Welsh Harp Sailing Club:

     Getting Started with Racing at WHSC -
     A friendly guide for new sailors thinking of joining our race fleets

Welcome to racing at Welsh Harp Sailing Club! Whether you’re completely new to racing or have taken part in our Thursday Evening Race Nights or Saturday Morning Novice Series, this guide will help you understand how our racing works — and how to get involved.

Safe, competitive fun for all abilities

No matter your experience level, everyone is encouraged to get involved and make the most of what racing at WHSC has to offer.

You don’t need to be fast to enjoy racing, it is a great way to improve your sailing skills, enjoy friendly competition, and connect with others who share your interest.

Some members of the Club are experienced sailors who compete at a high level at Regional, National or World competitions. We encourage and support them; you can see photos of some of them in the Clubhouse. For many members competitive sailing is a leisure hobby.

So we ensure that dinghy races are accessible to people of varying abilities, whilst at the same time ensuring that they are well-run in accordance with proper practices from the RYA and World Sailing.

We encourage new members to join in the racing events. Experience in Racing can result in enhanced Wind Awareness, better Boat Control, and improved confidence in Boat Handling.

We make sure racing stays enjoyable and appropriate for all ages and abilities. We’ll always make sure you feel ready before joining your first race.

Mentoring and encouragement - Regular Racing

Our club has a proud tradition of mentoring - and pairing new sailors with experienced ones is a big part of what makes racing at WHSC special.

Regular racing takes place on Saturday afternoons and, during the spring and summer, on Tuesday evenings. Both GP14s (a boat with both a helm and a crew) and Lasers / ILCAs (a boat with just a helm) race.

For GP14 races we organise our helms into three “fleets” – Gold, Silver and Bronze, with Gold usually being the best and most experienced sailors and Bronzes being the newest and least experienced.

Normally a new, Bronze helm would pair up with a Gold or Silver helm and race together; pairing like this offers an opportunity for you as a novice to learn from someone with more experience; the club’s Gold or Silver helms normally take their responsibilities very seriously and look to mentor you and help develop your sailing.

The pairing may be for a whole series of races (approximately 12 races) or it may be for the occasional race – it would depend on the commitment and availability of each; different pairings organise themselves in different ways that suit them. Obviously if you enjoy sailing together, you may decide to continue sailing with each other for many series.

Mentoring and encouragement – Helping You Get on the Water

If you’d like to find a Gold or Silver helm to pair with (we highly recommend it!), you can talk to instructors from Plain Sailing or Thursday evenings, the Sailing Captain, the GP14 Fleet Captain, or the Commodore.

You can also look out for requests for “crews” or “B helms” on the WHSC Sailing and Racing WhatsApp group. You’ll often find people chatting about pairings over tea after sailing — it’s a great way to get involved.

Sometimes novices pair up and borrow a club boat to take part in the GP14 races together. This can be for different reasons – for example because they really want to, because there are no Gold or Silver helms available – and it can be a fun and rewarding approach to take. We would recommend that you speak to one of our more experienced members before joining races for the first time.

GP14 races are organized to encourage newer sailors to take part. Each Saturday and Tuesday there is a “B” helm race which is only open for those in the “Bronze” fleet so as a novice, you will be able to race against your peers. There are also “A” helm or “All” helm races, which are open to all helms; there would be many Gold and Silver helms taking part in these, but Bronze helms may also take part.

Mentoring and encouragement - Gaining Experience.

“Will I always be a Bronze helm?”, you may ask.

At first, we will categorise all novices and newcomers as “Bronze”, and therefore eligible to helm in the “B” races.

Once you’ve won three Bronze series, congratulations — you’ll move up to Silver!  And if you continue to improve and are the first placed Silver helm in three series of “A” races – then huge congratulations again - you will be promoted to the Gold fleet!!

The results of each race and each series are recorded and published on the club website and promotions are celebrated at the annual Laying Up Supper, along with other awards like ‘Most Improved Helm’ and the famous ‘Capsize Cup’. It’s a fun evening to attend!

Competitive Class Racing

Unlike many sailing Clubs, we focus on “Class Racing” in which the same type of boat competes against each other. The classes we support are the GP14 (two-person) and the Laser/ILCA (single person) class ([1]).

The size and configuration of these boats are strictly governed by the “Class Rules” and all boats of that class are very similar in terms of racing ability. This means that winning a race depends to a large extent on the skill of the sailor, not on the competitiveness of one boat compared with another.

We run races according to the latest “Racing Rules of Sailing” (RRS), whilst allowing for some flexibility at Club level through our “Club Sailing Instructions”. For example, we allow members to continue to race after receiving assistance from a safety boat; this is an alteration of RRS Rule 4, which means that novice racers are not discouraged from continuing to compete in the event of that inevitable capsize!

Don’t worry about memorising the 154-page Racing Rules of Sailing — you’ll learn as you go! We also run informal ‘Rules School’ sessions to help everyone feel confident.

When you are on the water, someone else may call a rule or call “protest” This is a normal part of racing as it is a self-policing sport. After racers come off the water, they may sit down formally or informally to discuss disagreements over particular situations on the water and you can read about how this is organized in the Sailing Instructions.  At WHSC, we encourage people to approach these moments as learning opportunities.

Enjoyable Racing all year round

Once you are a racing member of the WHSC, you will be able to enjoy racing all year round with our club racing – here’s a table detailing when racing takes place:

So there are lots of opportunities to perfect your racing skills.

