Sailing News
All the latest news from the world of sailing and stories from experienced sailors.
ARC Crew get off to a lively start. 40 knot winds, 1 meter swells above the helm, shooting stars.. Monday 23 Nov 2015 Race Day 1 of the ARC Carnage of sea, big boats and spray at the start of the race. Challenger 1 crossed the line astern and kept pace with us for a… Read more
Go go go, ARC 2015 Crew get off to a flying start…..
Skipper Ricky Chalmers, narrates Sunday’s start to the ARC 2015. Casting Off. We slipped from our stern-to mooring early to avoid the crush of 205 ARC boats and numerous spectator boats and some kamikaze Sea Kayakers who were to join a shore line full of eager onlookers for the spectacle. After dropping the windward lazy… Read more
Stormy Weather Greets ARC 2015 Crew During Solent Training
All summer the crew for the 2015 ARC Rally has been building and it won’t be long before they will be leaving the Canaries and crossing the Atlantic for St Lucia. During the race Challenger 3 will be sending us some updates as they cross the ocean and, as a taster of what’s to come,… Read more
Going up in the World
If you aren’t a fan of heights, then climbing a mast may be the last thing on your list. However First Class Sailings’ newest recruit Andrew McPherson, who had never been aboard a boat before, was given the task of climbing the 46ft mast to feed the halyard down. Thrown into the Deep End When… Read more
Winter Calls for a Sailing Theory Course
With longer nights approaching and the weather becoming cooler, you thoughts naturally turn to next year and how you’ll be spending your time at sea. Will it be the Solent, the East Coast or will you finally become a Day Skipper and charter that yacht around the Med.? An autumn/winter theory course is perfect preparation,… Read more
The ARC Rally and a Halfway Cake by Sue Pilsworth
Sailing has long been a shared hobby for me and my husband, Paul. There’s nothing like the experience of leaving dry land and getting away from it all. Having retired from our jobs and moved from Nottingham to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, we decided we wanted to spend our retirement doing something exciting.… Read more
Sailing Reality in the Myth of Malham
Tripping the Spinnaker The First Class Sailing crew getting ready for the Fastnet and recently took part in the Myth of Malham. In this blog Hinrich Grunwaldt describes a most unusual race… Bonding with the Crew and Boat On Friday morning of what was promising to be an unusually sunny bank holiday weekend we, the… Read more
Sailing the ARC – Sunsets and Solutions – by Ken Waylen
Preparing the yachts It had been a long-held ambition of mine to cross the Atlantic Ocean. I’d had several opportunities over the years, but sadly none of them came to fruition. Technically it’s a race, but the vast majority of competitors are there to simply have fun and achieve the feat of crossing the Atlantic.… Read more
America’s Cup World Series in The Solent 2015
If you’ve been sailing on the Solent during the early part of 2015 you may well have seen the Ben Ainslie Racing team going through their paces. The images below were taken by our crew and left everyone impressed by their speed and dedication. All this preparation is building up to the big day in… Read more
Should Holding Tanks be Compulsory in British Waters?
We want your opinion about holding tanks! Should they be compulsory in British waters? Or should sailors be allowed to put black and grey water into the sea? Below you will find a survey about holding tanks and if they should be compulsory in UK waters. Once we have collected the opinion of sailors and… Read more
