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Tuesday, 1 April 2025
Monday, 31 March 2025
Rooster Extends Partnership with J/70 UK Class for 2025
Following a fantastic 2024 Grand Slam Series, we are thrilled to announce that Rooster is continuing its partnership with the J/70 UK Class into 2025. With a shared passion for competitive racing and a commitment to growing the sport, Rooster remains an ideal partner as the J/70 class continues to thrive at both local and international levels.
With 42 teams competing in last year's UK Grand Slam Series, we look forward to an even stronger turnout in 2025. The strength of the UK fleet was also evident on the international stage, with impressive podium finishes at both the Open and Corinthian World Championships.
This year, the class is set to make history again - not only with the inaugural Corinthian European Championships but also with the first-ever Mixed-Plus J/70 World Championship, further highlighting the growing diversity and inclusivity within the fleet.
The UK Grand Slam Series returns this year with seven events spanning the season, kicking off in April. As part of Rooster's continued support, vouchers will be awarded per event, alongside special series prizes recognising top-performing teams in emerging categories, including Mixed-Plus, Youth, and Club Boat divisions.
Adding even more stakes to the competition, this year's Grand Slam Series results will determine the UK teams heading to the highly anticipated J/70 Worlds in Cascais 2026. With so much on the line, expect tight racing, close battles, and memorable showdowns on the water.
Luke Morrison, CEO of Rooster: "We're thrilled to continue supporting the J70 Class once again this year. It's always incredible to see the energy and passion within the class, and we wish everyone a season full of fun, excitement, and success.
Ian Poynton, Class Captain: "We are delighted to have Rooster on board for another year. Their commitment to the sport and shared values make them a perfect partner as we continue our efforts to grow participation, particularly among female and youth sailors. We're looking forward to an incredible season ahead."
The UK Grand Slam Series begins on April 26th. Entry for the first three events and Cowes Week are open.
For the full 2025 season calendar and entry links see :- j-70.co.uk/2025-schedule
J109s Set for Competitive Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
As Afloat reported previously, entries now stand at over 120 for the July regatta across all classes, with Cruisers One (currently described as TCC > .980; LOA > 12 metres) shaping up to be a red-hot fleet, that at its last staging totalled 22 in 2023, with 14 J109s in its number.
The Johnny Murphy skippered Howth-based J109 Outrajeous that swept the boards in 2024 will be on the Dun Laoghaire line but will face strong Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland competition along with a new arrival from Murphy's home port.
Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club J109s, Robin Young's Jings, and John Stanley Whyte's Blue Jay are two early Scottish entries, along with Brian Dixon's Corby 36 Gelert from Pwllheli Sailing Club in North Wales.
The Scottish RC35 class is taking a break from its regular championship scene this season to allow members to compete elsewhere across the Irish Sea. As a result, more Scottish J109s are expected to contest VDLR, which is the Irish Sea's 'big one' in 2025.
From Northern Ireland, Michael Browne's Victoria 3 is also confirmed, and, as Afloat readers know, the custom Dubois 33 from Royal North of Ireland YC and Strangford Lough YC is having a pre-season make-over.
A new J112e, a sistership to 2024 Cork Week Champion Valentina, will also contest this class under brothers Mike and Ritchie Evans from Howth Yacht Club, who move up from the J/99 Snapshot for the July 10-13 battle.
Sunday, 30 March 2025
The Staunton Harold Scorpion Sprint Championships are back for 2025
Come and join us on 5-6 April for another classic edition of sprint racing with as many sprint races as we can fit in within the race time. (See NOR and SIs for full details). This event promises to be the perfect way to launch this year's Silver Scorpion Craftinsure-sponsored series.
The legendary Staunton hospitality will be in play with BBQ and social planned for the Saturday night. Camping and camper vans welcome.
Lunchtime Galley will be available on both days and breakfast will be available on Sunday morning.
Timings:
Briefing is planned around 11:00 a.m on Saturday morning
The warning signals for racing will be between 12.00-14.00 & 15.00-17.00 on the 5th of April, and 10.30-13.00 on the 6th.
Please note this is subject to change, based on the wind conditions and the OOD's decision on the day.
Entry is online, please sign up ASAP (this really helps us with numbers).
On your entry form, please also book BBQ tickets as required; this really helps us with catering!.
Entry is £35 per boat for the weekend and payment is on arrival, on the Saturday. Saturday night BBQ is £12.50 per person.
Free camping for tents and campervans will be available on site on Friday and Saturday night. Alternatively please visit tripadvisor.com or booking.com etc.
For sailors arriving on Friday night, to drop boats off, or to camp, please contact us via sailing@shsc.org.uk to confirm timing, note that the boat park will be locked, so we will need to co-ordinate.
