Shake it up
Club sailing is the grass roots of our sport and the key to our future success. It provides sociable, fun, safe racing and is the introduction to racing for many, long before open meetings or class training. Even if you are not an overly competitive person, racing is a great way to see how much your sailing has improved. Don’t be daunted by the rules; they are there to avoid boat-on-boat contact, so that everyone ends up with the same amount of gel coat on their boat as they started with – which is particularly relevant on busy start lines and mark roundings.
Learning from the top
In handicap races it is great if there are several boats out in your class to benchmark your sailing. Enthusiasm is infectious and it is amazing how a simple WhatsApp reminder of up-coming racing, or a write up of a previous race online can encourage more people to participate. Larger fleets not only mean closer and more exciting racing, but better preparation for open
