Virtual News
Published 09:51 on 25 Apr 2020
Inaugural Rope4Boats.co.uk VirtualRegatta Series
Times are very strange at the moment, however, for some of our members the thrill of sailing can’t be quashed by being locked in their houses. This week saw out first
rope4boats.co.uk sponsored virtual racing regatta. A total of 16 races took place over three nights, sailing in J70 Sports Boats, 49ers and Star classes, twenty three members ventured onto the virtual water to pit their whits against their fellow sailors and the internet. Virtual sailing may not be quite the same as the real thing, but the competitiveness of the sailors was no different, and for those who lost internet connections – hopefully they will consider it no different to a broken fitting on a boat.
The results of the first week are now
online. At the end of the first and second nights of racing, Rob Hooker appeared to be unstoppable and with three first places, a second and third he appeared to have the series in the bag. Yet Simon Weatherspoon, who himself racked up five results in the top three places by that stage, shone during the final night of racing with four more podium finishes, squeezed through beating Hooker with 23 points to 25 to win a Beanie from rope4boats.co.uk. Simon will hopefully receive his prize at a ceremony at the club when things start to return to normal. As he only has one head, even if he wins again, the prize will go to another competitor. Will it be Rob or will Greg Liggins manage to edge forward? Greg finished just one point behind Hooker, but his performance has been improving throughout the series.
RYA Regional Championships
This weeks three race nights will be combined with results from the remaining two in April to crown a club champion. April’s club champion will go on to compete in the J70 class against other Club Champions in the RYA Regional eRacing Championship, to fight for a place at the Nationals. Will our Champion be Simon? Or will Rob or Greg claim the glory?
Team Racing
You may think three nights of racing would be enough to keep people entertained. Well, you’d be wrong. On Thursday night at 9pm, ten of our best eSailors, virtually crossed the Pennines to take on
Ullswater Yacht Club in a 49er Team Racing Event. Both clubs fielded 10 sailors, with the crown of glory being awarded to the club with the lowest overall score. We are delighted to report that Derwent’s sailors did the club proud, racking up and impressive 102 points less than Ullswater, across the six races. This challenge, not only required the 10 boats to show outstanding racing performance (Dan Trotter pulled off an impressive three wins in a row), but to also work together as a team. Not easy when you are in different locations across the country. Full results are online. On Tuesday, the club will take on Sunderland, can we repeat this performance?
Want to take part in eRacing?
If you want to join in with the VirtualRegatta Series, then as long as you have a PC, tablet or smartphone connected to the internet you can. Pop over to
https://www.virtualregatta.com/en/inshore-game/ and register for a free account. Take the Sailing School so that you understand the controls and then log on at 7pm on Sunday, Wednesday and Fridays. Click “Custom Race” then “Join” and enter the code “eunsjc” and you’ll join the race. You may find joining the WhatsApp Group helpful as the Race Officer generally tries to announce when the race is ready to join. There may also be a zoom call for those who want to join in the banter on the start line.
Once again – congratulations to Simon for claiming the first ever prize, and huge thanks to rope4boats.co.uk for sponsoring the series. We rely on donations from our sponsors – so why not pop over to their
facebook page and give them a like to show your appreciation. Also, huige thanks to RYA and VirtualRegatta for providing the club with our own VIP account so that we can organise our own racing.
Last updated 22:29 on 17 February 2024
