Shustoke Offshore Group

Cruising and Racing

Shustoke Sailing Club Offshore Section runs two primary yachting programmes, cruising and racing, as well as development programmes for all yachting interests.

The cruising programme is co-ordinated by Tony Campion and will draw on a number of key skippers to help run a varied programme. We run organised May Bank Holiday and August Bank Holiday cruise events, plus on a popularity basis the odd flotilla cruise in the Med. There are various skills and boat handling development weekends in addition to an occasional “Try Yachting” weekend aimed at absolute beginners which is a great way to see if there’s an inner Francis Chichester awaiting to be discovered !!!

The racing programme is organised by Geoff Johns with the help of a number of keen racing skippers. We have the YachtsandYachting.com Match Racing series sailing out of Port Solent, that provides round the cans yacht racing in the relatively flat waters of the Solent: this is a great way to build your skills in sail trimming, spinnaker handling, race helming, tactics and much more.

We also plan to enter at least one boat in the Round the Island Race (RTIR) in June, and the Dartmouth Royal Regatta in August. We are currently negotiating an entry in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet race. Depending on demand, we may also enter one or two of the higher level offshore races via JOG (Junior Offshore Group) and/or RORC (Royal Ocean Racing Club).

Our mission is to help our members discover yachting and yacht racing, and to help them move up the ladder of progression as they choose.

Membership and Joining In

You don’t have to be a member of Shustoke Sailing Club to join in with our yachting programme, but we’d like to think after trying us out, you will be very keen to be part of the Group!

There are two routes to membership of the Offshore Group:

1. All regular Shustoke Sailing Club sailing membership classes have automatic free membership of the Shustoke Offshore Group.

2. “Yachting Associate” membership provides a way for non-dinghy sailing members to join the Offshore Group. If you are interested in joining our offshore programme, without the obligations and commitments of dinghy sailing membership, and you are happy to manage communications electronically, then this membership will be ideal for you. If later on down the road you’d like to join in the club’s social activities at the club and sailing/racing on the reservoir, just say, and we can upgrade your membership to the appropriate class.

Booking Events

If you see something in the programme that you would like to find out more about, and perhaps book a slot, contact the event organiser by email and take it from there …

Contacts and Advice

Across the Offshore Group’s membership we have several 000’s of miles of yachting experience with a wide range of contacts in the yachting scene. So, if you have a question, want a recommendation or just want to discuss your training plan, please don’t hesitate to contact any of us below.

Shustoke Offshore Facebook Group

Geoff Johns – Offshore Group lead and racing organiser.

Tony Campion – Offshore Group cruising instructor, organiser and co-ordinator.

Mark Bowers – Match Racing organiser and co-ordinator.

Nina Wilson – RTIR and Dartmouth Regatta organiser and co-ordinator.

Helen Jenkinson – May Solent Cruise organiser and co-ordinator.

Ethan Harries – July South West Cruise organiser and co-ordinator.

Wendy Wilson – Croatia Med Cruise organiser and co-ordinator.

2025 SOG Cruising and Racing Programme
2025 SOG Programme.pdf

Last updated 10:45 on 17 November 2024