First #GetOutAndSail winner announced!

YachtsandYachting.com and the #GetOutAndSail partners are delighted to announce the first recipient of #GetOutAndSail support – Eastbourne Sovereign's P.R.A.T.T. Racing Series.

The #GetOutAndSail initiative was launched on the 2013 RYA Dinghy Show weekend and since then nominations have been coming in thick and fast for events up and down the country.

P.R.A.T.T. Racing (Personal Rating Against Time Taken) takes place on Wednesday evenings at Eastbourne Soverign SC, starting in just two days time and running through to September. Each participant is given a PRATT number based on how long they've been sailing, how old their boat is, how successful a racer they've been, age & fitness and any other criteria that they decide to implement (such as bad hair!).

Gary Smith of Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club was stoked when told about the award:

"Wow that's fantastic news! With the first race of the 2013 series this coming Wednesday evening we could not have had a better start to the series.

"Here at Eastbourne we are proud of our Pratt Racing and really feel it is something different that sailors of all abilities can enjoy. Everyone has their chance of glory and competition for the series leader's 'pink top' is intense... although some are embarrassed wearing it!

"We would like every sailor to be able to wear a rash vest or similar displaying their PRATT rating so I'm thinking the very generous £500 award could enable us to put this in place earlier than hoped. Imagine how frustrating being behind someone with a slower rating will be!

"Sailors from dinghies, cats and complete novices are tempted into Lasers for Wednesdays and we are hoping to increase numbers further still with the prospect of some great prizes, which will make a nice change!

"The Pratt committee will be busy this week drawing up personal ratings to keep the hot shots from cleaning up and encouraging the mediocre, which is what it's all about!

We are Pratting about every Wednesday evening until September so feel free to come and join in or watch how it's run. Thanks so much to YachtsandYachting.com and the #GetOutAndSail award sponsors for their support and this great incentive."

Attendances have soared since the PRATT racing was introduced – from 4 or 5 Lasers on the water beforehand, well over 20 are regularly seen and over 60 participants took part last year. The club hopes to continue this trend with the #GetOutAndSail support in 2013.

Mark Jardine of YachtsandYachting.com commented:

"This is exactly the kind of event we are looking to support with #GetOutAndSail and I'm really pleased to see the Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club members nominate their series in force. Talking with Gary I took particular note of how the PRATT Series has had a marked effect on the social scene at the club. Wednesday night suppers now have to be booked in advance to guarantee a spot and many people now come down to the club just to watch the racing.

"I really hope this award helps increase participation further. Once people have the sailing bug, it's almost inevitable that they will want to do more and more, which will be a huge boost for sailing in general. I hope sailors and clubs take up Gary's offer of joining in or travelling down to Eastbourne to watch how it's run."

You can find out more about PRATT Racing here and see the full schedule of racing here, listed as Wednesday Series.

Keep your nominations coming in

While we've had a good number of nominations for #GetOutAndSail, some months have far more than others. Surprisingly, June and July have the lowest number of nominations while September has the highest. Get together at your club and work out which event would benefit most from the support and start nominating at www.yachtsandyachting.com/GetOutAndSail!

We've had some great feedback on how to keep costs down when travelling to events, so please keep sharing your ideas too.

A huge thank-you to our ten #GetOutAndSail partners; Crewsaver, Gul, Harken, International Paint, Navigators & General, Noble Marine, Ovington Boats, Rooster Sailing, Seldén Masts and Wildwind. Without them this initiative simply wouldn't be possible. It is their belief in #GetOutAndSail which will drive it forward and hopefully get more people out on the water.

www.YachtsandYachting.com/GetOutAndSail