Recomendation Round the Island race - which sailing school

[paflo]

Hi,
I want to do the Round the Island Race end of June with a sailing school to get some racing experience.
Has anybody done it before with a sailing school and what was it like?

Thanks,
paflo

 

[flaming]

If you really want to get race experience I wouldn't recommend a sailing school. At the end of the day you'll only have one experienced person on board, so you may not get the sort of tips you want. And it's RTI so you'll be paying waaaaay over the odds.

Better idea is to get onto a private boat with a good crew. The RTI is a rare event in that just about every racing boat in the Solent is out to play, so there are always boats looking for crew.

 

[Racecruiser]

I think Flaming is right assuming you know your way around a yacht but have not raced before.

Better still get a ride on a few inshore races first as you'll be that much more handy and the RTI is a long day which can be testing if it blows on the day.

I suggest looking at some crew registers - eg Warsash Spring Series but be honest with your experience level whatever it is! http://www.warsashspringseries.org.uk/

 

[DRANNIE]

Can't agree with that. Try sailing logic based in southampton, their fastnet and RTI results speak for them selves. No link, just impressed with how competetive they were when I did RTI a couple of years ago.

 

[Racecruiser]

That's a fair point about Sailing Logic and perhaps some other organisations - I was thinking at least in part about cost, particularly for the RTI!

 

[flaming]

Hell of a lot of cash for 1 day's sailing....

I'm sure they do a great job, but I just don't see the need to spend that sort of cash for a ride round the island, especially if you know one end of the boat from another!

Rides for RTI are generally quite easy to find, as all the big racing boats will be out and none of them generally take it that seriously. For most it's a fun day out in the middle of the season.