General

Last week was our first Youth Sailing Week of the season. 11 boys had a great week and we managed to get on the water every day despite the strong winds.

Five youngsters successfully completed RYA Stage 1 and the other six had a productive week refreshing skills from Stage 2 and getting parts of Stages 3 & 4 signed off in their logbooks.

My own high point of the week was seeing the return of a pair of Sandwich Terns to Port Erin Bay. Also a gannet was diving in the bay earlier in the week, the first one of the season, a sure sign that summer is on the way.

This weekend Jon has been running our first RYA Powerboat Level 2 course of the year and what superb weather they have had!

Next week we are looking forward to Race Training week for existing and potential Manx Youth Sailing Squad members, the forecast looks good for whole week.

Port st Mary Lifeboat recently received a new IB1 class inshore lifeboat to replace the D-Class.

Port St Mary’s new ILB is called the Spirit of Leicester, with funding for the boat coming from Leicester’s RNLI Fundraising Branch. The naming ceremony takes place outside the Isle of Man Yacht Club in Port St Mary at 2pm this afternoon. We are glad the weather is better than it was yesterday!

The IB1 class has a similar hull to the D-Class but with new modifications including a bigger engine, and a rigid ‘pod’ toward the bow allowing for a fixed chart-plotting Northstar GPS unit, sturdy anchor locker and other improvements to the working of the boat. With a crew of three the inshore lifeboat is on standby to attend incidents around the SW coast of the Island.

Sarah Treseder the RYA CEO visited the Island yesterday. Sarah took the helm at the RYA in March last year. The RYA has a diverse membership and works in many areas of the marine sector, so during the last year she has been visiting the RYA regions meeting RYA members.

This is the first the time a CEO from the RYA has ever visited the Island. Arriving yesterday afternoon, with RYA Chairman of the North West Region Dave Williamson. They made a brief visit to 7th Wave where Sarah described us a ‘small but perfectly formed’ 🙂 After 7th Wave she met co-ordinators of the Training Section at the Isle of Man Yacht Club in Port St Mary.

In the evening Douglas Bay Yacht Club hosted representatives from all the Island’s clubs for an informal get-together to meet Sarah and have the opportunity to discuss any RYA matters arising at their clubs. Sarah gave a presentation about her very hectic and interesting first year at the RYA, highlighting in just how many different areas the RYA work from canal boating to dinghy and yacht racing, sail and powerboat training, zapcats, event management, legal issues and a huge amount more it made for an eye-opening experience.

The Manx Yachting Association looks forward to welcoming Sarah to the Island again in the future.

We have another 7th Wave t-shirt designed and printed by Chickens Rock Clothing.

T-shirts are now available at 7th Wave….

From Chickens Rock Clothing creations

Jon ad Chris at Chickens Rock Clothing have been super busy last weekend. We now have a brand new, unique 7th Wave T-shirt for sale at our shop.

There are more new designs in the making and we will be bringing these to you over the next few months.

From Chickens Rock Clothing creations

The three day celebration of the sea will take place on the weekend of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd of July.

The festival will kick off with the Off Sure beach party on Port Erin beach on the Friday evening. Food tents hosted by celebrity chefs, live music, marine activities, beach cricket and the Off Sure dip are some of the attractions.

Day Two commences with a Marine Day in Port St Mary, in and around Alfred Pier and Paddy’s Market. Live chefs, music, Trawler racing, Kayak racing and the Viking Manx Mile are amongst the events on show. In the evening there is the Herring Dance a ticket only event with live music, as well as some of the best cuisine this side of the Atlantic!

Completing the weekend on Sunday afternoon is the second part of the Marine Day. Manx scallop dancing, traditional Manx music, more live chef action and music round off a fine weekend.

For more details visit www.queeniefestival.com

Isle of Man Coastguard in conjunction with the RNLI Sea Safety Scheme will again be hosting a series of Sea Safety Roadshows over two weekends in March to raise safety awareness for both members of the public and users of small craft.

Members of the Coastguard will be on hand to offer free safety advice and information.

They will also be available to receive Time Expired Pyrotechnics from boat owners and members of the public for safe disposal. Last year’s event saw a total of 531 TEPs collected and disposed of safely!

RNLI Sea Safety Officers will be offering a free lifejacket inspection service and invite you to bring along all your lifejackets for this important safety check before venturing out on the water and learn how to carry out these simple safety checks for the future.

It is hoped boat owners will take advantage of this facility to complete final safety checks on their boats and equipment in the lead up to the coming boating season and dispose of their ‘out of date’ flares in a safe and responsible manner.

The Roadshow will be visiting the following locations: Ramsey (12/03/11) on the prom outside the Lifeboat house, Peel (13/03/11) on the marina parking area, Douglas (19/03/11) on the Tongue and Port St Mary (20/03/13) on the Boatpark.

All Roadshow’s will be open between 10am and 2pm.

For further information contact: Coastguard on 611033

We are having an evening with the Manx Youth Sailing Squad at the Isle of Man Yacht Club in Port St Mary tonight at 7.30pm. There will be a presentation, photos and the opportunity to chat about the Squad during the evening. All are welcome to attend.

Congratulations to the Manx Youth Sailing Squad who have been nominated in four categories for the Isle of Man Sports Awards this year.

RS Tera World Champion James Kelly has been shortlisted for the Under 21 boy. RS Tera Women’s World Champion is shortlisted for the Under 21 girl. The whole squad have been nominated for the Team of the Year and Jenni Quillin reached the shortlist in the coaches category.

For sailing to feature in four categories is an amazing achievement and a great endorsement of all the hard work that has gone in over the last few years.

In 2009 the Squad came home from the RS Tera Nationals with the National Team Trophy for the best results from one Club. In 2010 they won the RS Tera Inland Team Trophy for their overall results at the RS Tera Inland Championship, Izzy Sharpe finished 3rd overall and Greg Kelly finished 5th overall in the Sport fleet and to top it off both the Kelly brothers got a bullet in the last race in their respective fleets! All six of the squad were selected to join the RS Tera GBR Squad to compete at the World Championships last summer and again achieved some outstanding results… James Kelly finished in first place, Hannah Howitt 5th overall and 1st girl, Izzy Sharpe 7th overall and 2nd girl, Amie Shute 17th overall. In the Sport fleet Greg Kelly finished 7th and Ffinlo Wright 16th.

…are starting to fill up very quickly! Please book soon to secure your week.

We have loads of beginners courses, RYA Stage 2, 3, 4 and exciting new courses for advanced sailors, including sailing with spinnakers.

It’s going to be a fun season 🙂