Racing
Thornton Steward Sailing Club
The Family Club
Getting launched:
Kickstart racing & Race Officer training
Kickstart Sundays in April for all. combined with RO training, hosted by Trevor
Bradley.
Grab your sailing bag, throw off the boat cover and learn (or re-learn) the ropes.
Never raced? A bit rusty? Looking for some help or advice about going faster,
staying upright, starts, tactics, rules? What do all those flags and sounds mean
anyway?
…..Or maybe you just want to get back on the water when others are around -
or just have a motivation to get out on the water! Then these sessions are for
you!
We’re particularly keen for aspiring Race Officers (ROs) to join these early
season Kickstart sessions. With experienced racers on hand, it’s the perfect opportunity to learn the art of
running a race - that vital Race Officer role.
The team will provide advice on managing a race including setting a course, starting and finishing the race
and calculating results, and you can practice all this on the day with their support. We’ll need plenty of ROs
this year, so please join these sessions so you can volunteer with confidence.
There will also be 6 Skills development sessions in April – June. These are short morning or lunchtime
sessions wrapped around the racing of the day, facilitated by Trevor. Enabling peer-to-peer coaching and
support on a range of potential topics from boat handling, improving your starts to race rules and tactics –
whatever people want on the day.
April marks the start of TSSC’s race programme. We’ve got an exciting new offering this year of weekly
events, new series and a strong focus on getting more people involved and developing skills.
Racing is probably the best way to develop your sailing skills and at TSSC it’s done in a fun, supportive
environment that welcomes newcomers. This year there’s a much-expanded racing programme with
plenty of opportunities to join in, no matter what your level, experience, or time pressures.
Under full sail: the racing programme
From Sun 21st April 2024
Racing will take place weekly on Wednesday evenings and Sundays (all day) from late April to October. A
range of different racing series and trophy days are scheduled; see the brief description below and Racing
Programme for dates and times.
Can’t sail every Sunday? Don’t worry, that’s no barrier to taking part because you don’t have to sail every race
in a series to qualify and get an overall result. The number of races to count in a series is 50% of the total
number of races sailed in the series e.g. 6 out of 12 (or if there is an odd number of races it is rounded up, so 7
out of 13). It’s best to try and sail that number as a minimum, and if you manage any more then only your
better results will count towards your position overall in the series. If you can sail more than the qualifying
number that’s an advantage, as you can discard/ignore your poorer results, but it’s not essential.
Can only sail half a day on Sunday?
Sunday racing has largely been split into separate morning and afternoon series, so if you can only join for half
a day, you can still take part. The exceptions are the one-day trophy events (e.g., Commodore’s Cup) and the
Autumn series (due to shorter day length).
There are only two trophy events for specific classes of boats, the Laser and Fusion trophies.
All other racing will use the ‘Portsmouth Yardstick’ (PY) handicap system to allow different classes of boats to
race against each other, so racing is open to most types of boat.
Results and trophies will be awarded at the Club’s annual Prize Giving.
If in doubt please check the Racing Programme to ensure you know what's going on, and the Race Officer on
the day to make sure you understand the racing format. Unless specified, all racing starts at 11am and 1:30pm
promptly for morning and afternoon sessions.
Sundays:
Sprints – 11am start, 1-4 short races run ‘back-to-back’, number to be decided by the RO on the day
depending on conditions. Overall position from each day’s Sprints will count towards the Sprint series result.
Sunday morning series (am) – will follow the Sprints. Single handicap race each morning.
Pursuit – 60 minute race from 11 a.m. with staggered start times for different classes of boats depending on
their handicap rating (PY number) with slower boats starting first followed at intervals by all other dinghies
depending on their PY. The aim is to overtake all the boats that started before you while staying ahead of the
faster boats behind you; when the finish gun sounds after 60 minutes the order of boats on the water is the
finishing positions overall. In theory after 60-minutes, if all dinghies were sailed equally well, they would all
be together! This type of racing is ideal for newcomers to racing as it reduces the number of dinghies on the
start line at any one time.
Spring, Summer, Holiday series - 1:30pm start, two handicap races each afternoon (may be run back-to-back).
Autumn series (all day) – two handicap races per day, starting at 11am and 1:30pm
Trophy days (from 11am):
Bart’s Bash - a charity worldwide handicap race raising funds for the Andrew Simpson Foundation
Commodore’s Cup – handicap racing with separate Adult and Junior trophies
Laser & Fusion Trophies – class trophies (other boat classes may join in the racing but not eligible
for any prizes!).
Wednesdays:
Early Sunset Handicap and Late Sunset Handicap series – two series consisting of a single handicap race each
evening, start times vary between 6:00pm and 7:00pm depending on daylight hours.
Check your PY Number for 2024
THORNTON STEWARD SAILING CLUB, NR NEWTON LE WILLOWS, BEDALE NORTH YORKSHIRE HG4 4BQ
e-mail: webmaster@thornton-steward-sailingclub.co.uk T: 01609 748989 eve / M: 07773 386 208
TSSC racing 2024 –
Ready, Steady, GO!….
Or 5 - 4 - 1 - GO!
