#GetOutAndSail August and September winners announced!
by Mark Jardine 20 Aug 2013 13:30 BST
20 August 2013
Jack Shepherd at the biggest ever OnBoard Festival in North Wales © Lawrence Chadwick-Smith /
www.lchadwicksmith.co.uk
YachtsandYachting.com and the #GetOutAndSail partners are delighted to announce the August and September #GetOutAndSail award winners.
People certainly voted in numbers for August and September #GetOutAndSail support! While September provided a clear winner, August was a much tighter call...
August Winner: WYA North Wales OnBoard Festival 2013 at Bala (31 August – 1 September)
The North Wales OnBoard Festival junior event aims to build on 2013 club training and OnBoard activity by providing competition in sheltered water, coached environment; Juniors are invited to enjoy a friendly, relaxed event. All are welcome - from first time racers to competitive Regional Squad members aspiring to join the Welsh National Squad.
Camping is available at Bala Sailing Club and there will be a barbeque on Saturday night.
Ruth Iliffe from the Welsh Yachting Association said, "#GetOutAndSail is a fantastic celebration of grassroots sailing! The North Wales OnBoard Festival is about encouraging novice sailors and those more experienced to get together to race and compete, but beyond this, it is also a fantastic example of volunteer power in the region - this award will help us celebrate this to the maximum!"
Find out more at welshsailingevents.org/north-wales-onboard-festival-2012
September Winner: Isle Of Sheppey Sailing Club Round the Island Race (7 September)
Established in 1959, the IOS Round the Island Race is a long distance event designed to test sailing skills and endurance over a 40-mile course. Sailed clockwise around the Isle of Sheppey, starting and finishing at IOS Sailing Club, the race includes tidal sea, river & estuary sailing.
The multihull record was set by Stuart Gummer & Ryan Crawford in 2010, sailing a Hobie Wildcat around in a time of 1 hour 52 minutes. The monohull record was also set in 2010 by Neil Ashby & Sam Proctor sailing an RS800 in a time of 2 hours 17 minutes.
Tim Harris from IOSSC said, "IOSSC are over the moon to hear that we have won the #GetOutAndSail promotion for September. The £500 prize will help the club tremendously with the cost of running the event. We intend to put the money towards fuel costs which in this day and age are substantial as the event requires at least 10 rescue boats to go around the island. Also the extra prizes that are now available and the extra advertising could help to make this year's island race one of the most successful ever. We at the club would like to thank everyone who voted for our event and we look forward to a great day on the 7th September."
There is also an extra-special prize from one of the #GetOutAndSail partners at the IOS Round the Island Race – a Wildwind Sailing Holiday!
Find out more at www.iossc.org.uk/islandrace
Club 'away' events
When people nominate events for #GetOutAndSail support, they also give us tips on how to save money when travelling to events or ideas to increase participation.
One of the ideas that caught our eye was the concept of 'away' events. This could be a club, or group of clubs that decide to attend an event 'en masse'. This could be due to twinning of the clubs or reciprocal membership agreements.
The advantages of a scheme like this could be that many people from the same area will be travelling to the host club, so lift sharing and stacking trailers (previous #GetOutAndSail suggestions) can really be used to their full potential.
Some clubs already have home and away events with a twin club – a good push of these events within your club and on sites such as YachtsandYachting.com could really boost participation. The idea of sailing not only against your regular club colleagues, but those from the twin club could boost the home turnout as well as the increase from visitors.
Accommodation could be provided by club members for the visitors, or camping on the club site if available, further reducing the cost of attending the event.
Get your nominations in for October!
October is the final month for #GetOutAndSail in 2013 and nominations are wide open. Remember #GetOutAndSail is real funding for your event; £500 in cash and around £1000 worth of prizes from the #GetOutAndSail partners.
Nominate your event here.
Many thanks to our supporters!
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.
