Albacore Inland Championship at Bartley Sailing Club

 Bartley Sailing Club hosted the 2022 Albacore Inland Championship in the south of Birmingham. The forecast for the weekend was not looking good all week so when the teams arrived at the club they were greeted with a reasonable breeze across the whole lake. During the day the breeze however proved to be fickle and varied from 5 to 12 knots primarily SSE but flicking through 25 degrees with unpredictable regularity.

The OOD Howard Eeles and his team did a sterling job setting start lines and courses that gave the sailors good opportunity to test their skills.

Sunday morning fully lived up to the forecast predictions and no racing happened. This meant that Judy and Paul earnt their tenth Inlands title a remarkable achievement given the depth of talent in the fleet. Congratulations to Matt and Mark in second and Tim and Jo in third.

There was an award for the oldest boat which went to Steve Bailey and Jeremy Wallace in 6504 and a newcomers award to Les Druyf and Richard Baker who abandoned their Lasers to sail the class association boat.

,Overall Results:

Pos Helm Crew Sail No Club R1 R2 R3 R4 Pts

1st Judy ARMSTRONG Paul ARMSTRONG 8228 Scaling Dam SC 2 1 2 1 6

2nd Matt BIGGS Mark FOWLER 8192 Bartley SC 1 4 6 2 13

3rd Tim COLEMAN Jo SANKEY 8254 Leigh and Lowton SC 3 6 3 4 16

4th Jeremy SHINTON Harry ASHWORTH 8158 Bartley SC 4 5 1 11 21

5th Jonathon DELLOW Simon MEDD 6918 Weston SC 12 2 5 3 22

6th Mark REDDINGTON Colin ANDERSON 7426 Bartley SC 7 3 7 5 22

7th Phil SMITH Steve CARR 8152 West Kirby SC 8 7 4 7 26

8th Les DRUYF Richard BAKER 8253 Bartley SC 6 9 12 8 35

9th Matt THOMPSON Heather THOMPSON 8255 Tewksbury SC 5 10 11 12 38

10th Ian CLARKE Tom KENWORTH 819 Bartley SC 10 14 10 6 40

11th Alex WALTON Bethan EVANS 7921 Chase SC 9 13 8 10 40

12th Steve BAILEY Jeremy WALLACE 6504 The Nottingham SC 11 11 9 9 40

13th Josh OATES Chris OATES 7992 Bartley SC 13 8 13 DNC 49

14th Phil SHEPPARD Kirsten SHEPPARD 8189 The Nottingham SC 14 12 14 13 53

Shearwater TT at Bala Sailing Club

 The first TT of 2022 for the Shearwaters was a series of firsts for the class. First TT of 2022, First TT at the stunning Bala Sailing Club, First TTs with some new teams and the First outing of the newly rebuilt New Flame.

The Shearwater spirit started early on Saturday morning with everybody assisting in getting boats off trailers, rigged up for the first battle of 2022. A programme of eight races over the three days was proposed and warnings of the lake is cold, as it is fed by Snowdonia National Park were issued. Subsequently a lot more sailing kit appearing in the boat park from the campsite.

Monday's sailing was not going to happen with no wind. The fleet then packed up and prepared for the journey home on Monday.

A massive thanks to Bala SC for holding a brilliant event at a stunning location, we certainly will be back in the future!

Overall Results:

1st New Flame, James & Philip Gibbons

2nd Crowns, Nigel & Ruben Stuart

3rd Jessabelle, Mark Norman & Hayley Britton

British team for Youth Sailing World Championships announced

 Sixteen of the country's most promising young sailors have been selected to represent Great Britain at the Youth Sailing World Championships.

The talented youngsters, all aged 18 or under, will represent the British Youth Sailing (BYS) Team in eight classes at the 51st edition of the prestigious youth event at The Hague, Netherlands, from 8-15 July 2022.

Among those selected and making a first appearance at the Youth Worlds, Santiago Sesto-Cosby (Royal Lymington YC) is looking to draw upon venue knowledge and home similarities as the secret to success in the 29er alongside returning crew, Leo Wilkinson (Maidenhead SC).

Lucy Kenyon (Parkstone YC), who returns to the BYS team for a second Youth Worlds appearance, is also looking to call on previous knowledge to go one step further in 2022.