Information about how these race series are organized, dates and timings can be found in the “Notice of Race” and the club calendar.

The club also organizes some one-off events, with different rules and formats. Some of these are for our club members only, for example The Commodore’s Cup. Some of these are with our neighbours who we share the Harp with, for example The Brent Regatta and The Single Handed Race. We also have fun races on public holidays such as Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Additionally we organise “open meetings” such as the Laser Open (for the Laser/ILCA class) or the Victor Trophy and The Venetian (for the GP14 class). These are “open” to outside entrants, who bring their boats to the Harp specifically for this event. They are widely publicised events; requiring formal registration with entrance fees, with prize giving and speeches at the end of the day.

Some sailors will also pack up and tow their boats to attend open meetings at other clubs, at places like Tollesbury and Poole Harbour. This is a chance to race against some of the best sailors in other Clubs.

And maybe one day, you will be one of those sailors who will be towing their boat to the National Championships, or the World Championships?

It is all possible when you start sailing with WHSC.

Racing with Club Boats

New members who join the Club are not expected to own their own boats. If they take part in “B” helm racing, this will typically be in the boat owned by the experienced “A” helm, who will be mentoring them.

A member who has been “checked out” may want to race a boat without the expense (or maintenance costs) of purchasing one themselves. For this reason, we allow “checked out” members to race one of the Club boats, subject to certain conditions (see the guides to club boat usage on the website). There is no need to book a club boat for regular club racing – it’s first come, first served!

When racing at the Club, we do allow boats which are not necessarily strictly validated by Class Rules. For example, GP14 sometimes have “protection guards” on the bow, and Laser sometimes have third-party (instead of ILCA) sails.

Learning from each other

Although members are often keenly competitive “on the water”, the “A” / “B” Mentoring and Encouragement all contribute to an exciting and motivating learning experience.

At WHSC, this ethos extends to experienced helms who are often more than willing to share their knowledge and experience with any novices who ask.

You may have questions on Racing Rules, on Strategy, or Boat Tuning. Inevitably, there is someone in the Club who is willing and able to discuss with you and the club WhatsApp groups are also a great place to share any questions.

To supplement your skills, we also frequently arrange Training Events, such as a “Rules School”, where you can learn how to interpret the Racing Rules of Sailing, and how to react and behave in racing situations.

Supporting each other

Volunteering is at the heart of WHSC and everyone who takes part in the racing volunteers to help put the races on by doing a duty, typically one duty per race series.

Race duties are also open to others to join, for example if you wanted to brush up on your powerboat skills. If you are interested in doing a race duty, please get in touch with the Sailing Captain.

Running and Supporting Races Safely

There are two main volunteer roles that help racing run smoothly — Race Officer (Officer of the Day or OOD) and Safety Boat Assistant.

For both roles, please arrive around an hour before racing starts and be dressed appropriately to spend time on the water.

Don’t worry if you’ve never done either before — you’ll always be paired with someone experienced, and we’ll make sure you’re supported

Race Officer (OOD)

The OOD manages each race and coordinates safety. You’ll be on the “Committee Boat” work alongside an experienced OOD, helping set the course, raise flags, or record finishing positions. This is a great way to see racing from “behind the scenes” and learn how starts, courses, and finishes are run.

Safety Boat Assistant

Each race also has qualified powerboat drivers on safety duty. As an assistant, you’ll help them move the racing buoys, observe the fleet, and assist if needed. In a rescue, simply follow the driver’s instructions — they are trained to manage the situation safely.

The OOD may decide to postpone or abandon a race if conditions become unsafe, but ultimately, as the Racing Rules of Sailing remind us, “the responsibility for a boat’s decision to participate in a race or to continue racing is hers alone” (RRS Rule 3).

All drivers hold RYA Powerboat or Safety Boat qualifications, and there are always First Aid–trained volunteers or racers at each event.

Volunteering on the Committee Boat or Safety Boat is one of the best ways to understand racing and build your confidence on the water — and it’s a vital part of what makes WHSC’s racing community work.

Community of Sailing

Sailing with a Club has other benefits as well.

During the Club Racing on Saturdays, we typically have tea and some food in the Clubhouse, either at the end of the day, or between races.

After racing, the Clubhouse is buzzing with conversation: what tactics worked (or didn’t), why someone’s boat was faster than the others, or how the wind direction had changed. For novices, this is a great opportunity to reflect on what had happened during the day, and learn the lessons for next time.

As you have that well-earned cuppa, and hear the stories from everyone else, you will no doubt be convincing yourself that you can do better next time - and already planning your next race.

Come along, give racing a go, and see just how much fun you’ll have

— we’ll see you on the water!

Further sources of information

• • • WHSC Sailing Instructions (SI) – on club website
    • WHSC Notice of Race (NOR) – on club website
    • WHSC Club Calendar and Race Series Dates – on club website
    • WHSC Racing Results – on club website
    • Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS)
    • WHSC racing duties - on “Dutyman”, a link to this is on club website.
    • WHSC Saturday Racing: tea duty guide – on club website
    • Contact the Sailing Captain – sailing@welshharpsailingclub.org
    • WHSC WhatsApp groups – various groups for members; please get in touch with the sailing captain or membership secretary to be added.
    • The Laying Up Supper – the club’s big social and prizegiving event of the year. Normally held in November, open for all members to attend and will be advertised when bookings are open.

Chart of the Sailing Area