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Change of Location for SORT January Weekend

2011-01-15T10:34:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately the proposed Scottish Open Race Training weekend at Loch Venachar has had to be moved to Largo Bay as the loch is frozen over with almost 6 inches of ice.

The date remain the same, ie the 22/23rd January.

There are still a few spaces left if you know of anyone who might be interested.

Two winter dates confirmed

2010-11-29T11:32:00.000-08:00

The first training dates for the 2010/ 11 winter have been confirmed on the following dates

22/23 January 2010 - Loch Venachar Sailing Club
26/27 February 2010- Venue TBC

Please contact Tony for entry details. Online forms and application will be available soon.

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Website Updates

2010-03-30T02:57:00.000-07:00

The Scottish Open Race Training website underwent a few changes today, some of which are listed below

•        A combined News and Upcoming Events feed as information was just being reported in both places.

•        New interactive galleries

•        Faster loading of the site in general

In addition, over the next couple of weeks we are going to introduce online payment for our events using google checkout. If you have any comments on this, please do let us know in the feed below.

Please note, if you had subscribed to an RSS feed, you will have to do so again, as the links have changed

Report from the SORT weekend at ELYC

2010-03-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

Our third event of 2010 was held at East Lothian Yacht Club on the 20/21st of March 2010 with 8 sailors taking part with Standard and Radial rigs.

Michael Gorzkowski led the coaching sessions with Ben Wilcox back home on familiar ground with his SORT debut. The forecast for the weekend was to be light and Saturday proved challenging with a gentle NW breeze which held in the morning and allowed some good roll tack and gybe practice together with general boat and sail setup in almost warm Spring sunshine. The light conditions proved excellent for video purposes and at the midday debrief everyone had a chance to look at various aspects of the morning session.

After lunch we once more took to the water to continue the morning’s work but the breeze finally gave up after an hour and it was towing practice back to shore!

Sunday saw the breeze continue from the NW but gradually backing and building. Several short practice races were held and a box start was setup to help develop start line techniques . Once again good use was made of on water video with an opportunity for everyone to have a look at their own upwind and tacking. John Wilcox kindly volunteered as the on board camera test boat and some very useful footage was obtained and is something that we would like to develop further.

In the afternoon the breeze freshened and we held some more short races finishing off with “a gut buster” which rounded off an excellent day’s training.

Many thanks to John Wilcox and the helpers and caterers at ELYC for making it such a successful weekend.

Report from the SORT weekend at LVSC

2010-02-04T05:45:00.000-08:00

Our first event of 2010 was held at Loch Venachar Sailing Club on the 30/31st January 2010 with 12 sailors taking part in Standard, Radial and 4.7 rigs

Despite the chilly conditions the warm Loch Venachar Club House was very welcoming with bacon rolls to greet us and a cheery smile from the coaches and helpers!

Two on water sessions were held on the Saturday and coaches Anna Dobson and Michael Gorzkowski worked with everyone on boat setup, tacking and gybing as well as upwind and downwind techniques. Conditions were good with beautiful winter sunshine and a gentle N.W. breeze.

Sunday saw similar conditions, although the morning session proved tricky with a more Northerly breeze. This always catches sailors out on the loch with big shifts in direction and strength. It was an ideal opportunity for the coaches to work on “changing gear” and the need to work the sail controls to suit the conditions.

The afternoon saw the breeze settle in to the N.W. again and after an excellent hot lunch of pasta and chocolate cake the group took to the water to race a mini regatta. This was an opportunity for everyone to practice their skills and the coaches were on hand to offer support and advice to sailors round the race course.

Both Anna and Michael commented on the marked improvement in everyone’s technique by the end of the weekend and the 100% effort put in despite the chilly conditions. Well done everyone!

One Further SORT Weekend

2009-12-14T08:13:00.000-08:00

Scottish Open Race Training will be holding a further training weekend on the 20/21st March 2010 at East Lothian Yacht Club.

As usual prices will be £45 with a hot lunch included both days.

Entries are now being taken via post (here) or our new online entry facility (here).

The other two weekends for the winter at at Loch Venchar: 30/31st January 2010 and Helensburgh Sailing Club: 27/28th February 2010.

For further information contact Tony Gorzkowski.

Online Entry for SORT Events

2009-12-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

Starting today, it is now possible to enter Scottish Open Race Training events online. With a quick form to fill in you can book any number of places, however your booking will not be confirmed until payment for the training is received.

The service is still in Beta form, so posting of entry forms would be much appreciated incase of unforeseen technical issues.

