Starcross Steamer, Handicap Pursuit Race January

This was a great start to the year and I finished just under halfway down the fleet which was an open event personal best. There’s a separate Starcross Steamer post.

Solo Sailing in Swanage, January

Making the best of breaks in the weather and getting out when I could.

Yeovil Handicap Pursuit Race February

A great fun race but tricky, inland sailing is quite different to sea sailing. A pursuit race is where the slower boats go first, and the faster boats later. Slow and fast boats are determined by their PY Handicap number (high = slow, low = fast). The faster boats then try to catch up and overtake any boat in front, after 150 minutes, the race is stopped and positions are taken.

Lee on Solent, two-day Aero open, February

This event had ups and downs. I totally messed up race one by getting my course wrong in the tides, but got it right thereafter. My starts were poor costing many places but the beats were good and I was pointing as well as the rest of the fleet.

I was doing ok until I suffered equipment failure when the sail tack got chewed up, my halyard snapped and the sail came down. I managed to temporarily fix it but lost my downhaul for day two, which considering it was windy, wasn’t great. Nevertheless, still a great fun event.

RYA Senior Instructor Course, April

This was a big challenge and felt like a great achievement to pass. Being an RYA Senior Instructor is the qualification you need to run sailing tuition/training in a watersports centre.

Junior Training, April – July

Now qualified as a Senior Instructor I was leading the Junior Training in Swanage this season. We’re very lucky to have such a terrific team of instructors, organisers, safety team, club support and shore team.

RS Aero 6 National Championships, August

A three-day event. Rather light conditions on two days for my weight with a 6 sail, (I’m a 7 sailor) but hugely enjoyable and much learned.

Collision with a Dart 18, August

This could have been a lot worse. It was a windy day, I was sailing a 9 in a pursuit race and was clipped by a Dart 18 at the leeward mark. The rudder stock was damaged too but the boat was fortunately, otherwise fine.

I completed the race using minimal rudder (steering with sail and body weight) and still managed to do pretty well 🙂

Boat care, September

I learned to splice ropes this year and gave my boat some TLC. I polished the hull, added new continuous control lines, bought a new sail and had to replace the kicker swivel.

I learned a big lesson here about the importance of having your boat in tip-top shape. With its polished hull, the boat felt faster and I did very well in club races afterwards. The new control lines meant controls were super easy, needed far less effort and were more responsive. A shiny, gleaming boat with new ropes and a new sail looks nice too.

I’m now using the old 7 sail for training and will use the new one for races.

Out of the Bay race, October

We had a family outing around Old Harry in a club race.

Club Racing, 2023

I don’t have any pictures here, but 2023 was my best year yet for racing in Swanage. I’m starting to finish more consistently near the front of the fleet and started winning some races in 2023.

I’m pretty fit so do well in strong winds, but the consistency started coming in light conditions too.

November and December sailing

The winter winds came back reducing the sailing windows, but I’m still getting out on my own whenever there is a break in the weather.

Lookahead to 2024

2023 was the year I felt comfortable in pretty much all wind conditions, and I started to get the hang of tides, and wind shifts. It was also the year I learned to tap the power supply properly under the boat, waves.

In 2024, I plan to do even more racing and will work to improve my starts. I think this alone will get me consistently into mid-fleet rankings or higher, at open events. Secondarily, I want to improve my sailing in tides and understand the wind better (e.g. shifts, weather types, effects of land features).

Game on.