Making a third appearance at the Youth Worlds will be Nacra 15 helm Jasmine Williams, this time sailing with crew Sam Cox (both Restronguet SC). Charlie Dixon (Blackwater YC) takes on the boy's iQFOiL fleet with Ellen Morley and Hazel McDonnell (both Hollowell SC) contesting the 29er girls.

Thommie Grit (Royal Hospital School) was picked in the boy's ILCA6 with Wales' Honor Proctor (Cardiff Bay YC) taking on the girls.

Megan Farrer (Emsworth SC) and Ellie Rush (Nottinghamshire County SC) were picked in the girls' 420 class with Alice Davis (Draycote Water SC) and Oliver Raynor (Yorkshire Dales SC) in the mixed.

Returning to take on the kite fleet is Ella Geiger, who is looking to improve on her debut sixth position last year, and Mattia Maini who make up the final spots on the BYS squad.

The squad will be coached and supported by the returning team of Olympian Kate Macgregor, current British Sailing Team iQFOiL women's coach Sam Ross and BYS squad coach James Hadden.

Pursuit cup goes to Marjory in first special event of sailing calendar

 Sunday saw the first special event of Pentland Firth Yacht Club's sailing calendar for 2022, taking the form of a pursuit race.

In the normal races run by the club, all boats start off together and their times to complete the course are recorded – this allows the eventual race winner to be calculated by allowing for the different boats sailed by a handicap system.

In the pursuit race, the slower boat starts off first, followed by the progressively faster ones, the starting intervals being calculated so that all boats should finish together at the end of the predetermined race time.

A race time of 25 minutes was selected and start times varied by up to six minutes. A total of three such races were run, meaning that all was not lost if a sailor had a bad race early on.

For the first race there were four boats. The slowest and first to start was the Mirror with Donald McKenzie and Thomas McAlonan on board. Second was the Topper of Ian Grant, third the Laser 4.7 of Marjory Lord and finally the Laser of Martin Lord.

For the second race the four sailors were joined by Ian and Lily Carlisle in their Bosun. The wind dropped during the race and the Carlisle pairing showed their skills in the fickle conditions to come up with a win with Martin Lord second, Marjory Lord third, Donald and Thomas fourth and Ian Grant bringing up the rear.

This meant the overall result would depend on the third and final race. The wind picked up for this and Marjory Lord quickly made her way past the boats starting before her and led to the finish.

Martin was again second with Ian Grant third, the Carlisle pairing fourth and this time Donald and Thomas having to settle for last place. This meant it was Marjory who won the day and the Phimster Pursuit Cup.

The club is always looking for new members. Anyone with an interest in sailing, or who would like to become involved, should email pentlandfirthyc@gmail.com

Lark Lark Belle Isle Travellers Series at Rock Sailing and Waterski Club

 In the build up to the National Championships in Pentewan Sands over the Queen's Jubilee, the Lark adventures continued with a trip to Rock in Cornwall over the first May Bank Holiday, sharing the event with friends in the Merlin Rocket fleet.

Racing was run over three days with a usual race series on Saturday and Sunday and short course champs on Monday. Spring tides and light winds made for challenging conditions across the total of twelve races sailed, but all left the shore with smiles on their sun-caught faces.

The overall open meeting result was then calculated by combining the results of the two series with John & Vicky Brickwood awarded the winning Salver trophy with Stuart & Nick Hydon second and Stuart & Julia Allen third.

A big thanks to Rock sailing club and race officer Martin Hough for efficiently running races in difficult conditions. The Larks have enjoyed countless events at Rock and will continue to do so as this year's event did not disappoint. The travellers series moves onto the Frensham Pond Sailing Club for the Youth Championships and Open Meeting for the 14th/15th May weekend.

Long race series:

1st 2495 Stuart and Nick Hydon - Shustoke Sailing Club

2nd 2528 John and Vicky Brickwood - Frensham Pond Sailing Club

3rd 2509 Stuart and Julia Allen - Banbury Sailing Club

Short Race Series:

1st 2528 John and Vicky Brickwood - Frensham Pond Sailing Club

2nd 2502 Steve Chatten and Kirsty Phipps - Netley Sailing Club

3rd 2495 Stuart and Nick Hydon - Shustoke Sailing Club

Overall:

1st 2528 John and Vicky Brickwood - Frensham Pond Sailing Club

2nd 2495 Stuart and Nick Hydon - Shustoke Sailing Club

3rd 2509 Stuart and Julia Allen - Banbury Sailing Club

RS Vareo Rooster National Tour Round 2 at Chichester Yacht Club

 The RS Vareo fleet met at Chichester Yacht Club for a one day event Saturday 30 April. This was the second event in this year's Rooster National Tour, this time shared with the 2000s.

