Novice Race Series
The Novice Race Series provides a link between learning to sail and becoming a competitive club racing sailor, combining this with regular sailing can make a huge difference to a sailor’s achievements and enjoyment of the sport.
As helm, you will be teamed up with an experienced crew to help you build your skills and experience club racing. Your experienced crew will advise you on race starts, racing rules, sail trim, the best course, and more. Your crew will handle the jib and assist with boat trim and it will be the novice’s responsibility for all other boat controls.
The race organiser will let you know what type of boat you will sail, and will endeavour to let you know this in advance. You will be assigned an experienced crew on the day to assist you in the race. Communication about the race is done via the Novice sailors WhatsApp group. If you are not a member of this group, reach out to Paul Collins.
You may be asked to sail our own boat, or a club single or a double handed boat. If you are sailing a single handed boat then you may receive advice from the water during the race. The majority of the races you will sail a double handed boat to give you the opportunity to get that vital feedback from your experienced crew.
The winner at the end of the year will be awarded the club Novice trophy.
When does the Novice Race take place?
The race takes place as the 3rd race on the last Saturday of the month at 2:30pm from July to June (next year), culminating in a double points final medal race on the opening night of The Club Regatta.
See the club calendar for up-to-date race event dates and details.
Who can take part?
- Members of the club who are new to sailing and racing
- Anyone who has completed their Dinghy RYA Level 2 within 3 years
- Anyone from our Novice Fleet if new to racing
Race rules
- No spinnakers/gennakers allowed
- From the maximum of 11 races, you must sail 50%+1, rounded down. For example if no races are cancelled then you must sail a minimum of 6 races to qualify and your best 6 results are counted.
What will I get out of it?
- You get to sail as a helm with an experienced crew member. This will help you learn and to become more confident on the water. You can then transfer these skills to sail single handed boats on your own, or with others in two handed boats
- Sailing with a different boat each time will also give you a feel for different boats and help when you want to buy your own boat to take part in other club races.
How is the Series scored?
- The lower the points the better. You get 1 point for a first place, 2 for second, and so on.
- After each race, the results page is updated and you can find those on the portal at Dinghy Racing under the Current Club Racing results link. Once you have sailed in more than the minimum number of novice races to qualify, then you begin to discard any weaker results.
- During the regatta weekend the final Novice race of the year will be organised. This race will give double points to those who take part which means all is still to play for! Medal Races cannot be discarded!
Process for setting up boats before the race
To enhance your sailing skills an important part is setting up your boat for the current weather conditions and personal preferences that you can learn from your experienced crew.
It is important that each helm comes to the club between 1 and 1.5 hours before the race starts to rig the boat, get changed and get set up, ready to race. You may also find it advantageous to watch the tactics of the best sailors in the earlier races as usually it will be the same course.
It is the helms responsibility to:
- Get the appropriate sails for the boat assigned to you on the day.
- Set the boat up as best you can before the race begins asking for advice from the nearest instructors or crew.
- Once your crew is available to help, you can learn the ways in which you can optimise the boat for the best performance.
If you are interested in taking part as a helm or a crew
Simply contact Paul Collins who will add you to the series list or if you are not a member, please click here to Contact us
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Last updated 09:12 on 24 November 2025