January is nearly done. Time to plan your diary.

The season is underway with a full calendar of open meetings, ranking events and National Championships. There is something in it for everyone, from the club racer to our championship contenders. Now is the time to plan your diary and place your entries as the Notice of Races are put on the MYA Racing Calendar. Get your name down early. A rapidly building entry list attracts more competitors.

Remember when you look at the Event calendar you can filter by class, month and District. To start click on the Search button at the top of the MYA Racing Calendar on the Events page and set up your filter.

MYA Racing Calendar link here – https://www.mya-uk.org.uk/events/

Improve your club racing skills

If you love racing solely in your club but you want to get better than your competition quickly, there is nothing like exposure to a new environment and different competitors via an open meeting or two in your local area. By sailing against different people on a new lake, you will quickly pick up new skills. If nothing else, it makes for a great day out. No accommodation costs and an opportunity to make new acquaintances. Of course, you may like to try your hand against the best at a ranking event or even a national championship. You will get a warm welcome and with the wonders of the HMS scoring system, you will always be up against competitors of similar ability and you will learn heaps.

District championships

Several of our districts have district championships which take place across the year. The winner will be from the district, so one does not have to worry about infiltrators. It does not involve too much travel, takes place over one day and you get to meet many people. The districts running championships this year are M&S, Eastern, Northern, Midland and Scotland and are run for the IOM class. In the M&S district are the Marblehead Games series which run across the year. These are great fun and an opportunity to dust off your Marblehead and brush up your skills. A new addition this year in the M&S district is a mid week DF95 travellers series.

Ranking events

Several of our classes run ranking events which are designed to create a league table with the best four events to count. Anyone wanting to go to an international event will need to be on this list as selection is made from the top of the list down. Usually, our best sailors are seen at these events and it is an ideal opportunity to measure your skills as well as learn from the best. You can test the water by just entering for one day so what do you have to lose.

The National CHampionships

All our classes run a national championship. The first of these will be for the Vane 36” in April and then the IOM class in May. Many of our venues suffer from weed or water levels and there are few that we can sail at any time of the year. Our goals is to spread out from these golden venues and to do this we have to run the events earlier in the year (pre June) before the weed season or from late September/October. The IOM event will be at Poole, a fabulous venue with a local sunny micro-climate. What more could you ask for.

Free sailing

There are plenty of events albeit at the few clubs geared up for vane sailing. The classes are Vane A, Marblehead, 36” and Vintage classes. There are often boats available to try your hand. I had a go in the A Class Nationals and found out it was not as easy as it looks but you learn heaps trying to get the boats balanced and travelling in the right direction. The atmosphere is family oriented and you will see 3 generations competing in more than one family.

International Events

The 2024 IOM Worlds will be held in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia and is one of the premier radio sailing events. To qualify you will need to post four results from the various ranking events. The next two qualifiers are Eastbourne in early April and the Nationals in the 1st May bank holiday. Places will be allocated from the top down after the Nationals results are counted.

Whatever you do this year, enjoy your sailing. Remember our goal is to maximise fun and enjoyment in everything we do. Have a great year and if you have any questions on the MYA Racing Calendar or anything else for the matter do not hesitate to contact me.

Nigel Barrow
MYA Racing officer
Contact me here