Notices of Races

The Wayfarer Inland Championships due to be held at Datchet Water Sailing Club in May have been POSTPONED until 23/24 October, mainly because of the current restrictions on overnight stays away from home.

Documents for the forthcoming Eastern Area Championships to be held at Waldringfield Sailing Club in July may be downloaded using the following links:

• Notice of Race
• Sailing Instructions
• Entry Form

As you will be aware this is Waldringfield SC’s centenary year and they are keen to make this a season to remember, so get your entry form downloaded and sent in!

Photo copyright WSC

2016 Wayfarer Nationals at Medway © Nick Champion / www.championmarinephotography.co.uk

2016 Wayfarer Nationals at Medway © Nick Champion / www.championmarinephotography.co.uk

Medway Yacht Club is delighted to be hosting the Wayfarer UK National and European Championships, 5-8 August 2021. Racing will take place on the wide stretches of the tidal River Medway below Gillingham over four days and with great social events planned for the evenings.

The Club is delighted that the event is being supported by Hartley Boats, McNamara Sails, Craftinsure, Shepherd Neame and Wayfarer Wines.

Entry to the Championships is limited to 65 boats. The Club is planning to welcome entries from Denmark, Ireland, France and the Netherlands as well as mainland UK. There is an early bird discount entry fee and a guarantee return of prepaid entry fees if the Championships are cancelled for Covid reasons....read more

The front of the fleet will be very competitive with multi-class champions in the fleet. Michael McNamara and Simon Townsend, the current, UK National, European and International Wayfarer Champions will head up the entry list. However, this is an event for all Wayfarer sailors, whatever their racing expertise or experience, and there will be prizes for silver and bronze fleet sailors as well as the perpetual trophies for race winners.

2016 Wayfarer Nationals at Medway © Nick Champion / www.championmarinephotography.co.uk

This year, there will be a new trophy presented at the UK National Championships by the Hodshon family who own the Round Britain record-breaking Wayfarer, Nipegegi. This trophy will be awarded to the crew of the best placed boat with a sail number below 10506. Nipegegi, which has won the UK National Championships several times over the years, will be back in full race trim this summer and competing at the Championships. Her crew will be hoping to be the first winner of this new trophy.

Entry to the Championships is already open. More information can be found on the event page on the Medway YC website .

The Wayfarer is the classic all round sailing dinghy from the pen of Ian Proctor. Thousands of sailors have learned to sail in a Wayfarer and it was for many years the dinghy of choice for sailing schools. The boat is cruised by enthusiasts around Europe and North America. However, in its latest form the Wayfarer has a contemporary Phil Morrison designed interior and fit-out and lends itself to being raced competitively in a wide range of conditions.

-Tim Townsend

Regrettably – if unsurprisingly – we have to announce that the proposed Open Meeting to be held at West Oxfordshire Sailing Club in mid-April has been cancelled. We will try to keep the website up-to-date with any further alterations to the sailing calendar as the season progresses.

It was lovely to ‘see’ so many visitors and members, especially those from overseas.

If you feel you missed something; visitors already registered for the Show can re-visit for 30 days from the Show’s close.

We would be delighted if you came back and had a look at all the Documents and Video resources on our stand.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email Sarah, Class Secretary

Visitor Registration | Dinghy Show | RYA – Royal Yachting Association

The Notice of Race for the National and European Championships 2021 will be published in the next few days, along with instructions for entry.

(Click on the image for a full-size view of the poster. The back button or arrow on your browser should return you to this page).

Early details here of next year’s Wayfarer Internationals (to be held in the USA).

(Click on the image for a full-size view of the poster. The back button or arrow on your browser should return you to this page).

Dates: August 9th to 13th

Venue: Hayling Island Sailing Club

Online entries are open from the 1st May, with an early-bird discount up to 30 June. In addition to the class starts listed, if there are ten or more boats entered in a class by 31 July then you will get your own class prizes.

https://chichesterharbourraceweek.sailevent.net/

We offer class and handicap racing – it’s a fantastic event with flat water and undisturbed wind in the beautiful surroundings of Chichester harbour. We had 310 boats and 484 competitors last time it was run. With lots of people taking their holidays in the UK it promises to be a bumper year this time around. Should the event be cancelled due to COVID restrictions, then rest assured that a full refund will be given.

