SWSA pre-season news and invitation.
Published 10:03 on 10 Apr 2024
For the third season running we plan to incorporate three of the SWSA evening races into our Wednesday evening programme. (3rd, 17th and 31st July).
Of note the SWSA will be reviving the Ashlett Trophy for the RTIR so more trophies potentially up for grabs!! I will provide some further information re this in the next Pennant.
I believe I mentioned that entry to the season was £35 at my Race/Rally evening but it looks to be £40 now. Still FREE for the first season and I believe you can still PAYG so very affordable.
Why not visit the SWSA website and consider a few of their races to compliment the MYC programme?
Damon Kennard
(Sailing Secretary)
sailingsec@marchwoodyc.org.uk
Pre- season news from SWSA for 2024
The start of the sailing season is almost upon us. Entries are coming in and no doubt many of us are busy with all those finishing touches that we hope will make our boat the fastest!
We begin on Friday 19th April at Hythe sailing Club with a start the season social at 1900 followed by a race officer session. There will be nibbles and the bar will be open. We rely on competitors taking a turn to be race officer throughout the season and to work fairly relies on everyone contributing and taking their turn. Being Race officer is often very informative and gives you a different perspective on the race. A clear view of your competitors from the committee boat can be very useful in seeing their strengths and weaknesses. So please come along and find out what it is all about as well as catching up with fellow competitors.
Please RSVP to: cruisers@swsa.org.uk if you are coming.
At SWSA we have an exciting and varied programme on offer for the 2024 season. There are new things this year.
The ever popular evening series, in Southampton Water, continues with ten races throughout the season but the weekend series, traditionally held off Hythe Sailing Club, is changing a bit, with the introduction of two shorter races at each event. This gives opportunity for the winners to change and also to make it more of a day, for those sailors coming from further away. So it is now 14 races over 7 days!
Responding to demand for more single handed racing, we are offering two single handed events this year, off Hythe Sailing club, so come and challenge your skills when you have no-one else to help you.
The passage race series sees the return of the much loved Yarmouth event, which brings the season to a close. This sees boats racing to and from Yarmouth as well as many members from our clubs cruising to Yarmouth where meeting up for a good BBQ and social once there! It's always good to meet members from other clubs. For the first time we have added a similar event in at the start of the season in May with a race/ rally to Cowes ( The Folly) and a social in the evening, another opportunity to have a chinwag with people from other clubs. We hope that clubs will encourage their members to rally to these events and meet those of us who race there for a social in the evening.
The RTI this year is open to individual boats, as usual. However, in addition, we are reviving the Ashlett team trophy. We are hoping that clubs will encourage as many boats as possible from their clubs to enter, thus forming a team for their club. So look around your club and start to line members up for this event. The scoring system for the team event means that every boat entered will score points and the more boats from your club, the more points your club scores. More later on this. The Ashlett trophy is to be won for your club cabinet.
Just a reminder; the season begins on Sunday 28th April with the first of the weekend series, followed by the start of the evening series on Friday 3rd May. For the first time, you can now complete your entry on line at www.swsa.org.uk where you can download the calendar for the season. At a cost of £40 for the whole seasons racing, this is the best value racing in the area. Just a thought - the ISC RTI entry is £135 compared to ours at £10!
If you would like to enter or ask anything please do get in touch or you can look at the SWSA web site www.swsa.org.uk
We look forward to seeing you on the water!
Bob Gardner ( Hon Secretary)