Round the Island Race 2012

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Natalie Clark

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I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction to crew on a boat for Round the Island race 2012.

I have come across many agents selling the race between £300 - £700 but these are package deals, which I am not looking for.

I am happy to contribute to running costs for the day.

I have been club racing for 18months on a contessa 32 and in the last 6 months a Sadler 25 which I bought in the summer.

I am keen to build my experience racing but don't know where to look really as it can get really expensive doing it through the agents and I am sure there is many people looking for crew. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Natalie

I would suggest contacting one or more of the solent clubs, If you want to invest in a bit of crewing prior to the big day you will have more success as it is a long day and you want to enjoy the company, a few local races will allow you to see if you and they fit.

Our club also has a crew register that is a useful way of connecting both sides of the market. I imagine this is quite common.

PM me if you wish to have further details.

Good luck
Ian
 
Hi Natalie.

If Flaming doesn't pop in here send him a p.m. He does a lot of racing and can point you in the right direction.

I'm pretty sure that on the RTI website there is a crew-wanted section each year but it should be easy to sort it before then.

Look at the Forums page
 
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This does sort of depend on whether you're asking to join a crew "full time" or if you're just after a berth in the RTI. Joining a half decent crew full time is more than possible, as others have suggested club websites / notice boards are the way forward - and also expecially the website of the series you wish to race in. First out of the traps in the Solent is the Royal Southampton Frostbite series, but most people come out of Hibernation for the Warsash Spring Series - and it's very common for people to pick up new crew for the season from their "crew available" section. Inexperience isn't really a problem, not that you sound inexperienced, but be honest with your experience. Saying "competent in any position" but not being so and making a hash of it is not likely to get you a repeat invite. Saying "basic skills but willing to try anything and to learn" tells skippers what to expect and you'll get plenty of offers from skippers looking for the final piece of the puzzle. There are several of our current crew who came onto the boat saying something similar and are now core and highly valued crew.

However, if you're only looking for a RTI ride, then in all honesty you're going to struggle to get a spot on a decent boat. The reason for this is that most decent race boats will have a settled crew by that stage in the season, and for many it's seen as a bit of a jolly as much as a serious race, and they tend to stack the boat with friends and significant others. Or - and you have seen this - go on charter for the day. Which in turn pushes their regular crew onto other boats....

The boats who are looking for crew just for the RTI will be once a year racers. I'm sure you'll get a spot if you put a post on the RTI "crew available" website, but be aware it almost certainly won't be on a boat capable of bringing home any silverware, and that in itself risks sailing with captain shouty.....
 
Welcome to the forum Natalie.

Why on earth do you want to sail around the Isle of Wight with all those numpties? If you trawl through the back posts on this and YM forum you will find tales of capsizes, rammings, groundings, no understanding of the RRS, big boat bullies etc. For many it is the only race of the year and they don't seem to know how to stay out of the way.

Of course, that may be the attraction for you and I imagine there must be some social activity associated with the sailing. Perhaps some of the aficionados could tell me what I'm missing?
 
There used to be a web site attached to the yachts and yachting mag where you could register for free as a crew or skipper looking for racing experience but I am not sure it still exists, its a shame as I got loads of racing crew and skipper positions from it. I have had a recent look for a friend and there is a site called crewseekers that offers a similar service (for a small fee, typical)

http://www.crewseekers.net/

The other option is to pass day skipper, charter a boat, rally some friends and make an entry, seemed to work for me :D

Scott (not racing at the moment)
 
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Am I missing something here?? Why not enter your own boat? A Sadler 25 isn't going to be the slowest boat by some way.
Make sure you and your crew are getting out as often as possible to gain experience in most conditions and go for it !
There will be an awful lot of numpties going round, but believe it or not, most of those will be in larger boats and they'll never be seen.
If your nervous about using a spinnaker then register without one and gain on your handicap. Just practice running with a poled out genoa.
Just test all the advice you can get and get an entry in.
 
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Simondjuk said:
I thought exactly the same as above. Why look for a position on another boat when you have your own?
Click to expand...

I know it is difficult for some to believe but it is possible that Natalie's Sadler may not be within easy reach of the Isle of Wight - if she is who I think she is, it is about 350 miles away. And if it is the same lady who sailed on my CO32 she comes highly recommended.
 
Thank you all for your replies.

My boat is based in Edinburgh hence the reason I am not planning to enter it, if the race was up here I am sure I would give it a bash.

I am now thinking I may enter a race that is on the same weekend up here, it sounds like I would get just as much out of it without having to travel the distance.

I am going to look into doing the race next year and taking the family down with me so we can spend some time on the south coast.

I will keep all your advice in mind when I am looking to do races further afield.

Fastnet also sounds like one that I would like to take part in at somepoint.

Thanks for your comment awol
 
awol said:
I know it is difficult for some to believe but it is possible that Natalie's Sadler may not be within easy reach of the Isle of Wight - if she is who I think she is, it is about 350 miles away. And if it is the same lady who sailed on my CO32 she comes highly recommended.
Click to expand...

How silly of me not to have known that. :rolleyes:
 
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