It was a lovely sunny day of course - Chichester being officially Britain's sunniest spot! Three races were scheduled across a 3 1/2 hour window either side of the day's high tide - a tall order with forecast light to no wind and variable direction.

We launched in good time to get to the race area with just enough following wind to get us all there on schedule. The wind then died but only as the tide became slack so we were able to wait comfortably. After a short delay a light breeze set 90 degrees clockwise from the original and the race team quickly set the windward mark to get us started. Although it was only a short beat across the channel, it went very light and shifty so it took us what seemed an eternity to get to the first mark. Luke Fisher and Chris Abbott got away to have a mini match race finishing well ahead of the pack. The rest of us swapped places dramatically as the wind switched about with Mark Green and Nick Crickmore getting around mark one next and then the wind turned a further 90 degrees to blow directly upstream making the downwind an exciting broad spinnaker reach of about three minutes. Nick got a better spinnaker hoist and pulled clear to take 3rd. The next 'upwind' was a fetch just too tight for spinnakers followed by another downwind blast and short return to finish.

The wind eased a little for race two but with a repositioned windward mark gave us three laps of proper beats and runs. The order was quickly established with the same order first three. Nigel Tinkler, returning to the RS Vareo after a long break, started to get into gear with a 4th place finish.

Race three started as race two and the wind held long enough to complete the race with the addition of the tide starting to ebb to take into account. Luke led from start to finish but there were numerous place changes between Chris, Nick and Nigel fighting for second up to the last windward mark where Chris went right into more wind with some 2000s, but Nigel went inshore out of the tide which paid handsomely and got him 2nd. Nick ran aground at the start of the last leg to the finish showing Mike Dicker exactly where to tack off to beat him for 4th place.

A clean sheet of firsts for Luke to win overall. Chris was second with two second place finishes. Nigel just beat Nick to 3rd on count back with six points each.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Club R1 R2 R3 Pts

1st 621 Luke Fisher Emberton Park SC ‑1 1 1 2

2nd 649 Chris Abbott The Nottingham SC 2 2 ‑3 4

3rd 190 Nigel Tinkler Llandegfedd SC ‑7 4 2 6

4th 446 Nick Crickmore Waveney and Oulton Broad SC 3 3 ‑5 6

5th 346 Mike Dicker Dell Quay SC ‑5 5 4 9

6th 372 Mark Green CYC 4 ‑7 6 10

7th 381 Tim Spencer CYC 6 6 ‑7 12

Our next RS Vareo Rooster National Tour event is Llandegfedd SC 14-15 May. 

Ginger Boats RS200 Northern Tour at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club

 Leigh and Lowton welcomed thirteen boats for this year's Northern Tour kindly sponsored by Ginger Boats, four of which were LLSC boats, equalled by the four Budworth boats. As soon as you entered the sailing club grounds you could tell today was going to be a windy one, and it wasn't just the white horses that were giving this away!

The race committee were out early to ensure the course was set right for the first race which began with most of the fleet being on the line and ready, apart from a few who had ventured a little too far away up the course to see or hear the flags and horns sounding in the start sequence.

The whole fleet made sure to be at and on the line for the second race, but it was Ben Teague and Issie Bruton (1478) who won this start flying off the line to round the first mark in second place, only to realise they had rigged the kite wrong for the second time. We have been told this is entirely Ben's fault!

After a well-deserved lunch break thanks to Ivette, LLSC's amazing chef, all but a few boats re-launched for the final two races of the day. Wind still blowing OOD's Mark and Julia quickly got the racing running again, at the first mark current leaders Alistair and Helen Norris battled with Alex Leonard & Oliver Reyner.

Seven boats remained for the final race which was really going to be some fun! Amazingly we had waves to get over now too, just to confuse those helms even more...

Again Alistair & Helen Norris took first but not without a fight from Alex Leonard and Oliver Rayner who took second followed by Russel & Vicky Page third, 1333 fourth, 1366 fifth, 1402 sixth.

