All about Club Racing
Club racing results
Saturday afternoons
At Midland sailing club we race every Saturday with the exception of certain ‘exclusive days’ (see calendar). The first race begins at 13:30 and the second starts after lunch at around 14:45. In the winter months December to January we start at 13:00 and 14:45, so that we can finish before it gets dark.
Race series:
- Winter – January, February, March
- Spring – April, May, June
- Summer – July, August, September
- Autumn – October, November, December
For each series there are different trophies to compete for – fleet trophies (such as the Merlin Rocket, Laser and GP14 fleets), handicap trophies, and scratch (overall winners).
Wednesday evenings
During the spring and summer we also hold a Wednesday evening race starting at 18:30 in April and September, and 19:00 for May, June, July and August.
Race series:
- Spring
- Summer
We also have three flag officers’ races, which are usually held in May, June and July. These are part of a separate series for a special trophy.
Average lap racing
Most of our races are average lap races. The principle of the Average Lap Time (ALT) race is that it provides a mass start for all the classes of boat that we sail, and a nominal race length of around one hour for each competitor. It allows slow boats such as toppers and optimists sailed by the juniors to compete fairly with faster ones. It also means all competitors have the same wind conditions unlike a pursuit race where the wind may vary throughout the race benefitting one particular section of the fleet.
The results of each race are announced after racing and posted on the website, so you can instantly see how you’ve done and where you stand in the current series.
Race Training
If you want to improve the quality of your racing, we are running Race School sessions. The current sessions are: