2010
The new sailing season will soon be upon us and already the days are getting longer, so now is the time to start thinking about what sort of sailing you want to do this year. We are pleased to say that we are offering more choice in races, cruising and courses this year than ever before. And for those of you who want the freedom you get from a bareboat charter, there is still plenty of availability throughout the year. Charter- a-berthWe now have a full programme of events posted on our website here with a choice of cruising and racing. The first trip is in a just a couple of weeks time - our Valentines Day cruise. Nothing too ambitious is planned and the emphasis will be on the socialising, but with some good sailing thrown in hopefully. And since we won't be going too far, perhaps you could tempt your non-sailing partner to join in so that we can show them what they're missing. There are now only a few places left, so don't miss out. Racing Offshore races add a new dimension to sailing and imposes a discipline that leaves you feeling very satisfied when you know you got from A to B without using the engine. Add to that the competitive aspect and the pleasure from sailing in company and you see why offshore racing is so popular. Our boats are primarily cruisers, so they have all the creature comforts you might expect, but with new laminate sails, full spinnaker gear and feathering propellers they are not slow. We are particularly pleased that two of our yachts completed the Fastnet last year and, since the next Fastnet campaign starts in just 8 months, maybe it's time to be getting some practice in soon. Races are organised by the Royal Offshore Racing Club (RORC) and the Junior Offshore Group (JOG). Destinations this year range from a weekend sprint from Cowes around the Nab Tower & back to a 340 mile race to La Trinite over 6 days. These races are open to all including experienced and novices alike. You won't have to spend all your time sitting on the rail and you won't be eating dried food. Overnight, we operate a watch pattern that leaves plenty of time for rest or even watching a movie, without detracting from the thrill of racing around the clock. Racing events are listed on our website with the other charter-a-berth trips. RYA Sea School
Our 2010 course programme is now listed and for the first time there is a choice of 4 courses every month throughout the year including: 2-day weekends from Friday night to Sunday afternoon 3-day weekends usually including a Friday 5-days from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon and 5-days from Friday evening to Wednesday - NEW This last option means that you can do a full 5-day RYA course with just three days off work. Also, by recording what you have done each weekend, we can let you mix and match weekend courses, but still make sure you cover all the requirements of the syllabus. All the prices are on our website here and you can book on-line too. |
Sailing knowledge - Maximum boat speed
How fast can a boat go. Well clearly some boats that can get up on the plane will go as fast as their engines will push them, but for displacement boats (like yachts) there is a limit. The reason is due to the fact that there is a physical law linking the speed of waves (in knots) to their wavelength (in feet) thus: speed=1.34 x square root of wavelength
Clearly a boat's bow wave is moving with the boat and by default there will be a secondary crest somewhere further back. As the boat gets faster, so do the waves and consequently the wavelength increases too. There then comes a point when the boat starts to overtake the secondary crest after which the stern drops in to the trough between the two crests. The boat is then attempting to climb the back of the first wave and although extra power can add a little to the speed, the amount needed rises exponentially for a small increase in speed.
So the theoretical speed limit is 1.34 x square root of the waterline length, or 8 knots for a 36 footer for example. Alas for the mathematicians its not quite so simple because certain design features can increase this ratio, but that's probably good for the rest of us! Lighthouses
Much of the offshore racing last year involved lighthouses as marks of the course including the Fastnet Rock itself off Southern Ireland. But we believe there are only 12 lighthouse in the UK that are built on rocks (as opposed to the land, such as Portland Bill). Unless of course you can think of one that is not in the list? - Eddystone - Devon
- The Skerries - Wales
- The Smalls - Wales
- Longships - Cornwall
- The Longstone - Northumberland
- Bell Rock - Scotland
- Skerryvore - Scotland
- Bishops Rock - Isles of Scilly
- Wolf Rock - Cornwall
- Dubh Artach - Scotland
- Chicken Rock - Isle of man
- Flannan Isles - Scotland
Sailing on TV
As usual, we are severely limited in TV coverage of sailing, but credit to CNN who currently have a monthly sailing news magazine show called MainSail presented by Shirley Robertson at various times during the month but including the third Thursday at 17:30. Even better, if you miss it, you can see a repeat on-line here |
February News