If you have any comments on the service, or how to improve it, please let us know. Indeed if you have any ideas as to how we can improve the SORT website, please contact us.

Two SORT Weekends Confirmed

2009-12-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

Scottish Open Race Training has confirmed two of the training dates for the 2009-10 winter. They are as follows.

• 30/31st January 2010 at Loch Venachar Sailing Club

• 27/28th February 2010 at Helensburgh Sailing Club.

These are fantastic events for anyone wishing to further their sailing abilities. The training is open to anyone who reaches the criteria (shown here) and the high ratio of coaches to sailors allows for lots of personal tuition.

As in previous years, the cost of the weekend will be £45, including a hot lunch on both days. Places are limited to 20 boats per weekend so please book now. Unfortunately due to the costs associated with organising the training, refunds will not be accepted from 10 days before the training begins. Entry forms are located here.

For directions to the events, please see the event map, or calendar pages.

For more information, please contact Tony Gorzkowski.

SORT over the 2009/10 Winter

2009-11-06T01:18:00.000-08:00

Scottish Open Race Training is the process of provisionally organising training events over the winter. There is likely to be 3 or 4 training weekends, held at clubs across Scotland with the first two provisional dates shown below.

30/31st January 2010- Loch Venachar Sailing Club
27/28th February 2010- Helensbugh Sailing Club

If you have any questions contact Tony.

Once the dates are confirmed they will be posted in the website and bookings can be taken.

Report from the 2009 Laser Nationals

2009-08-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Laser Nationals were held at Paignton Sailing Club between the 26th and 31st of July. 16 sailors from all parts of Scotland made the long trip down and were greeted with very wet and windy conditions.

Racing started on Sunday with a fresh South-Westerly and quite shifty conditions up at the windward mark close to the shore.

When Monday dawned, the wind had shifted more toward the North-West and the clouds became a big part in determining tactics.

The remaining days were a mix between the two extremes, except for finals day on Friday with a Southerly, force 3 to 4 wind and big shifts across the race course.

Congratulations to all those that completed the week, especially to Ewan Stirling, Moray Clark and Katherine Stanley-White, winners of first Scot trophies in the Standard, Radial and 4.7 rigs.

The 2010 nationals will be held at Mounts Bay Sailing Club, late in August, however this has yet to be confirmed.

Laser Traveller Report From Loch Earn

2009-05-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

This year the Laser Radial travellers started at a sunny Loch Earn Sailing Club and saw a great turn out of 13 boats to get the season going! Although at first the wind did not look too promising but by the beginning of racing the wind had begun to pick up from the east and in true Loch Earn fashion!

After a small postponement racing got underway for the fleets but then the breeze dropped off again as the Radials started, taking the majority of the fleet by surprise with only a couple of boats starting close to the line. However as the wind filled in again, it was Andy Mckeown who used the shifts and gusts to reach the windward mark ahead of the fleet. Andy maintained this lead for race 1, navigating around the many marks on Loch Earn with Ian Fitzgerald finishing 2nd and Ben Wilcox finishing 3rd. Races 2 and 3 saw the wind building throughout and Andy snatched another first with Ben taking the third after some close racing. Edwina Ternan finished 3rd in race 2 and Ian 3rd in race 3.

Sunday at first did not look promising with winds forecast from the south and the loch looking like a mirror. However the wind filled in again but this time from the predicted southerly direction coming over the mountains. This created very shifty challenging conditions in race 4 with patches of wind scattered across the race course. However this did not stop Andy picking up another 1st followed by Ian in 2nd and Edwina in 3rd.

By Race 5 the wind was beginning to turn round coming from the west and was building in strength although there was still a hint of south which could cause a big shift and the wind to drop. But nevertheless it was Andy who dominated the top place all the way round the race securing a victory! It was still an open playing field for 2nd and 3rd places and tight competition for the preceding positions with the fleet fighting right up until the finish line. Going into race 6 there was lots of opportunity to gain or lose places. The fleet split had split into 2 groups by the windward mark and Ben led the front 5 boats round to take the last race, followed by Andy then Nick Kerr in 3rd. This meant that Andy finished first, followed by Ben just beating Ian who finished overall in 3rd.

Overall a fantastic weekend of racing hosted by a fantastic club!

Cancellation of Loch Earn Training Weekend

2009-04-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, due to lack of numbers, the proposed Scottish Racing weekend at Loch Earn on the 18th and 19th of April has had to be cancelled.

Please continue to check back on the website for news of future weekends and events.

If you have an idea for a training event, please contact Scottish Racing.