Once ashore everyone certainly looked tired and quite damp, if not from a capsize then it was from the spray, although I'm sure there were only one or two boats that didn't go over today!

In the end Alistair & Helen Norris and Alex Leonard Oliver Rayner took first and second after a very consistent regatta, although only 4 points behind were Russel & Vicky Page in third.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 Pts

1st 1509 Alistair Norris Helen Norris LLSC ‑1 1 1 1 3

2nd 1709 Alex Leonard Oliver Reyner Bassenthwaite Sc ‑2 2 2 2 6

3rd 1419 Russell Page Vicky Page Budworth Sc 3 ‑6 4 3 10

4th 1606 Martin Joesbury Sian Joesbury Budworth Sc 4 4 3 (DNC) 11

5th 728 Adam Catlow Martyn Catlow LLSC 6 3 5 (DNF) 14

6th 1333 M/o Rayner Ben Rayner Yorkshire Dales Sc 8 ‑10 6 4 18

7th 1033 Louise McKeand Ross Southwell LLSC 5 5 8 (DNC) 18

8th 1366 Oscar Cawthorne Ralph Cawthorne Shustoke Sc (DNF) 8 9 5 22

9th 1402 Ben Dearden Ffion Morgan Yorkshire Dales Sc 10 ‑12 7 6 23

10th 1730 Kevin Gerald Wendy Martin Budworth Sc 7 7 (DNC) DNC 28

11th 1478 Ben Teague Issie Burton Abersoch Sc 11 9 (DNC) DNC 34

12th 891 Dan McLean Ava McLean LLSC 9 (DNC) DNC DNC 37

13th 1435 Huge Smallman Debroah Love Budworth Sc (DNF) 11 DNC DNC 39

Sharpie and Europe open meeting at Overy Staithe Sailing Club

 Overy Staithe SC started their 2022 Open Meeting season with a weekend event held over 30 April and 1 May for the 12m2 Sharpie and Europe classes.

Making the most of the tide times, Saturday's races were on the evening tide, with Sunday on the morning tide. Winds were light on Saturday evening and lighter still on Sunday but Race Officer Rodney Tidd, assisted by Jeremy Neville-Eliott, managed to get four races in over the two days. The light winds meant there was no chance of going out to sea due to the strong tidal current pushing over the bar.

In the Sharpies, OSSC members Ben and Paul Goakes took the first race on Saturday evening, with another OSSC boat, sailed by Alex Smith and Paul Beachall, taking second place. These results were swapped over for Race 2.

The Europe fleet also saw some tight racing but Mark Beck (OSSC) revelled in the light conditions to take 3 first places discarding a fourth in the final race. Alex Scoles (OSSC) finished second overall with a 2, 2, 1 scoreline, discarding a third, with Debs Crissell (OSSC) first lady and third overall counting 2, 3, 2 and discarding a fifth.

A great weekend of racing - the next open event is for the OK class, on 2 and 3 July. Racing will be in the morning each day and further details can be found on the club's website overystaithesc.org.uk - a great chance to get some practice in before the OK Nationals later that month!

Sharpie Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Crew R1 R2 R3 R4 Pts

1 128 Alex Smith Paul Beachall 2 1 ‑4 1 4

2 75 Ben Goakes Paul Goakes 1 2 1 ‑4 4

3 138 Bob Bradshaw Martin Flint ‑4 3 3 2 8

4 135 Martin Read 3 4 2 ‑5 9

5 111 Tim Ashby Charlie Borthwick 5 5 ‑5 3 13

6 130 Gus Marshall‑Andrews W Fillingham DNS DNS DNS DNS 21

Europe Results:

Pos Sail No Helm R1 R2 R3 R4 Pts

1 339 Mark Beck 1 1 1 ‑4 3

2 413 Alex Scoles 2 ‑3 2 1 5

3 240 Debs Crissell ‑5 2 3 2 7

4 247 Joe Penhaul‑Smith 3 4 ‑5 3 10

5 11 Steve Whitby 4 5 6 (DNF) 15

6 416 Luke Lazell 7 8 4 (DNF) 19

7 1 Dave Cooper 8 6 7 (DNF) 21

8 401 Malcolm Morley 6 7 8 (DNF) 21

9 352 Otter Fisher 9 9 9 (DNF) 27

Inaugural Youth Para World Sailing Championships marks investment in future of Para Sailing globally

 RS Sailing is proud to announce that its award-winning RS Venture Connect sailboat, an existing class of Para World Sailing equipment, has been selected by World Sailing as the supplied equipment of choice at an exciting new Para World Sailing event aimed specifically at youth sailors.

