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On 2nd July Izzy Sharpe carried the Olympic Torch into Ballasalla.

Izzy was invited to join the Manx Youth Sailing Squad in 2008. She started sailing the Tera Sport and moved to the Pro rig in 2010. In 2008 she got her first taste of UK competition at the RS Tera Inlands where she finished mid fleet.

In 2009 the team went to the Tera Nationals and came home with the RS Tera National Team trophy, she finished 12th overall and her result counted toward the Team prize.

In 2010 she competed at the Tera Worlds finishing in 7th place overall and 2nd girl, 1st girl was another Manx sailor Hannah Howitt who finished 5th. The event was also won by a Manx sailor James Kelly.

In 2011 Izzy received a grant and support from the Manx Sports Aid Foundation, she finished top girl and 5th place overall at the RS Tera National Championship.

After the Nationals Izzy moved into the Laser Radial, she sailed at the Radial Inlands last November and is continuing to sail the Laser Radial. In addition to her own sailing Izzy has volunteered as an assistant instructor at 7th Wave RYA Training Centre and at the Isle of Man Yacht Club and last week she achieved the RYA Dinghy Instructor qualification.

Now she’s back at 7th Wave and got her first taste of running a race training group yesterday 🙂

Greg Kelly won race 3 at the RS Tera World Championship today. So far Greg has finished 7th, 2nd, 1st, 6th giving him 16 points, only five points behind leader James Hutton-Penman.

For the last two seasons Greg has sailed incredibly consistently at each major regatta he has attended. In 2011 he finished 4th at the RS Tera National, World and Inland Championships, this year he started his season with a win at the Appleby RS Tera Open meeting at the IOMYC.

He will be looking to improve on his recent run of form and finish on the podium, there are still six races to go….

Four Manx sailors are in the top 10 after four races at the RS Tera World Championship in Italy!!

In the Pro fleet Greg Kelly is lying 2nd place, only five points behind the leader. Ffinlo Wright is sailing the Pro rig for only the second time at a major championship and is currently in 4th place overall and Amie Shute is in 6th place and 2nd girl.

Ben Batchelor has had a great season so far, he finished 8th out of 57 at the Tera Nationals in June and he won our recent Sail for Gold Regatta at 7th Wave. It is exciting to see the 11 year old in 6th place in the Sport fleet.

The schedule is for another six races, with the last two races on Friday.

The Manx Youth Sailing Squad are currently in Italy competing at the RS Tera World Championship. Greg Kelly won the first race today – nice one Greg 🙂 So far after four races Greg has finished 2nd, 7th, 1st & 7th. Full results haven’t been posted yet, but keep your eyes on here for more updates….

Congratulations to Hannah Howitt and Izzy Sharpe who have both passed their RYA Dinghy Instructor course today. They both also received the Racing endorsement so we look forward to getting them on the coaching team for the Manx Youth Sailing Squad too 🙂

We have had a great Sail for Gold regatta this weekend, yesterday saw fairly light winds in Port Erin Bay and this morning we had a good force 4 and a few big rollers to contend with. The junior sailors impressed coaches and safety boat crews with their very high standard of sailing. Six of the Manx Youth Sailing Squad competed in the RS Teras and in addition it was great to see more youngsters having a go and some getting their first taste of racing!

The racing was extremely close and there were frequent position changes throughout the fleet. Ben Batchelor was the clear overall winner with six points after a discard. In the final race there was only .04 of a second between him and second placed Amie Shute on corrected time!

Ffinlo Wright was 1st in Race 1, Ben won Race 2. Race 3 looked like Tony Pitt would be the overall winner, he had a superb start and lead the fleet all the way round the course, but on corrected time the win went to Patrick Cope. Ben won both of today’s races.

Prizes were awarded to the Best Improver throughout the series which was Manx Youth Sailing Squad’s new member Erin Murphy. The prize for Best Newcomers went to Rory Donegan, Thomas Baughan and Matthew Perry. Rory and Thomas have never raced before, yesterday they showed true determination and sailed really well throughout the day. Thomas injured his hand this morning so Matthew Perry stepped in to sail with Rory today. Well done lads!

The overall results are:
1st Ben Batchelor, RS Tera Sport
2nd Ffinlo Wright RS Tera Pro
3rd Amie Shute RS Tera Pro
4th Erin Murphy RS Tera Sport
5th Tony Pitt RS Tera Pro
6th Patrick Cope RS Tera Sport
7th Rory Donegan, Thomas Baughan, Matthew Perry Topper Topaz
8th Immy Wild and Victoria Bridgins 420
9th Anna Clarke-Smith & Morgan Harrison Topper Topaz

Port Erin Beach Festival incorporating Port Erin Regatta will take place on 13th, 14th & 15th July. To celebrate the 2012 Olympics we will be hosting a Sail for Gold Regatta on 14th & 15th July.

