Would this encourage you to give racing a go?

Well I'm not deterred. When I asked how competitive the cruiser class at Cowes Classics week was the reply was "the race course suggests which way we go sailing that afternoon, before heading fir the post race party".

I think I can live with that.

Off to buy a copy of RSS Saturday. Something to read if the forecast storm arrives.
 
chrisbitz said:
I want to go racing, but I don't know *all* the rules. I rather hoped I might use common sense and pick them up as I go?... :-)
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There are swathes of the book that the vast majority of people never need to go near. The important bit is part two - when boats meet. For umpiring, I've put it on twelve sides of A6, so three sides of A4.

The RYA sell a 'Handy guide to the racing rules', which covers the basics. Good enough to get racing with.
 
Interesting re difficulty of getting a crew available.

I have difficulty getting me available. Looking at the calendar over the next 6 weeks I have 2 free weekends for sailing. The rest of the time we have kids parties, dance shows, grown up birthdays. I could leave all that to SWMBO whilst i go sailing but would be easier to just instruct the divorce lawyer now.

So how good a crew would I get with maybe 2 available weeks a month and we're not going to win anything even if I spend a fortune on gear.

What would get me into racing would be something that didn't penalise small crews, didn't require me to spend loads of money on equipment that I don't have or on new sails every year and where occasional participation was ok to cater for those days when I can sail but when we're not planning on sailing for the weekend.
 
jac said:
What would get me into racing would be something that didn't penalise small crews, didn't require me to spend loads of money on equipment that I don't have or on new sails every year and where occasional participation was ok to cater for those days when I can sail but when we're not planning on sailing for the weekend.
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...and there in a nutshell is the reason the RTIR is so popular... :D
 
jac said:
I have difficulty getting me available. Looking at the calendar over the next 6 weeks I have 2 free weekends for sailing. The rest of the time we have kids parties, dance shows, grown up birthdays. I could leave all that to SWMBO whilst i go sailing but would be easier to just instruct the divorce lawyer now.

So how good a crew would I get with maybe 2 available weeks a month and we're not going to win anything even if I spend a fortune on gear.

What would get me into racing would be something that didn't penalise small crews, didn't require me to spend loads of money on equipment that I don't have or on new sails every year and where occasional participation was ok to cater for those days when I can sail but when we're not planning on sailing for the weekend.
Click to expand...

Sounds like joining a syndicate in one of these. Restricted scrubbing, fleet purchases of sails - normally one per year (no sail purchase outside of fleet replacement program, and the group purchase gives good prices), only needs three people to sail, choice of round the cans or windward leeward (depends on weekend). Majority of fleet owned by syndicates. No engine, no electronics.

yandy64710.jpg
 
I have followed this thread with interest. As one poster suggested, why more people wishing to build miles for various certificates don't race, I don't know. It is what I did. And by doing that, I was fortunate enough to become a regular crew member of a highly competitive cruiser racer with a particularly skilled (and patient!) skipper. Result, we now share the racing. When he is off on his summer cruise, we race my boat, which whilst not designed for 'round the cans'-it has a stay sail which makes tacking a trial at times- can still shift off the wind. We often come a 'noble last' but the important thing is we enjoy it and I get a buzz out of it. And when my friend who really knows what he is doing comes back, we race his yacht, which again is not particularly designed for round the cans, and do better! It means we both use our boats for the optimum periods and we have a laugh. Great. Jersey race this weekend, we will be there, but looks like what wind there is going to be will certainly be not from the right direction for us. But never mind, a good time will assuredly had by all.
 
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