Sailing World on Water April 02.21 INEOS Evolution, TP's, Lanzarote, Mid...

Truly Classic 128'-4 Halekai

Pip Hare's top tips on how to prepare your boat for safe sailing

Windsurfing boom at Burton Sailing Club

A thriving community of windsurfers at Burton Sailing Club is looking forward to getting back on the water with sessions for younger members and coaching for all ages. The windsurfing section at Burton SC in Staffordshire is growing and the club has become a recognised training centre for both beginner and intermediate windsurfing courses. Alongside a dedicated team of windsurfing instructors and volunteers, led by chief windsurfing instructor Andrea Langley, the club has invested in windsurfing equipment and is able to offer taster sessions and a wide range of training for both adults and juniors. Its regular Team 15 sessions for juniors now have around half a dozen younger children, plus more than 10 older ones aged from 12-17, many of whom are now working towards instructor and powerboat qualifications to support the club’s windsurfing provision. The club also has up to 15 adults on the water regularly, including students from Loughborough University, and when members of any age want to develop their skills further, coaches are bought in from outside to share their expertise. The club’s support for its community of windsurfers has encouraged regular participation and camaraderie and enabled it to keep up with new developments such as foiling. As Burton SC windsurfing rep Steve Ball explains: “We have worked hard to grow the windsurf section to a point where it is sustainable in terms of numbers in each age group and safety cover, and we now have windsurfers aged from eight to nearly 80!”

Inaugural Hyde Sails Under-19 Match Racing Championship

Entries are now open for the inaugural Hyde Sails Under-19 Match Racing Championship at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy, 26-27 June 2021. Teams will be competing in Elliott 6M keelboats and benefit from an on board player-coach to help them get the most from the event, making it a great opportunity for both novice and more experienced crews to develop their skills. Match racing coaches will also be on hand to provide support on the water and run virtual debriefs after racing. British Keelboat Sailing is inviting entries from mixed teams of three and the winner will qualify for the National Match Racing Championship Grand Final in RS21s at Queen Mary SC in October 2021. Jack Fenwick, RYA Keelboat Sailing Development Manager, said: “We tried to run this event for the first time last year but ended up cancelling it due to the pandemic, so we’re really looking forward to welcoming teams to our first ever Hyde Sails Under-19 Match Racing Championship. “With mixed teams and coaching support available for competitors, the aim is to make it as inclusive and accessible as possible, providing an opportunity for youth sailors to develop their skills and also to have a go at match racing if they haven’t already experienced this exciting part of the sport.” The Notice of Race and entry for the championship, which is part of the RYA National Match Racing Series, can be found at www.ryamatchracing.co.uk Nigel Grogan, Managing Director of Hyde Sails, said: “Hyde Sails are delighted to support the RYA with this match racing championship. It is a discipline of sailing that is great for competitors and spectators too, as we have seen with the America’s Cup. “Who knows, the winner of the Hyde Sails Under-19 Match Racing Championship could well be a future Jimmy Spithill but winning the Auld Mug for the UK. Good luck to all the young competitors and we hope to see real talent and teamwork at play." The RYA National Match Racing Series provides a first step towards elite match racing events such as the America's Cup and World Match Racing Tour. Top world match racers - including Ian Williams, Ben Ainslie, Paul Campbell-James, David Carr, Nick Hutton and Lucy MacGregor - all began their sailing careers by competing in the series. Match racers who have recently come up through the series believe the new Under-19 Match Racing Championship will be an ideal opportunity for up and coming youth sailors to develop their skills. Ted Blowers, aged 22, who won the National Match Racing Championship Grand Final in 2019, said: “This will be a great event for under-19 sailors to get into match racing without the added pressure of competing against sailors who have been around on the circuit for longer. It will give them a chance take part on more of a level playing field to ease their way into match racing, with more time and space to figure it out against teams in the same place as them in terms of experience, instead of coming straight into a qualifier or national event. It’s another event on the calendar and a great way for young teams to kick off the season. They can still then do all the other match racing events, or take the additional insights into racing that they gain from taking part back to their fleet racing.” Ted hopes to compete at a number of match racing events over summer, including the Governors Cup International Youth Match Racing Championship in California in July. He added: “I love the intensity of one-on-one match racing. It’s a mind game and tactically you have to really think about when and where you put the boat and how you do it. It’s quite a logical discipline, and it can be harsh because you can only win or lose, but you never have an average match racing day which makes it really exciting.” Broadening horizons British Keelboat Academy coach and keen match racer Ellie Cumpsty, who will be competing on the match racing circuit this year with her all-female crew, Team Phoenix, said the event would enable participants to learn from other sailors and people who may have different specialist skill sets: “It broadens horizons for youth sailors and leads you into understanding other parts of the sport like keelboat sailing and match racing. Getting some experience learning to sail in a team as well, especially for single handed sailors, is also really important. “I’d recommend match racing to anyone. It provides lots of skills which are really helpful, even if you’re only interested in fleet racing. If you look at Ben Ainslie and some of the places he’s used match racing skills in fleet racing to win various medals, definitely it’s a skill that everyone who’s a keen competitive sailor should try and gain.” Octavia Owen, of British all-girls team Athena Racing, winners of the 2019 Marlow Ropes Women’s Match Racing National Championship, said the U19 event provided a fantastic way for youth sailors to start the transition from dinghies to keelboats, with debriefs for asking questions and Elliott 6Ms providing a simple and spacious layout for sailors to get to grips with new match racing skills: “There’s no better way to learn how to match race than in a competitive situation, where you can learn from achievements and mistakes. It’s a fun weekend of racing where you get to try out another area of sailing to test your skills. Match racing is great for learning new skills, sailing with a group of friends in a competitive fun atmosphere for developing your tactics on the racecourse.” Match racer Alaric Bates, aged 21, who will be competing offshore and in the 2021 National Match Racing Series this season, likewise encourages youth sailors to give it go by taking part in the U19 championship: “Match racing is one of my favourite forms of sailing: high intensity, short racing where there is no room for mistakes. You’ll quickly learn a huge amount about tactics and the rules as well as how to get the most performance out of a boat! As someone who’s first experience of match racing was at an under-18s event, I’d really recommend getting into match racing through a youth event where there is the support, as regardless of where you end up you will have learnt a huge amount.” Find out more about all the events in this year’s National Match Racing Series, including the Hyde Sails Under-19 Match Racing Championship, at www.ryamatchracing.co.uk

