Silver Scorpion 2018 Preview

Silver Scorpion Travellers Circuit © National Scorpion Association

For those of you that haven't braved the cold this winter it's time to dust off your Scorpions and get ready for the Silver Scorpion Travellers Circuit for 2018.

Round 1 took place back in November with the End of Season Championship at Northampton Sailing Club. This was a joint event with the Larks and Enterprises and was great fun on and off the water with a black tie prize giving dinner in the evening. Pete Gray and Andy Davis got off to a winning start. Full report here.

This season sees some exciting sea venues on the calendar with the Welsh Championship being help at Llandudno, which has some of the best sea sailing north of the M4. Further south we have a welcome return to Hayling Island, with its infamous sand bar (not the sort that serves drinks) where we will be sharing with the Merlin Rockets and the Fireballs.

We have also secured two great new venues for the class. Up first over the first May Bank holiday is Rock in Cornwall. This is a fantastic three day event which offers the best of sailing and holidays. The racing will take place out in the bay where there are great waves, the occasional dolphin and the Doom Bar (pints of this can also be found in the bar après sailing!). Because of the tides there is also plenty of time for holidaying with great food (just ask Amy Forbes about Rick Steins!), trips on the ferry over to Padstow and if you want to keep up the water sports theme you can pop up the road to Polzeath for some of the best surf in Cornwall. There is plenty of accommodation near the club which can be booked through John Bray. This can work out pretty cheap if there is a group of you and it is great for families.

Also new to the calendar is Beer. This is the 2019 Nationals venue, so what better way to get in some early practice and to check out the town and it's accommodation? It is also the last event before this year's National Championship in Tenby, so come along and get in some sea sailing practice. There's an early entry discount for the Nationals at Tenby which runs from 5th- 10th August 2018 so get your entries in now.

We also have some of the old inland favourites. Bough Beech has established itself as a new Scorpion club and is now a favourite on the Calendar due to Baz's Pizzeria! They will be kicking off the first event of this year in March. The powerhouse of the North, Pennine will play host to the Northern Championship in September with the Inland Championship at Staunton Harold at the end of September. This venue is easy to get to being just off the M1 and a premier drinking venue so we hope for a good turnout!

The End of Seasons, and the first event on the 2019 Silver Scorpion Series, will be at Notts County which has the biggest Scorpion fleet in the country.

Alongside the Silver Scorpion we have set up new regional travellers' circuits for 2018 to encourage more localised travelling and more competition for club sailors with smaller Scorpion fleets. An important thing to note is that prizes WILL NOT be awarded to Gold fleet sailors (top 10 at a Scorpion nationals in the last 5 years). Prizes will be awarded for the first 3 Helms/Crews, 1st wooden boat, 1st classic boat 1st under 23 (This is dependent on number of qualifiers).

We hope to see you all on the circuit soon and if you need any help or advice come and visit us at the RYA Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace on the 3rd/4th March 2018.

The full Scorpion Calendar can be found here.