Forums, DINGHY, Your input is needed for the 2025 calendar

Please let us have your thoughts on dinghy events to help us plan sailing for next year. What do you think went well, what should we do less, any ideas for new events?? This covers both racing or social events.

Either post here or email sailingsec@langstonesc.org.uk, ideally by Monday 18 Nov.

You input is much appreciated. Thanks

Jane, sailing Sae

I think Saturday and Sunday racing on a regular basis would be good ! early starts or late when ever the tide allows also when the start time is stated then that is the start time no waiting we seem to have lost dinghy sailors to other clubs due to not enough racing regularly ! Also if you own a dinghy then duties dinghy related should be a priorty ie race officer , race officer assistant or rescue boat there are enough dinghy sailors to do this or take the £75 fine enforced

Maybe the forum isn’t the way to go with this ! As I must admit I have only just seen the post and I only came on to enquire about the prize giving ! Maybe a Better way and it’s just thought a dinghy what’s app group is more engaging than the forum ! That you have to do work to physically find out what’s being asked ! Whereas a what’s app is much easier way to engage and be updated !!!!?

Yeah, bring back Saturday and Sunday series racing throughout June to August month’s. The Saturday series could be out Chichester side and incorporate long distance race’s if deemed appropriate by the wind and race officer on the day. Sunday series out Langstone side and also incorporate long distance race’s if deemed appropriate by the wind and race officer on the day. Evening series should be shelved as never well attended and getting volunteers for duties for the Evening series is also poor. Have a under 16 race to encourage getting junior’s out and with a chance to win a trophy.

Also fully agree with Chris Brunt on the dinghy owner v water duties comment.

Reading Wayne’s and Chris’s comments thought I’d chip in, as one of the sailors that went elsewhere for regular racing I still believe we have the best racing venue around Hayling with lack of traffic and strong tides but if we put on regular racing most weekends how many boats would we get on the start line? At HISC it is normal to get 20 boats for each start with 3 to 4 starts for different classes/handicaps, how would we attract new members to join us instead of the other racing clubs in the area? I really don’t want Langstone to lose racing as has happened to Mengham and unfortunately I don’t have the answers, if there was a regular Saturday season racing I would be tempted to bring my OK back to Langstone but I’m committed to Sunday sailing at HISC as I crew for another member in his Fireball, only my opinion but if we want dinghy sailing to survive at Langstone we need to have a plan to move forward, for now I’m happy to just go for a blast around in my Fireball without too much traffic getting in the way and got to say the sail over to priory bay will live in the memory for a long time

Yeah, bring the OK over for next year Daren and have some competitive racing against the Lasers. Believe the OK and ILCA7 are off the same RYA yardstick these day’s.

Do we know why not more of the existing LSC membership race? i.e. for any new or changed events, increased numbers are most likely to come from existing membership (and perhaps a few from other harbour clubs), certainly in early days. Personally, tho I’m not local, I would be interested in a couple of races in March, but I’m just one racer (perhaps a Saturday series?). It may be better to try & grow race participants at Spring/Summer/Autumn before trying to get numbers up (e.g. to justify a Frostbite series etc). A big plus for me at the club, living further away, is its ease of access to great sea racing via the motorway.

I’d been a member for several years before I raced as I assumed that everybody racing would be incredibly skilled and competitive and I wouldn’t be welcome. Then one day I was launching to go for a sail on my own when the race fleet started to launch around me. Somebody convinced me that I should sail the same course as the race as I would then have a safety boat in case I got into trouble. I rapidly realised that while most of the racers are incredibly skilled and competitive while on the water, they were also very friendly and happy to be joined by a novice sailor in a very slow boat. I suspect that other people who don’t race are under the same misapprehension as I was. So I have an answer to Jonny’s question of “Do we know why not more of the existing LSC membership race?” but I don’t know how we convince them that they are completely wrong, and “racing” is really “a group sailing the same course with a safety boat”.

what about a social sail to ITCHENOR?