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.

The race organiser will let you know what type of boat you will sail, and will endeavour to let you know this in advance, but this can change on the day depending on weather and availability of crews. Should you be sailing a double handed boat 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 – the New Member Development officer.

When you are sailing a double handed boat, you will helm the boat. 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.

You may be asked to sail your own boat, or a club single or double handed boat. If you are sailing a single handed boat then you may receive advice from the water during the race. The intention is that for 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 overall winner of the Novice Race Series 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 August to June, culminating in the final medal race during the Club Regatta.

See the club calendar for up-to-date race event dates and details.

Who can take part?

You can take part if you are in the novice fleet
And you have completed your Dinghy RYA Level 2 within 3 years

Race rules

No spinnakers/gennakers allowed
To qualify, you must complete more than half of the available races. Your overall series score is based on your best results only. The number of results counted is calculated as 50% of the scheduled races, plus one, rounded down to the nearest whole number.
You must sail at least 3 of your races in a double handed boat with an experienced crew.
The New Member Development officer will assign you a boat and crew if applicable.

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. It is also an opportunity to practice sailing and racing with fewer boats
on the water.

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 Latest Club Racing Results / Novice Series Race 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.
The final Novice race of the year will be organised during the Regatta weekend, normally at the start of July.

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 helm’s 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.

Last updated 08:36 on 13 August 2026