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Pre Season Training sail aboard Vigilance of Brixham.

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Team racing is back on course!

Team racing is looking ahead to a successful 2021 on the water following a year of Covid-19 restrictions and cancelled championships. While racing generally was badly affected by the pandemic, team racing with its primarily winter-focused season was particularly hard hit, with the RYA Team Racing Championships, Women’s, BUSA and Eric Twiname Youth & Junior championships all cancelled. As the majority of team racing is run and supported by schools and universities, it was also nearly impossible for any of its key participants to get in any racing around lockdowns and closures. But with the easing of restrictions from Monday 29th March 2021, planning is now underway for the return of team racing, with a number of high profile events scheduled and an exciting set of new RYA resources to provide lots of inspiration and know-how for the year ahead. Keen to support team racing and all those who enjoy it, the RYA has been creating additional resources to help get sailors up to speed: a series of videos are in production looking at the specific manoeuvres and tactics for a team racing course; a coaching manual is due to be published; and online lectures will provide further opportunities for sailors to develop their skills. The first of these lectures should be live by the end of April with the videos and coaching notes following in September in time for the start of the main team racing season. With restrictions beginning to ease, some schools are already back on the water within the curriculum to train for upcoming events. The school season will get underway in mid-April, with regional competitions taking place into May and June. Scheduled events include the two-boat National School Sailing Association (NSSA) Double Handed Team Racing Championship at Royal Hospital School (RHS) in Suffolk, 26-27 June, and the British Schools Dinghy Racing Association Finals at Bough Beach SC, Kent, 5-6 July. Ed Sibson, RHS Director of Sailing and Water Sports, said: "We are very excited to be hosting the first school team racing event in more than a year. School pupils around the country have missed out on a significant amount of competition during the pandemic and we very much look forward to putting on a top-class event in both Fevas and Fireflies to get them back into it and kick start the summer! The Notice of Race will hopefully be published in the next week or so at nssa.org.uk." Many of these young school teams, along with youth and junior sailors from clubs, will also be anticipating a return to the Eric Twiname Youth and Junior Team Racing Championships, which will once again be hosted by Oxford SC, 9-10 October. With racing on two courses in Fireflies and Fevas, the last event in 2019 saw 24 Firefly teams and 30 Feva teams competing. 2019 PRO, Keith Sammons from KSail, is optimistic that this year’s event will fill up fast when entries open: “ET team racing is one of the most enjoyable racing events on the youth and junior calendar and has been increasing in popularity in recent years. The move to two boat team racing for the juniors has made the racing closer and more exciting for sailors and spectators. I am looking forward to seeing all the sailors come October.” Postponed from the end of March 2021, the RYA two-boat Keelboat Team Racing Championship for the Carmela Cup will now take place at the Royal Thames YC over the weekend of 8-9 May. Unlike dinghy team racing, spinnakers will be adding to the complexity and excitement, and the Carmela Cup continually attracts some of the top level talent in the sport. The second weekend of May would normally see teams from all over the world head to West Kirby on the Wirral for the Wilson Trophy. But with restrictions still in place for accommodation and socialising, 2021 will be the second year in a row that this event has had to be cancelled. West Kirby SC is planning, however, to see sailors competing in the theatre of dreams with an invitational event planned for 2-3 October 2021. Interested teams should email office@wksc.org.uk as soon as possible to register their interest in this new event! Summer will have team racing in action at Rutland SC, host of the 2015 Team Racing World Championships, with the postponed RYA/BUSA Women’s Team Racing Championship scheduled for 12-13 June, when competitors will be battling it out to see if anyone can take the title from Oxford University, who were crowned double champions in 2019. Local organiser Fiona Tylecote said: “We are very much looking forward to welcoming the teams to the RYA/BUSA Women’s Team Racing Championship. Having had to postpone last year’s event we are really keen to run a great event and make sure everyone enjoys all that we have to offer at Rutland Sailing Club.” September usually sees the start of the main student team racing season and BUSA (British Universities Sailing Association) will also be hoping to see the return of its regular events and qualifiers during the 2021-22 academic year. BUSA Team Racing Officer, Jamie Webb, said: “We are looking forward to seeing our female sailors back out on the water at the women's championship and watch this space for more events and opportunities in the near future!” The RYA National Team Racing Championship for the Prince Philip Trophy, originally scheduled for mid-March at Spinnaker SC, has now been rescheduled at Spinnaker SC for 13-14 November 2021, with a notice of race due to be available during April. The maximum entry will be 24 teams, subject to any government restrictions at the time, and it is set to be one of the most hotly contested competitions in the UK team racing calendar this year. As Jack Fenwick from the RYA sums up: “Team racing is one of the most enjoyable and accessible racing disciplines. Multiple short races in a day with a bunch of mates can do wonders to improve your boat handling, rules knowledge and boat on boat tactics. Take a look at the events and get involved!”

