Bank Holiday Sailing
Do something different this bank holiday and join us on one of our two charter-a-berth trips across the Channel.
Option 1 is a cruise to Alderney as part of our annual rally. You can either take just a berth on a boat with one of our skippers or charter a whole boat with your friends/family and cruise across in company.
Option 2 is a race to Ouistreham as part of the Royal Offshore Racing Club programme. This is not as far as it sounds, being just down the coast from Cherbourg, but you'll experience the excitement of being amongst a small fleet of other yachts as they make their way south. RYA Sea School
All our August courses are now full and September is filling fast. If you are thinking of joining a course in the autumn, don't leave it too late to book. Currently the following dates are available:-
3-day weekend - 11/13 Sept - 1 place
2-day weekend - 19/20 Sept - 3 places
5 days midweek - 28 Sept/3 Oct - 4 places
3-day weekend - 9/11 Oct - 5 places
2-day weekend - 17/18 Oct - 5 places
5 days midweek - 26/30 Oct - 4 places
As usual, all the prices are on our website here. Boat handling
If you've completed your Day Skipper course, but want a little more practice before taking a boat out on your own, our boat handling course may be just the thing. You'll spend the whole weekend with an instructor and up to four other students practicing manoeuvring a yacht in close quarters situations. The next course is on 26/27 September and there are currently two places left at £219 each. Off-shore racing 2010
During 2009, as part of the Fastnet campaign, we established a core team of off-shore racing enthusiasts that have taken us to 4th place overall in IRC Class 1. During 2010, we are looking to do even better and we will by then have bigger asymmetric, laminate race sails, a better IRC handicap and valuable experience. We may even have two new race tuned boats to play with. What we want to do now is build a regular team to take part in the races and build experience as they do. No experience is necessary initially and by the end of the season you will have sailed in excess of 1,000 miles over 8 weekends for which the all-in cost is just £1,750 payable in instalments. | Stag & Hen weekends
Sailing makes a great idea for a stag or hen weekend for several reasons. Mainly, as it is so out-of-the-ordinary for most people, it is something that they will remember for a very long time. Also, as everyone is kept together, they socialise even when they didn't know each other beforehand. It provides the right balance between relaxation and activity and it's good value - two days and nights for £160 per person. A typical weekend starts on Friday for an evening in Gunwharf Quay at the many restaurants and bars before sailing to Cowes on Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon we sail up to the lively Southampton before the leisurely trip back on Sunday. The Rolex Fastnet 2009
We were very pleased that Jayne was able to join us at the last minute for the 2009 Fastnet race and very brave of her it was too. However it was well worthwhile as she was a valued member of the crew.
As a company, we were also delighted that both our yachts made it safely around the course and finished in just over 5 days.
Looking at the results on the RORC website, these appear to have been the only Bavaria yachts in IRC Class 1 to have ever completed the race.
Everyone taking part should be very proud of their achievement and I am sure it will make them more confident in their own sailing abilities. Sailing knowledge
Horsepower - we all know how much our engine produces, but what about the sails or even us humans when rowing?
Sails - every 50 sq ft of sail generates just 1 hp in a force 4 (11 to 16 knots). If the wind speed doubles the power quadruples, but equally if the wind speed halves, you get only a quarter of the power and if it drops completely you get none!
Humans - the average man in good condition can produce only ¼ hp for about 40 minutes. Luckily it takes rather less than this to row a dinghy, so you should be able to keep that up for several hours, but a big team would be needed to row a ship at any decent speed. Meanwhile the maximum that a top athlete can produce is still only just under 2 hp and that's for just a few seconds.
Thank goodness for diesel. |
