The Club has a full and active Rally programme which usually begins around the Easter Weekend and ends with the ‘Frostbite’ rally at the end of November!

The rally calendar is published in the Club Annual Programme and members are updated regularly about any changes, via the website, e-newsletters and on the Club notice-boards.

Rallies are a great opportunity for sailing in company, in the Solent, and further afield, including Cherbourg. Many boat-owners look for crew to accompany them on rallies – visit the crew register to share your interest in this.

Many Rally officers will set a ‘timed passage’ course to keep us on our toes, and details are e-mailed in advance to participating rally participants. During sailing legs, keep a listening watch on Ch 77.

Rallies are usually held at weekends and members arrange to meet up more formally on the Saturday night, but frequently meet informally on Friday nights and Sundays by local arrangement. The usual programme is that after arrival on a Saturday there is Pontoon Party at 17:00 hours, convened near the hosting boat. Watch out for RAFYC battle flags nearby!

Pontoon party etiquette is that you normally bring your own drinks and a plate of nibbles to share with everyone. Normally the Rally Office host arranges for us to eat out on the Saturday evening at a club, pub, restaurant or BBQ on a beach! Payment for moorings and berths is normally sorted out individually on a boat by boat basis and dinner normally paid for at the event.

Occasionally arrangements are made for Safari suppers where we circulate among the various boats for drinks, starters, main courses, desserts etc. Again protocol is to bring glasses and a bottle. These social evenings are again normally coordinated by the Rally Officer. Communication is increasingly carried out by mobile phone, once in port.

The sign-up sheet for Rallies is usually opened approximately 6 weeks before-hand. You can enroll in two ways:

1. Through the web site.
2. Call the office.

The club racing calendar is aligned with combined Hamble River Combined Clubs and other Solent Clubs, with our biggest event being the annual Battle of Britain Regatta held in September.

In addition to our own events we also host a number of other Clubs and events throughout the year, details are published below when available.

Hamble River Sailing Club

Offer a wide range of opportunities for racing for both the serious and the beginner such as Men on Boats & Woman on Water as well as for younger members which are accessible to our members through our affiliation – login and go here

SWSA Southampton Water Sailing Association

The RAFYC is a member of SWSA and club members can join and of their events either as a cruiser or keen racer as published in their calendar here Sailing Cruiser Racing in Southampton Water and the Solent

Southampton Sailing Club
Southampton Sailing Club invite RAFYC members to participate in their Summer 2022 10 Race Series open to SSC members and visitors racing small multihulls, dinghies and sailing cruisers (of draft equal to or less than 1.8m). Participation is free of charge, they are encouraging competitors to support the Red Cross Ukraine Appeal by gathering sponsorship on a per lap basis, or by making a lump sum contribution. Details on SSC website.

Trophies

The Club is fortunate in having a well endowed trophy cabinet, some items having an historic heritage. There are some well known names engraved on these trophies and we hope the current winners will go on to become memorable in their turn.

Our Club embraces the spirit of friendly competition, recognising our members’ sailing skills with trophies for both cruising and racing. Non-boat owners are not left out as some trophies can be won by any member!

Our trophies are awarded for results in the locally popular Solent events as well as Club regattas and cruising competitions. So we are looking for the best RAFYC result in events such as the Warsash Spring Series, Round the Island, Bursledon Regatta and the Hamble River Winter Series as well as the Battle of Britain Regatta, cruising logs & photos and one or two more unusual competitions.

Some of this requires a certain amount of cooperation from members. The only sure way we know that you have participated in an event, particularly Round the Island, is that you have let us know of your entry. There’s only so much that can be done by comparison of the Club members’ data with published results & that’s only as good as the data we hold – so if you change your boat please, please let the office know! Both race entries and boat changes can also be emailed to rcsailing(I am sure you can figure out what goes here)rafyc.co.uk which is monitored by RCS.

By the way – if you think you never go racing, what do you do when faced with a passage where you would like to arrive well before closing time (without using the engine)?

The skills used here are much the same as those practiced by racing sailors – without all that shouting, obviously…

We regret that trophies may not be removed from the club.