Racing - hows, whys & wherefores?

MissFitz

MissFitz

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I'd like to get some racing experience, but I don't know where to start - & as I understand you have to sign up for several months at a time, I want to make sure I get it right.

So I guess there are a few questions:

1. Where are the best places to look for crewing opportunities?
2. How do you pick a good boat/skipper? (I'm going primarily for the sailing, not the socialising, so I'd like to find someone who takes it seriously.)
3. Will I have to wait till spring to get going?

I have a Yachtmaster cert but no racing experience, & don't expect to start anywhere except at the bottom......

All help, as always, much appreciated.
 
Looking for boats/racers/help too

I am in a slightly different position to Lucy with respect to racing but still need some help/advice.

I run a social sailing club in London and have a couple of members who want to race but on a more ad-hoc basis. We're really looking to find some boats that we can rent regularly and race somewhere like the Solent.. Ideal size would be something like a 1720 sportsboat..

Any help would be great!
 
Not an unreasonable question, but please let us know roughly where you would like to sail. Plenty of winter sailing down south; not so much to the north!
 
The starting point is to find a club in the area you want to sail that does the kind of racing you want to get involved in join and get to know people boats are almost always wanting crew. You do need to go there in person, go in and talk to people so choose times when people are likely to be in the bar after racing. Most clubs will allow you to crew a few times to get to know how things go before you have to pay your fees, so you should be able to try before you buy.

Good luck
 
Solent Racing

Highest profile series are probably out of the Hamble in autumn and spring. Warsash sailing club runs one of those I think so worthwhile contacting them to see if anyone needs crew. Royal Southampton YC run Sunday morning racing in autumn and winter in Southampton Water. There are often people looking for crew short and long term so you could give the Sailing Secretary a call.
You need to get a few rides when owners are short of crew on the day - usually less than serious racers - then get into the bar afterwards and start making contacts for more serious boats when you have a bit of experience.
Clubs will usually welcome you putting your name forwards for vacancies so don't be shy about contacting them.
 
lucyfparker said:
Malabar - sorry, yes, should have specified that I'm London-based so it's the Solent.
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It doesn't have to be the Solent for Londoners - there's lots of racing opportunities on the Thames itself, the Medway and East Coast rivers.

I had some great experience going along to the Medway Yacht Club at Upnor and got involved as crew on the Sonata races (there are several classes there). Very friendly and sociable and you learn fast on small quick boats with few crew. I just turned up one Saturday morning seeking to find out more and as I had my gear and lifejacket with me I was on a boat within minutes.

If you do want to get involved in, say, the Hamble Winter Series then you can look at crewseekers and other websites but to be a regular you'll need to commit to every race which can mean a lot of early Sunday mornings driving down from London.
 
Easy if you commit!

For most owners the biggest pain in racing is finding and organising reliable crew. If you can commit to turning up for regular racing and the occasional practice session then you’ll easily find a slot on a boat, and in the middle of the fleet most skippers will be happy to put the time and effort into training race novices if they think they are going to get a return on that investment – ie a reliable crew member. Buying the skipper a pint in the bar afterwards will usually prove effective too!

To answer your specific questions, in reverse order:

1) No need to wait until spring. Most clubs run winter racing and the Hamble Winter Series and RSYC Winter Series (to name just two) are ongoing at the moment. The former is probably more serious, but the latter has some fast and furious action with two races per session and very short distances between marks.

2) In the first instance you’ll probably have to take pot luck on boat/skipper quality – but in practice most people racing in the bigger events have put enough time and money into their campaigns to take it pretty seriously – certainly the two race series I’ve mentioned above will all be doing it properly. If it’s got yellow (or grey or black) sails then the owner is probably serious! Whether you get on with the skipper/crew is another matter...

3) Most clubs are very friendly – they are in the business of encouraging more crews and more racing. In the first instance contact a club’s race officer and they will give you some pointers, if only what time to turn up at the club to try and find someone short of crew that morning. When I was young and keen I got on boats just by turning up at a clubhouse (or the Square Rigger at Port Hamble) at 8am on a Sunday and asking around. Some clubs run specific events for new crew: BMYC (Brighton) runs ‘club class’ twice yearly where boat owners take race novices out over a series of Saturdays for training and then get the chance to race in the club races on Sunday (I think you’ve just missed the autumn club class). RORC hosts a ‘crew match’ social event early in the year where owners and prospective crew can meet up. I’m sure other clubs do something similar.

Good luck!
 
JOG and RORC

Don't forget about JOG and RORC for offshore racing. They both have crews wanted and crews available sections on their website and although JOG and RORC are offshore biased the boats that enter these often do the Warsash Spring and Hamble Winter Series plus the events like the Round the Island and Cowes Week.

Some boats expect you to pay. Others are happy to have a reliable crew. You'll have to find someone you get along with. Some skippers are very shouty when racing.
 
Best bet is very simply to work out what events you want to sail in and visit their websites. The hamble winter series and warsash spring series both have crew finding sections. Which work very well. Over the last two seasons we've picked up several crew from these sources. Including people such as you who are new to racing.

About this time of year a lot of thoughts start turning to next season, so getting active now and trying to pick up a sail or two for the winter series will set you in good stead for next season. And if you can commit to the whole spring series you'll probably wind up on the boat for the whole season. Be warned, it will take over your life!