NOTICE OF RACE

Port Erin Beach Festival.
7th Wave Sail for Gold Regatta

Racing to take place in Port Erin Bay, prize-giving on stage at the Bay Hotel on 15th July

Rules
The series will be governed The Racing Rules of Sailing.

Eligibility
The series is open to sailing dinghies with a current PY number. Competitors must be under 18 years of age on the days of racing.

Start Times and Races
Racing will take place in Port Erin Bay. The start time is 14.00 on Saturday 14th July, three races will be sailed back to back. The start time on Sunday is 10.30 with two races to be sailed back to back.

Registration, Entry Fees and Measurement
Registration will take place at 7th Wave from 12.45pm on 14th July. Entry is free of charge.
Boats will conform to their respective Class Rules. Competitors are encouraged to bring their own boats. 7th Wave boats can be used for the event, boats must be booked before 12.00pm on Friday 13th July.

Sailing Instructions
Will be available at registration. There will be a briefing for competitors at 1.30pm on 14th July on the beach by the Cosy Nook.

Scoring
Five races will be sailed with one discard if all five races are completed. The low points scoring system will be used.

Prizes
Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places overall, the best new-comer not already winning a prize and the best improver in the series not already winning a prize.

The Prize Giving will be held on the stage outside the Bay Hotel after racing on Sunday at approximately 12.45pm.

To register or book a boat please email jen@7thwave-iom.com before noon on Friday 13th July.

Tomorrow it will be six years to the day since we opened 7th Wave, and what a great six years we’ve had!

We started with a fleet of six RS Teras for dinghy training.  Jon became a Powerboat Instructor in 2006 and Jack the Dog found us as well.

In 2007 Jen qualified as a Shorebased Instructor and Jon achieved the VHF Assessor qualification. We got our RYA Shorebased Recognition and ran our first VHF, Yachtmaster and Dayskipper Theory courses.  We entered a team into the Topper Challenge for the first time and Tom Howitt, Greg Kelly and James Kelly came home with the trophy.

The highlight of 2008 was Jen and Jon’s wedding, which was a glorious day in the fields at Grenaby.  The Manx Youth Sailing Squad was formed in 2008 and began training at 7th Wave using the RS Teras.  We took the team to the RS Tera Inland Championship at Draycote Water, Greg Kelly won the first race and finished third overall.  Sarah Butler represented 7th Wave at the national final of the RYA Honda R.I.B. Challenge in Southampton.  Alex Sharpe, James and Greg won the 2008 Topper Challenge and 7th Wave received a Tourism Award from the IOM Government.

Lucy Gregg and Alex Sharpe competed at the 2009 RYA Honda R.I.B. Challenge final in Southampton.  Alex, James and Greg won the Topper Challenge – again!  We hosted the Queenie Festival Sails and Tales event on Port Erin beach.  The Manx Youth Sailing Squad entered the RS Tera National Championship at Dabchicks S.C. where they won the National Team Trophy. All members of the  Squad were invited to join the GBR RS Tera Squad based on their results at the Nationals.

In 2010 it was time to replace our Tera fleet, this time we opted for the Topper Topaz and Taz dinghies, which we now love 🙂  Ffinlo Wright and Matthew Petts competed in the IAPS National Prep Schools Regatta in Weymouth, where they finished fourth overall.  Jon became and Advanced Powerboat Instructor.  Ffinlo, Greg and Tony Pitt won the Topper Challenge and the Manx Youth Sailing Squad were crowned National Inland Champions, with Izzy Sharpe finishing third overall.

The MYSS competed at their first RS Tera World Championship in Brittany.  Hannah Howitt was top girl in fifth place overall, Izzy Sharpe was second girl in seventh place and James Kelly won the event, receiving the title of RS Tera World Champion 2010.

In 2011 Ffinlo Wright and Matthew Petts competed again at the IAPS regatta in Weymouth, this time they won every single race!  Prizes were awarded by Ben Ainslie and sailors from the Olympic Squad. Greg Kelly finished in fourth place at the RS Tera World, National and Inland Championships!  Hannah Howitt, Izzy Sharpe and James Kelly made the move into the Laser Radial class and received Sports Aid Foundation support with their 2011 campaigns.  Alex Sharpe and Luke Collins both passed their Dinghy Instructor courses.

By 2012 we think we have trained almost 200 powerboaters, 80 adult dinghy sailors and have taught almost 400 youngsters to sail. Tom Howitt completed his Dinghy Instructor course at Easter.  The Manx Youth Sailing Squad has three new members.  At 7th Wave we have an almost fully booked summer to look forward to!

Happy Birthday us 🙂  Thank you so much to everyone who has helped and supported us, we couldn’t have done all this without you.  The list is too long to list everyone here, but you all know who you are, customers, family, friends and all the new friends we’ve met along the way…..

It is hot here today!

Manx Youth Sailing Squad training today has been great. Welcome to Erin Murphy, Patrick Cope and Owen Williams our three new members this year. It was great to have 9 boats on the water today. Let’s hope tomorrow is just as good if not better 🙂