It can be slightly frustrating to wait for somebody to pull out of the worlds and I have waited expectantly since May 1st. Even more annoying was the number of people who asked me, “Have you got a place yet”. I had a nagging gut feeling that it was not going to be my year and I was proved to be right. However putting that aside there was so much to do on the planning side which was my role on the organising team and then there was the question who would do the commentary.

The global radio‑sailing community is mourning the loss of Ian Vickers, the renowned New Zealand sailor, designer, and founder of Vickers RC Sailing, who passed away yesterday after a courageous battle with cancer. His illness had become widely known in April, when the Australian Radio Yachting Association shared that he had been admitted to hospital in a gravely ill condition, prompting an outpouring of support from sailors around the world. Ian’s contribution to radio saili

The Yachts and Yachting report

Now I have a stable platform to work with, i.e. the VISS, I can focus totally on sailing technique and that will be the flavour of the blogs going forwards. So what happened at the ranking. The results were not to expectation. I was just outside the top 10 in a fleet of 57 boats but there were so many positives. Great starts with clear air and speed and mostly had freedom to tack when I wanted. Good speed and then ability to go high or low and fast when I needed the spee

Why is it some days I can go out and sail like a god and then others the devil gets into my head and it all goes wrong. My sailing a Poole yesterday was an example of what not to do on the race course. Misjudging starboard crosses, trying to do turns in the middle of the fleet, being conservative when an aggressive attitude on the start would have been so much better. We sailed at the south end across the inner pond by the clubhouse. The beats were short and racing tight w

Boat Preparation The DF 65 comes in a box with the hull fully fitted but before you put it on the water there are things you meed to do. Waterproofing. I put a little 5 minute epoxy around all the screw eyes on the deck to make sure they are completely sealed. You can also fit a sticky back plastic sheet on the bottom of the hull around the fin box. I am not sure if this has any impact on performance but as I found on my last DF95. when the fin box started cracking at the b

I have tested, spinnaker cloth, wool, strips of silver fabric used as warm blankets after marathons and finally concluded that there is nothing better than a piece of wool. I wanted to prove Craig Richards wrong but yet again I have to agree with him. To quote someone at the last DF TT, "Hse is annoyingly good". On a recent visit to a garden centre, I found the perfect black wool, three strands but very light, ideal for tell tales. With a quick spray of Fly Float the woole

Subtitle - Finally a win for the author against Craig Richards, described by one competitor as annoyingly good. Southport, UK — Competitors arriving for the DF Traveller Trophy weekend at West Lancashire Sailing Club (WLSC) were greeted by a familiar companion: relentless February rain. For many, the journey north on Friday was a tour of Britain’s saturated landscape, with flooded fields stretching across Oxfordshire and the Midlands. By the time sailors reached Southport, t

https://www.sail-world.com/news/293281/British-thoughts-on-the-IOM-Worlds-in-Gladstone?source=email

One of my winter experiments has been exploring the various switches and dials on my transmitter. If you’ve read my earlier posts, you’ll know I’ve used the dial to fine‑tune the upwind sheet angle, a switch to ease the sheet by 5–10 degrees, and the sheet stick to shift between high mode, VMG mode, and low mode. The aim was to find the optimal setup. My usual approach has been to set the sheets fully in with both the switch and dial in their “in” positions. As I sail, I the

This time we shot the video of 54 in calm conditions but it is an interesting study in how the rig works. I am learning a lot about setup and sailing from this video. Lessons learnt, Slower tacking, ease sheets in puffs, total concentration. Bear in mind some of this video was taken with me based up to 100 yards away. Hence the hitting of the mark. Again my thanks to Iain May and his camera cat for the footage. Drifting at Gosport

When I sailed dinghies it was great to get in a motor boat and follow you own boat to see how it looked and how the rig was working. That wasn't so easy in radio sailing until now. Iain May and his team have developed a camera cat which is producing some wonderful footage of One Metres. Here is a segment of the footage with the camera cat following my boat at Gosport. One person is in charge of driving the boat and the other in charge of the stabilised camera on it. Enjoy

Here is the link to the article I recently posted in Yachts and Yachting in the build up to the 2026 worlds https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/292655/IOM-Worlds-2026-Runners-and-Riders-Part-2

Before I started this article, I though I better look up the definition of the world cant. Here is what I found: hypocritical and sanctimonious talk, typically of a moral, religious, or political nature. (Not helpful) denoting a phrase or catchword temporarily current or in fashion. (also not helpful) have or cause to have a slanting or oblique position; tilt. (Bingo, that helps) I got a bit worried when I saw the first two definitions and thought I had been using the w

Thank you to all those who bought a coffee or 5 during the year. It really does help to cover the subscriptions and thank you to all for reading and supporting this web site. Your feedback and comments make it all worth while. If anyone has ideas for additions to the web site please let me know. My focus in the new year will be helping with the organisation of the IOM worlds in May 2026 and you may have seen my articles in Yachts and yachting over the last couple of month

Falling participation in full sized sailing In a recent post by the Royal Yachting Association introducing their “reflections on the water survey”, they started by saying and I quote, “Sailing and boating in the UK are at a crossroads – participation is in decline”. Maybe this is true in other countries as well. But not every aspect of participation is falling. Radio sailing is thriving and attracting Olympians, dinghy and keelboat international champions and even some

Another great season passes by. Not one of my best but there were successes and I have learnt so much about how RC boats work. I still have weaknesses in my basis sailing skills, eg getting off the start line and managing crowded mark roundings. Missing out on the worlds was a disappointment but I am getting a lot of satisfaction out of planning the event. If the wind plays ball I think this could be one of the best events ever but then I am bias. Key highlights for me wer

Last weekend the above event took place in the Chelford Village Hall, Macclesfield. A fantastic venue with so much space in the main hall, a massive kitchen and large bar area. The Northern location brought a fair number of puntes to the jumble sale and AGM and it was a great opportunity to stock up on sails, fittings, boats etc For those that were unable to make it, here is what you missed. First the jumble and I walked around with a camera just to give you a flavour of wh

Conditions can be rough at Datchet A competitor said to me last weekend, “I learnt more in 3 months of radio sailing than 30 years racing a dinghy”. There will be nowhere better to extend your learning of racing than by watching the best in the world demonstrating their skills in a week-long championship in a stadium like setting. We will have a full entry of 84 boats for the event next year with many reserves and all visitors will be welcome. If you are a dinghy or