Overview

We sail dinghies in the River Yar, sometimes venturing out into the Solent for races or trips "abroad" to Keyhaven, Totland, Newtown, etc. Those with bigger boats may join the Cruising Section for longer trips (sometimes overnight stays).

The sheltered waters of the river are an excellent place for learning to sail and race, as well as providing a beautiful setting for pottering about and some extremely competitive racing. The only down side is that we have to work round the tides as we are not able to launch our boats or get to the moorings when the tide is low.

Enquiries about sailing matters should be directed to the Sailing Secretary, Melinda Measor (mailto:sailingsecretary@yarmouthsc.org, 01983 760462).

Racing

Our dinghy racing fleets include Scows, Picos, Lasers, RS Teras, RS Quests, etc. Racing takes place at weekends from the beginning of April. In addition, we have fun races, trips further afield, and Simply Sailing sessions throughout the season, and a Winter Race Series over three weekends in November and early December.

Simply Sailing

A group of members who prefer non-competitive sailing organise a series of group events which give those members who are not especially interested in racing, or who perhaps lack the confidence to go out on their own, a chance to get out on the water to hone their skills and enjoy a sail together with like-minded other members with the reassuring presence of patrol boats. (See Simply Sailing section).

Club-owned Boats

The Club has a fleet of 2 Scows, 7 Picos, 6 RS Teras, 11 Europtis (similar to Optimists but sturdier), 3 RS Quests, 1 RS Feva and 2 Lasers all of which may be hired by juniors who hold the RYA Stage 4 qualification and adults who are experienced sailors.

These boats can be hired by members for £10 a day/£50 a month (Feva, Quests, Scows, and Picos) and £5 a day/£25 a month (Teras and Europtis). Members may purchase a Season Ticket for £150 which will entitle them to hire any of the Club dinghies (except the Quests) as many times as they like during the sailing season (March to December). Under this scheme they may not book any boat more than two weeks in advance.

Anyone wanting to hire a boat must be competent to sail it and correctly rig it. Instruction on rigging or sailing them can be gained via the Rear Commodore Sailing. The bookings diary is available on the club website. Log-in details can be obtained from Ann Smyth, Membership Secretary (membership@yarmouthsc.org). However, please note, that during the Junior training weeks the club Optimists, Picos, Teras, Feva and Quests are not available for hire as they will all be in use for the training.

Our 'Family Fun Fridays' are very popular when we encourage as many YSC members as possible to come to the club and offer short taster sails to all members of a family especially mums and dads who normally don't sail. Following the sailing, parents and children stay on at the Club for a snack supper (typically pizza and salad) or, when the weather is right, a barbeque. In 2017 our first Swallows & Amazons weekend was organised with a group of children and adults going up to Newtown and camping for a night. This was a huge success and has become an annual event (See Swallows & Amazons section).

Special Events

Our annual two-day Regatta normally takes place on the bank holiday weekend at the end of August. We are very grateful to Spence Willard (estate agents) for their sponsorship of this event.
Scows Week (an open event for wooden and GRP scows) takes place in late July or early August.
These are open events (i.e. we welcome all comers) and programmes for them will appear when published in the Sailing Programmes section of this website.

Winter Series
We organise a Winter Sailing Series (during late November and early December) for dinghies with a Portsmouth Yardstick handicap rating of 1080 or over. Sailors not currently YSC members may participate by taking out Temporary Membership at a special rate of £15 for the month of the series.

Last updated 15:27 on 21 April 2024