Getting back into sailing - and specifically yachting - after a long break.

Love cruising but also looking for more of a challenge: racing!

Thinking very seriously of joining a Fastnet campaign in 2013. Loads on the internet.

Trouble is, with campaigns charging £3000+ to get involved, which one should I choose? (I'm doing the Round the Island Race with Stormforce).

1) Pay to Play - Run by a school or company, anyone who pays there money gets taken for a ride, they have to make a profit and will take anyone so quality of sailors isnt always great. However if you are set on taking this route I would recommend Sailing Logic.

2) Shared Contribution - Normally the owner will provide the boat and the whole crew will split either part or all of the costs of food, mooring, race entry etc. No one is making a profit here and they dont have company overheads so this will be much cheaper.

3) Rich owners - Finally there are boats where the owners pick up the whole tab and are just looking for the best sailors they can get on board. These boats are a bit rarer than category 2 ones but tend to be very good boats to sail on and your costs ill only extend to a round at the bar (great for students).

The way to find the 2nd 2 types of boats are through online crew lists I've found RORC's is the best:

http://www.rorc.org/crew/index.php?crew=1&Itemid=25 - http://www.rorc.org/crew/index.php?crew=1&Itemid=25

JOG is ok, although they havee more advertisements on their facebook page:

http://www.jog.org.uk/programme_template.aspx?page=S634649187211226338&ArchiveID=12&CategoryID=33&ItemID=269&src=">http://www.jog.org.uk/programme_template.aspx?page=S634649187211226338&ArchiveID=12&CategoryID=33&ItemID=269&src=

and finally Royal Southern is great for round the cans stuff,

http://www.royal-southern.co.uk/On-The-Water/Crew-Register - http://www.royal-southern.co.uk/On-The-Water/Crew-Register

1) Be available at short notice - boats often have people drop out in the week before an event, if you can be free to fill these slots you will get loads of one off rides. This gives you a varied experience in lots of boats and a chance to prove yourself. One of these one offs can often turn into a permanent spot.

2) Improve your skill set -  get out dinghy sailing, which makes you a better helm/trimmer, learn t do bow etc etc, all rounders are key in offshore crews when you'll be sailing in a watch system with often just 4 on deck. More skills and positions make you more attractive.

3) Don't expect to be on a winning hot rod boat straight off, it takes time to build experience and contacts which will lead to better and better rides, be patient.

4) Go to the bar post racing - Chat to other crews, make friends, this will often lead to rides.

5) Don't abandon a crew you've made a commitment to for a better ride - Obviously you want to be moving onto better boats but you've gotta do it in the right way, dont ditch someone you have said you will sail for at the last minute. Its the fastest way to burn bridges.

All of this assumes your starting from a base of having no contacts, if this isnt the case, use them. Who you know is a huge factor in finding places on  boats. This year is the year to be doing this as most boats try to organise their crew for fastnet in the preceding season. This year is the year to be doing this as most boats try to organise their crew for fastnet in the preceding season. 

Finally this may all sound like a lot of effort, but its all worth it for this moment:

 

What Quagers said about improving your skill set is definitely a good idea. What I'd do personally is get really, really good at doing bow (because bowmen are always in demand, not many people want to/are good enough to do it) and then get good at driving competently too - Bowman and driver are two positions that are absolutely essential. Any monkey can pull a headsail in, but there aren't many people who can do a kite peel at 3 in the morning without stuffing up or be trusted to drive the owners pride and joy without supervision. Just get as much experience as possible on as many boats as possible, it'll make you a more attractive option to people.

Volunteer for the crappy jobs on the boat that no one wants to do. Once you've found the boat you want to try and do it on, be the guy that goes down below afterwards and helps the mid bow pack the kites up before having a beer, put yourself up for delivery trips (if required), offer to help out with maintainance etc. on weekends you're not racing. You just want to get into the owners good books! ;)

Thanks for taking the time to provide such lengthy and detailed advice - very much appreciated. (Great inspirational photo of Fastnet Rock as well!) I've got my name out on a few 'available crew' lists already and will now seek some additional listings following your advice.

You recommended Sailing Logic if I were to go down the sailing school avenue for Fastnet - Any particular reason why that might be? I've looked at their offering in some detail, and it seems pretty comprehensive, but was wondering (as you mentioned them) if you had any additional insight...

Thanks again!

Completely with you re "going the extra mile" - as an independent school teacher for the last 8 years, that's the story of my life!

I think you're right to be wary of company offerings for the Fastnet: it is a lot of dosh and, yes, one could end up sailing with a pack of morons and not learning much. I've had a chat with the bloke who runs Stormforce Coaching as regards their Fastnet package... Like Sailing Logic, they seem pretty serious about their competitiveness on the day, so I'm going to continue negotiations and see what emerges. I'm doing Round the Island with them in a month, so that might provide some extra insights.

Thanks again for your help!

I recommend sailing logic because quite simply they are the school who from my experience seem the most interested in scoring decent results, not just getting their clients round the course. 

As well as their own boats (the Reflex 38's) they sub contract to competitive private boats and their owners for specific races when they have the demand. This means their skippers tend to be racers and the boats are up to race spec not just safety spec.

Have a look through last seasons RORC results and in the owner section look for sailing logic, they do well. Recent examples are Visit Malta Puma last season and Scarlet Logic in this years Caribbean 600.

They are expensive though, so as someone else suggested maybe try doing some inshore racing with them to build skills and then use this to get a place on a private boat for Fastnet.