The Family Club
Thornton Steward Sailing Club
THORNTON STEWARD SAILING CLUB, NR NEWTON LE WILLOWS,BEDALE NORTH YORKSHIRE HG4 4BQ TSSC 2023
e-mail: webmaster@thornton-steward-sailingclub.co.uk T: 01609 748989 eve / M: 07773 386 208
Getting launched:
Kickstart racing & Race Officer training
14th April 2024
Kickstart practice for all on
Sundays, combined with RO
training, hosted by Trevor
Bradley.
Grab your sailing bag, throw off
the boat cover and learn (or re-
learn) the ropes. Never raced? A bit rusty? Looking for
some help or advice about going faster, staying
upright, starts, tactics, rules? What do all those flags
and sounds mean anyway?
…..Or maybe you just want the motivation to get out
on the water again ! Then these sessions are for you!
We’re particularly keen for aspiring Race Officers
(ROs) to join these early season Kickstart sessions.
With experienced racers on hand, it’s
the perfect opportunity to learn the art
of running a race - that vital Race
Officer role.
The team will provide advice on
managing a race including setting a course, starting
and finishing the race and calculating results, and you
can practice all this on the day with their support.
We’ll need plenty of ROs this year, so please join these
sessions so you can volunteer with confidence.
There will also be 6 Skills development sessions in April
– June. These are short morning or lunchtime sessions
wrapped around the racing of the day, facilitated by
Trevor. Enabling peer-to-peer coaching and support on
a range of potential topics from boat handling,
improving your starts to race rules and tactics –
whatever people want on the day.
Check your PY Number
April marks the start of TSSC’s race programme. We’ve
got an exciting new offering this year of weekly
events, new series and a strong focus on getting more
people involved and developing skills.
Racing is probably the best way to develop your sailing
skills and at TSSC it’s done in a fun, supportive
environment that welcomes newcomers. This year
there’s a much-expanded racing programme with
plenty of opportunities to join in, no matter what your
level, experience, or time pressures.
Under full sail: the racing programme
From Sun 23rd April 2023
Racing will take place weekly on Wednesday evenings
and Sundays (all day) until October. A range of
different racing series and trophy days are scheduled;
see the brief description below and Racing Programme
for dates and times.
Can’t sail every Sunday? Don’t worry, that’s no barrier
to taking part because you don’t have to sail every
race in a series to qualify and get an overall result.
The number of races to count in a series is 50% of the
total number of races sailed in the series e.g. 6 out of
12 (or if there is an odd number of races it is rounded
up, so 7 out of 13). It’s best to try and sail that
number as a minimum, and if you manage any more
then only your better results will count towards your
position overall in the series. If you can sail more
than the qualifying number that’s an advantage, as you
can discard/ignore your poorer results, but it’s not
essential.
Can only sail half a day on Sunday?
Sunday racing has largely been split into separate
morning and afternoon series, so if you can only join
for half a day, you can still take part. The exceptions
are the one-day trophy events (e.g., Commodore’s
Cup) and the Autumn series (due to shorter day
length).
There are only two trophy events for specific classes of
boats, the Laser and Fusion trophies.
All other racing will use the ‘Portsmouth Yardstick’
(PY) handicap system to allow different classes of
boats to race against each other, so racing is open to
most types of boat.
Results and trophies will be awarded at the Club’s
annual Prize Giving.
If in doubt please check the Racing Programme to
ensure you know what's going on, and the Race Officer
on the day to make sure you understand the racing
format. Unless specified, all racing starts at 11am and
1:30pm promptly for morning and afternoon sessions.
Sundays:
Sprints – 11am start, 1-4 short races run ‘back-to-
back’, number to be decided by the RO on the day
depending on conditions. Overall position from each
day’s Sprints will count towards the Sprint series
result.
Sunday morning series (am) – will follow the Sprints.
Single handicap race each morning.
Pursuit – 60 minute race from 11 a.m. with staggered
start times for different classes of boats depending on
their handicap rating (PY number) with slower boats
starting first followed at intervals by all other dinghies
depending on their PY. The aim is to overtake all the
boats that started before you while staying ahead of
the faster boats behind you; when the finish gun
sounds after 60 minutes the order of boats on the
water is the finishing positions overall. In theory after
60-minutes, if all dinghies were sailed equally well,
they would all be together! This type of racing is ideal
for newcomers to racing as it reduces the number of
dinghies on the start line at any one time.
Spring, Summer, Holiday series - 1:30pm start, two
handicap races each afternoon (may be run back-to-
back).
Autumn series (all day) – two handicap races per day,
starting at 11am and 1:30pm
Trophy days (from 11am):
Bart’s Bash - a charity worldwide handicap
race raising funds for the Andrew Simpson
Foundation
Commodore’s Cup – handicap racing with
separate Adult and Junior trophies
Laser & Fusion Trophies – class trophies (other
boat classes may join in the racing but not
eligible for any prizes!).
Wednesdays:
Early Sunset Handicap and Late Sunset Handicap series
– two series consisting of a single handicap race each
evening, start times vary between 6:00pm and 7:00pm
depending on daylight hours.
Check your PY Number for 2024
Racing
TSSC racing 2023 –
Ready, Steady, GO!….
Or 5 - 4 - 1 - GO!