We look forward to seeing you for a great weekend of Sprint Racing!
Go here to sign up :- https://shsc.org.uk/event/scorpion-open-1
Jasmine Harrison continues her circumnavigation
A young British adventurer will start her 6,000 passage from Panama to Fiji this week.
Jasmine Harrison, double world-record holder, continues her solo sail around the world!
On Tuesday 25th March Jasmine Harrison will be setting off from La Playita Marina, Panama City on Leg 2 of her solo sail around the world in a handmade 5.8m (19 feet) yacht to sail 6000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to Fiji.
Jasmine is an entrant in the inaugural Mini Globe Race organised by McIntyre Adventure.
Since December she has completed a qualifying solo sail from Portugal to Lanzarote in her boat Numbatou. She then successfully completed a transatlantic crossing to Antigua, 2865 nautical miles in 28 days, arriving at dawn under a rainbow! On 23rd February 2025 Jasmine then sailed from Antigua to Panama. That leg of the staged race took her 11 days, 1179 nautical miles.
This race is another challenge of a lifetime for the young Yorkshire adventurer. She is sailing single- handed, racing against 14 other international sailors, and is one of only two female competitors. She is the youngest to take part at aged 25.
Learn more at :- www.jasmine-harrison.com
Racing Championship 2025 at Oxford Sailing Club
A team from the Royal Thames Yacht Club has won the Prince Philip Trophy after claiming victory at the 2025 RYA/UKTRA National Team Racing Championship. Hosted for the first time in the event's history by Oxford Sailing Club, 24 teams battled it out at Farmoor Reservoir over a weekend of tricky conditions in Firefly dinghies.
The sell-out #rockupandrace championship (22-23 March 2025) was supported by the UK Team Racing Association, RYA, Oxford Sailing Club and kSail.
With a fairly light but promising forecast for the weekend, Race Officer Keith Sammons of kSail got racing under way in good time on the Saturday.
Good progress was made through the Stage 1 (HLS) round robin with 102 races completed, ready to move into Stage 2 (Leagues) the next morning.
Overnight the scoreboard was led by George Jesters in first place, followed by Royal Thames Academy White, Rutland Raiders and Cumberland Sausages.
Sunday morning, despite a forecast of 10 knots of wind, there was nothing for the 09:00 start time. At around 10:15 one race was completed but the wind then died again.
It was decided to continue with Stage 1 when the breeze made a reappearance and with 144 races completed - 12 for each team - the knockout stages commenced around 14:00.
Semi Final 1 saw Royal Thames Academy White winning 2-0 from Rutland Raiders. Semi Final 2 was likewise settled 2-0 with George Jesters seeing off Elmside Neighbours.
The Petit Final was then claimed 2-1 by Rutland Raiders from Elmside Neighbours and in what proved to be a nail-biting final, Royal Thames Academy White won 3-2 from George Jesters to seal the overall victory in a close fight to the finish
The winning team from the Royal Thames YC comprised James Hammett & Lainey Terkelsen, Tommy Darling & Zoe Nieveen, Dom Lewis & Cally Terkelsen.
Saturday, 29 March 2025
Malta Sailing Adventure
Friday, 28 March 2025
New recruits making waves with British Sailing Keelboat Academy
Recruits selected to join the 2025 British Sailing Keelboat Academy have been making the most of training weekends to develop their teamwork, boat handling and racing.
Coaches for the squad have been impressed by the Academy's latest cohort of 40 young sailors, who have joined from as far afield as the south-west and north-east, Scotland and Wales, with many having only previously raced dinghies.
At London's Queen Mary SC the sailors were able to learn asymmetric and symmetric spinnaker boat handing aboard the club's RS21s and Royal Thames YC's Sonar fleet, with a variety of conditions and a chance to get used to working in teams of four or five.
An inshore weekend at Port Solent (8-9 March 2025) then enabled the sailors to further their skills in teams of 8 to 10 aboard Prometheus Sailing's charter fleet of 40ft Sunsail racing yachts.
Academy Lead Coach Phil Devereux said: "It's all about doing your own role well and trusting the person next to you to likewise do their job to the best of their ability. There were some good conversations about how the individual roles add up to a collective and coordinated effort with clear, accurate, quality communication.
"We've had productive weekends and the feedback from the coaching team reflects how pleasant and hardworking everyone is in this year's intake. They're team players with the types of character attributes that we' re very happy to have representing the Academy. I'm proud of the squad and what we've achieved so far."
An optional offshore weekend (22/23 March 2025) saw around half the BSKA's recruits sailing out of Hamble aboard two Fast 40 boats chartered from Britannia and included navigation, night sailing, cooking on board, watch systems, man overboard drills and safety.
