Cruising-2-Racing '26

A practical course for established cruising sailors to discover and participate in 'yacht racing'

If you have been cruising for several years and you are now looking for a little bit of "je ne sais quoi" in your sailing, then yacht racing might be an avenue you might like to explore ... Whilst the jump up from cruising into racing might seem a challenging one, we are offering to provide a course comprising a 3 hour theory session at the clubhouse followed up with a 4-day weekend practical 'on-board' session based out of the Hamble which we are confident will provide a mix of theory and skills to help you make the transition into yacht racing.

The theory session will be held at the sailing club on Saturday 31st January 2026 between 10:00 and 13:00 - the course aims to cover some of the knowledge and skills that can be done away from the boat.

The practical session will be on a chartered First 40.7 or Sunfast 37, both well known cruiser/racers from established charter companies on the Hamble. The charter period covers the weekend from Friday 17:00 pm 6th Feb through to Sunday 16:00 pm 8th Feb

The practical session will step up our learning about the boat and its equipment, sailing with 'white sails' through to spinnaker handling and trimming. We will base our sailing in the Solent generally, but will choose our route and stop-overs based on weather and tides.

The crew will total 8, of which at least 3 will be experienced Shustoke Offshore Group racers, and up to 5 cruiser/racer students.

Entry into one of the Yachts & Yachting Match Racing events and/or the Round The Island Race (RTIR) will be the next logical step after the course. To find out more about these programmes see the Racing Programme.

Costs

1. The theory class is free to Shustoke SC members and £50 for non-members. In the case of non-members, we are hoping they will take out Shustoke SC Yachting Associate membership (£30) and get the theory class for free !

2. The practical session, includes the yacht charter, overnight in a marina, fuel and food on-board (breakfast, lunch, drinks and snacks) and will be charged at approximately £250 per person - the final amount will be based on the actual costs incurred.

Deposit and Balance Payments

In order to secure your position in the course, a non-returnable deposit payment of £100 per person is required on booking. An interim balance payment of £150 payable early in January to cover the boat charter. The final balance covering marina, fuel and food costs will be settled shortly before the practical session commences.

Please note that deposit payments relating to the boat charter can not be refunded, unless the charter company cancels the charter contract, or part thereof.

Insurance Excess

As in all boating, there is an insurance excess, and in this case it is £2000 (tbc), which as a crew we jointly accept and carry. This means, that if we have a bump and lets say £320 of damage is incurred, then assuming a crew of 8, we would each chip in £40 to pay off the excess cost. If that bump were to cost £3200 to repair, then our liability would be limited to £2000 jointly, so the cost would be £250 each.

Course References

Course members can access the exercises and reference material at this location.

Course Status

The above course is now open for bookings please get in touch with Geoff Johns, the course organiser.

Last updated 15:03 on 2 November 2025