The inaugural edition of the Youth Para World Sailing Championships, which also aims to have a fully gender balanced participation as far as competing athletes are concerned, will take place on the waters of the Braasemermeer in the Netherlands and will get under way the week after the Hague-based 2022 Youth Sailing World Championships conclude, that being from July 19 - 22.

The award-winning RS Venture Connect SCS makes it possible for almost anyone to go sailing - and that means a lot to all of us at RS. Many boats have been modified for para sailing but we like to think the RS Venture Connect SCS brings a new level of designed-in, engineered adaptability to the sport, through simple plug and play options including so-called 'sip-and-puff' electronically assisted controls that help to configure the boat to suit sailors with most types of disability. The systems on the boat also enable the end user to change the set up between sailing sessions to suit varying requirements. This versatility encourages more Para Sailing organisations to develop para sailing programmes with versatile platforms being more cost and the simple systems used to adapt the equipment being more time efficient.

Celebrate the women at your club with Steering The Course

 World Sailing's Steering the Course festival takes place from Friday 20th to Sunday 29th May. The aim is to introduce women and girls across the globe to the sport of sailing, whilst also providing inspiration and awareness about roles and opportunities within the sport.

The RYA will be supporting the campaign with a social media takeover. If your venue runs women on the water sessions, female club races, or any other initiatives then we would love to hear from you!

You may also want to celebrate the women at your club including coaches, instructors, mark layers, race officials, helm or trimmers and volunteers.

Clubs taking part are invited to share their activities by registering or tagging their RYA Region or Home Country on social media.

The hash tag is #SteeringTheCourse

Last chance to make a Volunteer Award nomination

 Do you know a hardworking volunteer who really makes a difference in helping others get on the water? Whether it's mowing the lawn, helming the safety boat, running events or just getting stuck in wherever needed- it all counts.

An RYA Volunteer Award is the perfect way to say thank you.

With lots of categories to choose from, the awards recognise the outstanding contribution made by volunteers throughout the UK. Not only rewarding the longest-standing volunteers but also families, committed youngsters and most importantly, those that have had an impact.

All recipients and their guests will be invited to a special presentation ceremony and luncheon in London this November.

Read more information about the volunteers and make your nomination before 02 May.

rya.org.uk

$150 million superyacht of American billionaire sails past Largs on the West coast of Scotland

 A superyacht valued at over $150 million dollars wowed residents as it sailed past Largs and Cumbrae yesterday. 

The Bermuda rigged schooner called Eos is one of the largest private sailing yachts in the world. 

It is currently owned by media billionaire Barry Diller, who founded the Fox Broadcasting Company. 

Eos was first launched in 2006 and is over 300ft long, and can travel at a maximum speed of 16 knots. 

It can sleep 16 guests with 21 crew, including two chefs, three engineers, nine deck crew, and captains and stewardesses. 

Season's round-up & reflections - Junior winter training at Starcross Yacht Club

 As the 2021/2022 Winter Training comes to an end, SYC reflects on a very successful season's program. At a time when attracting and retaining young sailors in the sport is increasingly hard, SYC's experience is interesting and may be useful for other clubs.

23 children signed up to what was an over-subscribed program, with 13 day-long sessions planned between November and April. In the event, only one of the planned sessions was cancelled due to weather.

Most of the sessions saw the juniors split into two groups, one for the less experienced sailors who were relatively new to racing, and the other for the more experienced and competitive youngsters. Two RYA coaches, Stuart Jones and Izzy Cramp, were hired, and ran the majority of the sessions. They were supported by the large team of Starcross' own RYA Race Coach L2 members & parents. This gave a very high instructor to sailor ratio, and enabled excellent one-to-one support on the water.

Attendees came from a number of clubs in the region, with visitors from as far away as Falmouth - and from parent feedback after the last session - has been a roaring success.

Ian Purvis, Starcross Yacht Club Commodore in this 250th anniversary year commented "We are delighted to see so many enthusiastic juniors out on the water, and the engagement from juniors at all levels and it's very inspiring".