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Youth Development in Doublehanded Sailing - Seahorse September 2023

Now and again, I hear the criticism that the doublehanded format is providing less opportunities for youngsters to enter or progress in offshore sailing. As my UK experience is the exact opposite of this, I thought I would share what was working with the hope that it can inspire other countries to copy one of the UK initiatives.

Some of the Best Doublehanded Races - Seahorse June 2023

In my last column I talked about why doublehanded sailing is so appealing. If that has inspired you to try it then this column will inform you about some of the best doublehanded racing this season and how to access the doublehanded scene. If you are already an avid doublehanded sailor, then I hope to inspire you with some ideas for some different races to try.

Doublehanded Popularity - Seahorse March 2023

Doublehanded offshore racing is growing in popularity – to state the obvious. Hence in this new regular column I’ll be looking initially at what is driving that growth, exploring the main contributing factors, the boats, technical – and cost – aspects, hopefully also tempting in a few of those who’ve not tried it yet. Later in the year I will be looking at youth pathways into doublehanded racing and how with a bit of focus we are already creating exceptional opportunities for the next generation of sailors.

Report from the Doublehanded Class Association on 2022

Doublehanded Sailing continues to grow and now often represents half of the fleet in UK offshore racing with the RORC. Last year the UK setup up a Class Association to promote the sport: The UK Doublehanded Offshore Series. The objective is to cherry pick the best Double Handed Offshore Races on offer and combine them into one season long series. We welcome professionals, amateurs, and young talent and in 2022 our numbers grew from 30 to 43 foot boats

2022 Doublehanded Results

The 2022 series was 6 races: 5 RORC races and the Solo Offshore club Round the Isle of Wight (RIOW) race which was opened to doublehanded entries for the first time. It was tightly fought all year!

Defending their title - RORC Transatlantic Race 2022

One of the top offshore yachts in the UK is currently Mid-Atlantic vying for a top spot in the most competitive international fleet to race the Atlantic possibly ever and they just have two persons aboard. Jangada is also defending their title from last edition’s race.

UK Doublehanders Get Organised

From amateurs, youth and Corinthian sailors up to pros and potential Olympians, doublehanding represents one of the largest growth areas within offshore racing. This year a Class Association was set up to promote this discipline via a formalised circuit: The UK Doublehanded Offshore Series.

Race Report UK Double Handed Offshore Series – Race 5

Saturday 24th July was Race 5 of the series: RORC Channel Race and the forecast was for another light wind race. The course was an extended anticlockwise round the Isle of Wight with two lines of longitude to be crossed West and East . These can be crossed at any point on them making it a tougher navigational challenge than a rounding mark. The Westerly line of longitude was South of Bournemouth and the Easterly one South of Littlehampton.

Wind at the start was a light south-westerly breeze and it was against the last of the tide so most boats chose to tack close into the island shore. 

Race Report UK Double Handed Offshore Series – Race 4

Friday 9th July was Race 4 of the series: RORC Cowes Dinard St Malo. The forecast again was for very light winds for most of the race just like Race 3 the previous weekend.

Wind at the start was a light southwesterly breeze and it was against the last of the tide so most boats chose to tack close into the island shore with the more adventurous going inside Gurnard ledge. The 4 fleets in IRC came together at Hurst so it was a busy exit tacking down the Needles channel.

Race Report UK Double Handed Offshore Series – Race 3

Saturday 3rd July was Race 3 of the series: ISC Round the Island Race. The forecast was for very light winds at the start building to a 10-15kt SW breeze.

Wind at the start was very light at 3-5kts with a fast ebb tide taking the fleet towards the line. Most of our doublehanders were in IRC 2, the 5th start, where the line was clear but the first 4 starts including IRC 1 all had boats OCS.

Race Report UK Double Handed Offshore Series – Race 2

Saturday May 29th was our second race, the classic 230NM Myth of Malham run by the RORC. The course mirrors the start of the Fastnet race starting at 1300 on the RYS line Cowes with just one mark Eddystone lighthouse, Plymouth then returning to North Head.

Race Report UK Double Handed Offshore Series – Race 1

Well here at Double Handed Series HQ we have just about all defrosted after a very very cold race this past weekend. Well done all those that took part and completed the race in very tricky light wind conditions. It was a game of snakes and ladders and some real determination was needed to keep pushing for up to 19.5 hrs as the darkness and temperatures fell.