only has the club’s season been extended, but, reports Mark, its social side has been given a significant boost. This year’s pursuit racing has put a complete new aspect on the club, encouraging a lot of club members who wouldn’t normally take part in racing, as they perceive it as serious, to take part and have a go. The sailors are watching out for each other on the water and helping each other out if there are any issues. “We don’t have a club bar, so it hasn’t been a very social club up to now,” says Mark. “But the banter on the WhatsApp group chat has created a lovely social group. It’s all virtual for now, of course, but this has brought people together and developed much more of a community. This year has changed everything – after covid, things will be different.”

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Salcombe Yacht Club ladies keep on sailing

The Ladies that Launch (LTL) group at Salcombe Yacht Club (SYC) has just celebrated its tenth anniversary – not quite in the way originally intended, but simply by getting back on the water successfully after the spring lockdown. Jayne Morris, who works as Sailing Co-ordinator at SYC, has volunteered with LTL since the beginning. As soon as she had been unfurloughed and started getting boats back on the water for the cadets, she attended one of the RYA #returntoboating webinars to help with the club planning. “It was very helpful,” she explains. “It gave us confidence that we could make a plan that was possible and safe. I worked with the Sailing Committee and one of our cadet volunteers to make it happen.” Helped by Sailing Development Officer Stuart Jones, Jayne ran a trial session with the LTL in order to produce operating procedures for small group sailing and conduct a new risk assessment, which was further trialled and amended over the next few weeks. “The first ladies’ sessions helped us to understand how to make other sessions safe,” she says. “Everything takes more time, but slow is smooth, and smooth is fast!” Whilst six members of the original LTL group remain, each year there’s a different core of ladies who benefit from the boost in confidence that makes them feel comfortable in the club and in racing. “It serves as a lovely introduction to the club,” says Jayne. “I’m really grateful to Ursula who runs the WhatsApp group, boosting excitement every week about everyone getting together to sail in safety and freedom. “One of our ladies, who has been coming for the last ten years, had a complete knee replacement last year and thought she’d never dinghy sail again. But being able to do a short 20-minute session to start, she could build up her confidence and flexibility.” Other women have benefited from this close-knit group when dealing with rehabilitation or bereavement. And ironically enough, while LTL has a very specific energy about it, there isn’t anything similar for men who are just returning to the sport: “A couple of our ladies asked if their husbands could come to sail and help in the safety boat. They were nervous about returning to boating, so it became a bit of a joke to give the men ladies’ names, so they could come along too! Now they’ve gained confidence in a quieter estuary, and though we’ll continue Ladies that Launch midweek sessions, next year, covid allowing, we’ll add a Friday social sailing session to have everyone together (hopefully with social distancing up on the terrace for a drink afterwards).” SYC itself was due to celebrate its 125th anniversary this year – something it’s planning to do next year instead. In the meantime, however, it has a very spacious clubhouse, which has helped enormously with the implementation of safety measures and the resulting ability to keep activity going well into October. Jayne says: “I’m grateful for the continued RYA updates which help the club work within the most recent government guidelines. All safety measures are in place and everyone has been following the rules very carefully.” As the sailing winds down for the winter, the club is organising rambles with soup back at the clubhouse afterwards. These are popular especially with retired members for whom the friendship is a crucial part of their participation, and will, with luck, get everyone through to a much better boating season next year. It may have been a low-key celebration, limited season, and a very cautious return to boating for the Ladies that Launch, but Jayne reports that it’s been a very visible success: “It has been a great spectacle for everyone onshore to have the boats back on the water – it’s uplifting for everyone, including the non-sailors, and you see people pause on the shore to look. We had planned to have a Ladies Day, all wearing hats, to celebrate our tenth anniversary, but actually the fact that we’re still going through all this is enough for us.”

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Community Asset bid for Yeadon’s Sailing Centre, Leeds

YEADON’S sailing centre could be taken over as a Community Asset to ensure its survival. The Leeds Sailing and Activity Centre at Yeadon Tarn is one of a number of local facilities that are at risk of closure under plans being considered by Leeds City Council. The local authority is proposing a range of cuts, to be considered by its Executive Board on Wednesday, October 21, to help it overcome a multi-million shortfall in its budget for 2021-22. The closure of the sailing centre, should it proceed - all of the proposed cuts are subject to consultations - would lead to savings of about £88,000 in the year ahead. The report going to the Executive Board says that the facility’s building ‘could be converted to a café and/or transferred to a local organisation to operate’, though not as a sailing centre. MP Alex Sobel has now written to the city council to ask if the centre can be taken over by the community. He said: “We are actively seeking a Community Asset Transfer to bring the sailing centre into community ownership if the council are unable to continue to run it as a council facility. “The sailing centre is far too great an asset to lose. Not only is it an important facility for the people of Yeadon but also the whole of Leeds and West Yorkshire, offering such facilities as sailing, kayaking and paddle boarding, along with courses for schools, youth and community groups. “Whilst I understand that, sadly, cuts must be made due to a £120 million hole in the budget due to lack of funding from central government - on top of over ten years of brutal Tory cuts and lack of government support during the pandemic - we must explore all options to keep such valuable community places open. “The sailing centre has a great vision and mission of making Leeds the city to be active in and passionate about enabling active and thriving communities, these are values we need to keep going. I hope the ward councillors join me exploring every opportunity to save the centre.” The Otley and Yeadon ward’s three Lib Dem Councillors Sandy Lay, Ryk Downes and Colin Campbell all condemned the proposal when it was revealed last week. Cllr Downes said: “I have recently been working with Yeadon sailing centre about moving forward with a public cafe at Yeadon Tarn, within the centre. At no point was the potential of closure discussed. “The facility is a great way for young people to learn sailing and my own daughters have benefitted in the past from the excellent staff and facilities there. “To remove such a great and well used facility is reducing options for young people - we need to find more outdoor physical activities for people, not reduce them.”

Wormit Boating Club sail off with prestigious award

Community-based Wormit Boating Club has been named Club of the Year at the East Fife Annual Sporting Awards 2020. The award, sponsored by Howe of Fife Rotary Club, is presented to the club that has made a significant impact on the development of its sport, which for Wormit includes sailing and rowing. The group uses wooden St Ayles Skiffs, built by members and based on a traditional East Neuk design. The club welcomes people of all ages, encouraging non-rowers to try ‘taster sessions’ when current restrictions allow. The sailing season runs from April to October, and rowing continues throughout the year. As well as being strongly tied to its community roots, the club takes part in competitions and regattas across Scotland and beyond, including the SkiffieWorlds World Championships at Stranraer in 2019. Their first significant trophy was the Fife Cup at the 2019 Gathering at Lochore Meadows. Other activities include an annual Perth to Wormit row, which brings together clubs from across Fife and beyond, and starts the rowing season. The club also has a long-standing friendship with 333 Squadron of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Every year, squadron members visit Woodhaven, the base for their Catalina flying boats during the Second World War. The Norwegian flag is still flown regularly at the club, and the Skiffs, Catalina and The Flying Boat, are named to acknowledge the Squadron’s ties with the town.

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