Sailing World on Water March 26.21 INEOS AC, Stan Honey, Le Cléac’h Gaba...

Making sailing accessible for everyone

The RYA has reaffirmed its commitment to equality with the launch of the new Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Strategy. Aimed at ensuring all boating activities are as accessible, diverse and welcoming to as many participants as possible. To help achieve those aims, we established an Ethnicity in Boating Focus Group last October. Alexandra Rickham, British double Paralympic sailing bronze medalist and five-time World Champion, took part in the group and here tells us about her hopes for a more diverse future in boating. When did you first try sailing? I was initially introduced to sailing during my rehabilitation following my diving accident in 1995 when I was 13. I spent some time on the water with the Shake-A-Leg charity in Miami but it wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I began to take it seriously. As someone from an ethnic minority background, what challenges do you feel you've faced within boating? I feel that I’m in a pretty unique situation. As a black, disabled woman I’m representing a lot of under- represented groups. I don’t feel I’ve faced extra challenges particularly. But it has always been noticeable at events and when I’m racing that there aren’t a lot of people who look like me. Diversity is currently limited within the sailing community, but it would be nice to have more participants who share similar experiences. I’m so pleased the RYA has introduced its Diversity Strategy to tackle this, and aims to have open and honest conversations with people within the boating community. What encouragement would you offer people from diverse backgrounds who are considering trying boating? We’re lucky that we have so much access to water here in the UK, with sailing clubs even in built-up cities. So join a club – they’re welcoming and friendly. I joined Queen Mary Sailing Club in London when I was in my twenties and some of my best days have been spent on the water there. The Sailability Group there, in particular, has been incredibly supportive, especially when I started learning and training. Whether it was offering advice and help with boats or general training, they have helped me a lot. You don’t always have to have a lot of money to start sailing – the RYA has a range of initiatives aimed at helping everyone get access to all kinds of boating. Looking forward, what changes would you like to see within boating? The development pathways are currently quite limited, but it’s the responsibility of national governing bodies, such as the RYA, to work collaboratively to offer those networks of development and funding opportunities at a grassroots level. We really need to look at the structure within sailing to facilitate more opportunities that can help people reach the next level. There needs to be a huge focus globally to work together to solve the problem and stimulate change. As a boating community we need to look at the development opportunities that we offer to women, for instance. Women can often be juggling several responsibilities, so are there practical ways that participation across the sport can be more accessible to women? Perhaps more virtual training needs to be available. The sport is starting to evolve at higher levels but we need to establish how to bridge the gap between the grassroots and progressing in the sport. There must be more that we can do to engage people across the board. What are your hopes for under-represented groups within in sailing in particular? It would be fantastic to see a multicultural, diverse community as the future of boating. Change may not happen overnight, but it can happen. As a mixed-race Paralympian woman, I hope to help change the talks the RYA Diversity Strategy Group has with the boating community into definitive action to welcome and encourage participants from all diverse backgrounds.

Introducing VI Sailing: Natalie’s story.