Then when you get on board do the obvious stuff, help out setting up/packing up the boat, grab a brush etc. Believe me, often things like this are remembered by the crew organisor (often NOT the skipper btw) whilst sailing performance is often less important.
 
The best way is just to put your name down on a crewing list at a racing club.

Don't expect to be invited out on a good boat at first as they'll tend to want experienced racers to fill vacancies, but the main thing is to get started and learn the basics of a specific role on board.

There are always boats that need crew. And they need a pool of crew so they can cope with absences and changes to numbers depending upon the wind strength.

You might find there's a bit more shouting down amongst the back markers where you'll start. Don't worry too much about it unless it gets really abusive, in which case just get off and find another boat. Often it is inexperienced skippers who shout the most.

An inexperienced skipper is not the end of the world as long as there is a solid core of experienced senior crew to learn from.

There is an etiquette about moving boats once you're part of a crew. You're expected to show a certain amount of loyalty and not be poached by the first better offer that comes along. However, once committed to race in one series on a boat there's nothing to stop you racing on another boat in another series as long as it doesn't clash with any commitment to the first boat.

If you're an experienced cruiser (I presume you've got the YM practical from your post) you might find JOG or RORC racing a useful stepping stone. There your skills are likely to be more valuable. Nothing to stop you mixing round the cans racing & offshore racing on the same or different boats though.

And a final warning: it is addictive.
 
From memory both JOG and RORC hold meet the crew evenings up in the big smoke January ish time. I'm sure there websites will have details.

Good place for skippers and crew to eyeball each other. (Thats if you wnat offshore racing of course.)

Have fun racing is great fun, round the cans or offshore.
 
I am a beginner at racing, maybe just 2 seasons ahead of you.

First issue is do you want to race your own boat or crew with someone else? Whichever you chose, it's most practical to do it club based and to chose a club that offers the sort of racing you want. A decent club really is the easiest entry point to racing

If you want to race your own boat then as someone has already said your next big issue is crew. This is easier in winter than in summer if your crew is fellow sailors since they will be less inclined to use their own boats. But ideally you need a stable crew as you all learn your roles. Then go out and do it. Maybe hang back a little at first to see how things go, but it isnt so difficult that you cant just go and enter a race. Learn as you go along.

I have no personal experience of finding a place on someone else's boat but people do it at our club by word of mouth and via the noticeboard. It's a bit of a macho world and it will be a bit harder for a girl so you will need to be a bit more convincing about your skills and the role you see for yourself. That said we have several women in our fleet.
 
wotayottie said:
It's a bit of a macho world and it will be a bit harder for a girl so you will need to be a bit more convincing about your skills and the role you see for yourself. That said we have several women in our fleet.
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Was with you until that.

Girls are very valued on race boats, can't remember racing without at least one girl on board. Currently we have 4 in a crew of 9.
 
lucyfparker said:
I'd like to get some racing experience, but I don't know where to start - & as I understand you have to sign up for several months at a time, I want to make sure I get it right.

So I guess there are a few questions:

1. Where are the best places to look for crewing opportunities?
2. How do you pick a good boat/skipper? (I'm going primarily for the sailing, not the socialising, so I'd like to find someone who takes it seriously.)
3. Will I have to wait till spring to get going?
Click to expand...


Hi Lucy F
Lots of sensible stuff here - do try the club event websites eg Hamble River and Royal Southampton for current winter series, Royal Southampton for deep mid winter, Warsash for Spring. Then there is JOG and RORC - my experience is that JOG is more sociable and relaxed and has a coastal series which means you won't be at sea all weekend. I've picked up crew from the Warsash register and JOG.

Of course be honest as you are about your experience but if you have lots of sea miles then say so. I think boat size when starting out is pretty important - don't go too small and don't go too big - say a mid fleet 30 to 35ft boat, big enough to accomodate someone who may not be totally in tune at first but not so big that you're in with some who think they are rockstars! Also the loads on a bigger boat can be huge and a bit scary if things go wrong.

Muck in, concentrate as in 'what may happen next', be reasonably agile, understand what safety kit you need to bring if any, ask clearly what the skipper expects of you and explain if, for example, foredeck is too challenging at first, wear proper gloves, don't get wet and cold at this time of year and do enough of the chores and apres sail.

You'll love it and it should enhance cruising as you will be sailing better and arriving sooner!

My Mustang 30 (super boat which has won me a few trophies in the last 3 seasons) is for sale as I'm considering my next move. Any takers?
 
Wonderful, thanks very much indeed guys, exactly what I needed to know - particularly pleased to hear that it's possible to get on offshore boats without paying/being an expert. Looks like it's going to be a busy 2010....
 
Based in London, you can always try

Sussex YC in Shoreham, Brighton Marina YC or Sovereign Harbour YC in Eastbourne. The racing at each is different in abilities and scale. Brighton run an intro to racing course on Saturdays that (I am informed) is very popular and useful.

Generally though, in my experience, there are nearly always more spaces on boats than people, so there is always a good chance of getting out.

As an example, my partner and I need crew to race our Oyster 26 - with just two of us its a little frantic at times.

Best of luck in your search.

Jeff.
 
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