Sailing News

This year the RYA has made radar knowledge a key component of all Yachtmaster exams. To find out why they have done this and how you need to prepare for your exam read on below. Why do we still use radar? Radar may seem a bit outdated as a technology with modern GPS navigation systems… Read more

  So, you’ve decided you want to learn to sail. Maybe it’s because you love the idea of getting around using nothing but wind power. Or, you know someone who’s just completed their ‘Day Skipper’ and they seem like a whole new person. Or, maybe someone dragged you along for a day sail on the… Read more

  Our big news is that in February 2019 we replaced our Jeanneau 379s Batida and Manhattan with two brand new Beneteau 381s. We have continued with the cocktail theme and named them Palomar and Sazerac. These new yachts are fractionally bigger in length than the Jeanneau 379’s. However they carry their chine almost all… Read more

  Antigua To Portsmouth Day 17 & 18: Sights, Sounds and Storms     In today’s blog, the crew take us through the sights and sounds of Challenger 4, and the first real test of heavy weather arrives.   Blog 27th Jan     Sights   Blackness Despite the heading of this section, at 0100,… Read more

And they’re off!… again Note from Skipper Sue   After a very pleasant interlude in Horta it is time to get this motley crew out of here. Lines slipped at 1245 UT, heading for Falmouth. ETA 7 days time. It looks like we will have 20 – 25kts from the south for the first couple… Read more

Taking the helm   As a school, First Class Sailing can cater for the wide variety of skills aspiring sailors require. There are some who like to be a member of the crew, not quite a passenger but willing to share group responsibility. Others want to improve, learn more and eventually take the helm as… Read more

This blog was written by one of our instructors for Sailing Today and published in their magazine. Sailing Today have kindly let us post it here. Instructor Clive takes us through a recent Coastal Skipper Course to Dartmouth, and explains what to expect on your course and how an instructor helps the students achieve a successful… Read more

A lot of the navigational side of sailing is based on very simple school girl/boy trigonometry. The question of how to get from A to B when the tide is pushing you in a certain direction can be solved by drawing straight forward triangle on the chart. And so why is now the best time… Read more

  Today the real sailing began. Following a windless night motoring through an inky black sea and dense cloud cover, the wind came through around 4am. Those on watch shook out the reefed main and hoisted the yankee and staysail. We were soon powering to windward at around 8 knots. Two tacks were thrown in… Read more