The Academy as a whole will be in Cowes for a weekend of J70 racing (5-6 April 2025). This will also include an opportunity to network with members of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, and hear from Vendée Globe star Sam Goodchild, whose journey in keelboat racing first began as a young sailor with the Academy.
Look out for when applications re-open for the next intake in late summer 2025, follow @BritishKeelboatSailing on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest news, and find out more at British Sailing Keelboat Academy.
Thursday, 27 March 2025
Cadet class open meeting 2025 at Fishers Green Sailing Club
It was all to play for at the 2025 FGSC Cadet Open as ambitious contenders launched into a light SE breeze on 22 March. Fresh from almost a month of winter training at the green, these cadet sailors looked faster and stronger than ever before.
Our experienced RO Mike Atkinson was confident. There would be no delay today for the cadets representing squadrons from Fishers Green SC; Corinthian Otters; Rickmansworth SC and Welsh Harp SC. Brightly coloured spinnakers popped up as they headed for Race Island, and there was a buzz of anticipation amongst parents and supporters on shore.
After two exciting races a warming lunch was taken followed by two further thrilling races.
With four races complete, final podium places were then accounted for, with swift two protests heard. A fantastic event for all, both veteran racers and newcomers and well done to all the youth who participated and worked hard to achieve their goals in this event.
Congratulations to our podium places and prize winners:
1st Zoe Thomas & Thomas Emile (presented with the Cobweb Trophy and CFbyLandL golden tiller)
2nd Emily Buckley & Isla Kennedy (presented with the B fleet trophy)
3rd Daisy Cox & Ben Smith (presented with the Eric Ingall Trophy)
1st under13 Helm Daisy Cox (presented with Fishers Green Cadet Trophy)
Most promising FGSC crew Alvy Jones (presented with the Sam Breary Shield)
Endeavour prize awarded to Gracie Jones
Thank you to all the volunteers including those FGSC members who provided safety cover on RIBS and help in the galley and special thanks to:
Matteo Mancini and Paul Buckley for their coach support
CFbyLandL for generously sponsoring our event
The Old Salt Loft / Stitch Print for generously sponsoring sunglasses
Further news and event coverage of FGSC events, including all open events, can be found on our social media channel @fishersgreensailingclub and www.fishersgreensc.org.uk
Shoreham Sailing Club's 2025 Open Events
At Shoreham SC, we have one of the best stretches of open water for dinghy racing in the UK. Launching is easy too - from inside the sheltered harbour, it's a short sail out to sea and the race course.
We welcome visitors to join our club racing (£15 a day and up to four visits allowed) but here is a list of all our Open Events for 2025:
Sunday 20th & Monday 21st April
Easter Cup Open
2 races back to back each day- a 4 race series
Entry is now open
Monday 5th May
Early May Bank Holiday Open
2 races back to back
Entry will open on 21st April
Monday 26th May
Late May Bank Holiday Open
Pursuit race
Entry will open on 19th May
Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th June
Festival of The Sea
TBC!
Monday 25th August
August Bank Holiday Open
2 races back to back
TBC!
November (every Sunday)
Cooler Series
2 races back to back each day - an 8 race series
We are also very proud to be hosting three regional Class events and two National events this year:
Saturday 21st June
Topper L&SE Open
26th & 27th July
Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Open
4th September - 7th September
Contender and Wayfarer Nationals
11th & 12th October
Topper Super South
We hope to see you at Shoreham during 2025 - if you can't get here but meet one of our members on the circuit, please say hello!
shorehamsailing.org
Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Introducing Jazz Turner's Project FEAR
A Brighton resident and former GBR Para sailor has set a goal to become the first female disabled person to complete a solo, non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation of the British Isles in a sailing boat.
26-year old Jazz Turner suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a debilitative genetic condition that means she is a full-time wheelchair user. What's more, the illness has led to further physical complications that sadly means doctors say the condition is terminal.
Rather than allow this condition to take away her strength and spirit, sailing enthusiast Jazz is fighting back with determination to not let this illness get in the way of her love of the open waters. Jazz has set herself a lofty sailing goal, and named the endeavour Project Fear, in order to confront her inhibitions and show that anything is possible, with enough determination.
Jazz is seeking to raise £30,000 for Newhaven and Seaford Sailability, an organisation that enables other people with disabilities to get sailing, by breaking all records as the first disabled person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around England, Scotland and Ireland.
The launch event is at 5pm on 11 April 2025 at Brighton Marina Yacht Club, where all are welcome. The sailing project sets off this summer, with a departure date from Brighton Marina on 2 June 2025. We'd also love to invite you to come down to see the boat set off on that day.
Find out more, or make a donation which goes to Newhaven and Seaford Sailability, at :-
projectfear.uk