It is all laid on for you, with bands, beer and skittles, pub quiz, and the infamous HISC disco.

–Andrew Gould

With fingers firmly crossed, the Notice of Race document for the Craftinsure National Circuit and Travellers Trophy Series 2021 is linked here.

2021 racing calendar

The racing calendar for 2021 is now posted here. There is a full and varied racing programme organised for next year, all, of course, subject to some normality returning to our lives and the success of vaccine(s) and other measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The racing ranges from the National/European Championships, regional Championships and National Circuit events at one end of the scale to one day relaxed open meetings and family race weeks where Wayfarers compete at the other. There should be something for everybody.

The National Circuit and Travellers Series events are marked on the calendar as NCS FW denoting an inland non-tidal venue or NCS SW denoting an event which will be held in salt water on the sea, a tidal river or estuary. The National Circuit will consist of nine events in 2021 rather than the usual eight. The extra event is to cover the possibility of an event being lost to the pandemic. The Notice of Race for the National Circuit Series will be posted on the website in the next few weeks.

The Racing Calendar is a live document so please keep an eye on it. We will add other events to it as soon as we are notified of them.

–Tim Townsend

2021 will be Waldringfield Sailing Club’s Centenary, which is a wonderful milestone for any club!

In celebration the club will welcome visitors to the following:

• The Centenary Easter Egg open meeting, on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd of April
• The Centenary Cartoon open meeting, on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th of September

Thank you,

John Haile, WSC Wayfarer Captain

It is with considerable regret that we have to announce the cancellation of the last two events in the Craftinsure National Circuit and Travellers Series 2020. Both venues have left it as long as they felt they sensibly could for the Covid-19 situation to improve to the point where they could safely proceed with their open meetings. However, as we all know, the numbers of coronavirus cases are increasing at this time rather than decreasing and the Government is tightening up on its rules and guidelines to try and mitigate the consequences of a second wave. Cancelling the events, ultimately, was the only safe and pragmatic decision. ...read more

Not entirely surprisingly the Medway Marathon has been cancelled.

Originally postponed from earlier in the year the event will now not take place at all in 2020.

Earlier this week, Dabchicks SC took the decision to cancel this year’s National Championships due to be held next month. Roger Sydenham, chair of the DSC organising committee, Rachel Ramsey, DSC club manager, and their team had worked hard to try and keep the event alive but reluctantly concluded that while they could provide racing on the water the challenges of providing onshore facilities, never mind a social programme which is so important to our fleet, were insurmountable under the current guidelines without putting at risk both the competitors and local helpers. This decision is supported by the UKWA committee.

Entry fees will be refunded in full to competitors by the Treasurer of DSC.

The open meeting at Hickling Broad SC on 10th October has also been cancelled, again because of the impact of Covid 19.

“In Cullaun we have had a very late start to our season but we are having great turnout for racing, pleasure sailing and kids’ camps.

“The club have made the difficult decision to confine this year’s regatta to local sailors only, so it is with regret that I have to announce the cancellation  of the Wayfarer Southern Championship in Cullaun for 2020. We are conscious that the fleet may not wish to travel and the committee wanted to give you plenty of notice. We will be happy to host the Wayfarer fleet next year. The decision was not made lightly but health and safety is a priority. I will truly miss meeting you all but I fully support the committee’s decision.

“I do hope you are getting to sail and enjoy the water. I am so glad we got to meet last year and look forward to when we can all meet again.

“Wishing you all the best, stay healthy and well and KEEP RACING safely!!!”

-Margaret Hynes

Regrettably we must add Poole Week to the list of 2020 events that have fallen victim to the current pandemic.

Following recent discussions with the organisers of the 2020 National Championships at Dabchicks SC )West Mersea), we are pleased to report a continued intention to run the Championships this September. More details on the accompanying notice linked here.