WSC
The Club organises the White Sail Challenge every other Wednesday over the summer.
It is not racing in the usual sense. Instead, boats participate in the Challenge by sailing a defined course around navigational buoys in the vicinity of Cargreen in a seamanlike manner, starting in their own time so that close encounters with other yachts are avoided. The ordinary International Rules for the Prevention of Collision at Sea apply rather than the more complicated Racing Rules of Sailing. This means that ordinary cruising-risks insurance is usually sufficient, but this must be confirmed with insurers first. As the name suggests, spinnakers and similar complicated sails are not used.
Boats of all sizes take part and this year there will be two courses:
- red course, open to all craft, runs between CYC Club House and the Saltash bridges; and
- blue course, shorter, open to boats up to 22 feet including dinghies without engines, runs between the northern end of the CYC moorings and the red navigational beacon at Weir Point.
Courses are designed to take advantage of the tide and the red courses allow for deep draft yachts. Each course typically take about 90 minutes to complete and boats record their own times. Handicaps are applied and continuously adjusted during the Challenge so that they accurately reflect actual performance on the water and so that every boat has a good chance of doing well.
After each event, we meet up in the bar for refreshments whilst the results are worked out and experiences swapped.
To compete in the overall results, it is not necessary to sail in every Wednesday event. Longer day or overnight challenges are scheduled for weekends and the results from these can contribute to a boat's overall score.
Please give the White Sail Challenge a try. Sailors from other clubs are welcome to participate and if you don't have a boat there are opportunities to crew or hire a dinghy. You will find it great fun and a wonderful way to meet other sailors on the water and in the Clubhouse. You will also hone your sailing skills and explore parts of the river you normally pass by!
Full details of the White Sail Challenge are included in the Sailing Instructions which are published here before the session starts.To take part or discuss the Challenge, please contact the Challenge Convenor on 07866680971 or wsc@cargreenyacht.club .
For a perspective on the RYAs Yacht Time Correction (YTC) system, the basis of the White Sail handicapping, see the slides from Tony Heads talk (link below).
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Last updated 21:05 on 19 January 2025