IOCA(Scotland) - the home of Optimist Sailing in Scotland
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Welcome to the home for Optimist Sailors in Scotland.
You'll find us scattered around the length and breadth of Scotland - from St Mary's Loch in the south, to Invergordon in the north, via the Clyde, the Forth and several inland lochs. This is a loose, friendly gathering. If you fancy some new scenery, and a warm welcome, why not join us? Helms should be IOCA / RYA grade 2 or above for traveller's events. Grade 3 is recommended for coastal waters. Events are normally split into a coached regatta fleet for those new to racing, and a main fleet. All the traveller events are Open Events run by the host club, and are typically two day events. Racing is normally Saturday lunchtime to mid afternoon Sunday.
Main fleet boats are expected to be fully measured and certified: regatta fleet boats do not need formal measurement certificates, but should be seaworthy.
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08:14 28 Jan 10 by Alec | Spring is Sprung! Down at the Strathclyde Loch this afternoon and finally, after more than
a month, the wind round to the NW, the temperature in two figures, and the ice
breaking up. So All Systems Go for this SUN - weather forecast perfect, 10 kt
NW, sunny!!. Rigged and ready at 1300. For those of you wanting to race first
start at 1000. Coaches this weekend will be James and Lynn. I'm in Weymouth so
IOCA Scotland Enforcer will be the small but impossibly handsome Bill Fowler who
promises to turn up in his wife's new Fiat 500 Convertible!!!! (And I made that
bit up.)
Always useful to know who is coming - therefore Register NOW at http://www.scottish-optimists.org.uk/eventsite.html
The intention is to run four consecutive SUNs through FEB. All sailors
inc Squaddies all welcome. There will be a guest appearance one SUN from Nick
Scott (RYAS High Performance Director), and another session with John Blair from
Scottish National Rowing Academy re sailing fitness.
Cost only £20 for SUNs x4, so cost effective even if you can only attend
one!
I repeat, REGISTER NOW!!
Hey Hoh!!
Alec | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11:38 15 Jan 10 by Iain A | Boat Show Presentation As you probably know, Callum was voted Scottish Young Sailor of the Year 2009. This made him a finalist for the YJA Young Sailor of the Year competition, sponsored by Pantaenious Yacht Insurance. The presentation was held at the London Boat Show on Saturday 9th, and we were guests of Pantaenious for the day. A slightly challenging start to our journey (the Scottish equivalent of Ice Road Truckers!), and the forecast suggested that the best route was down the west coast: A7, M6, M6 toll, M1, M25, M11. Yes, we saw plenty of snow. No, it wasn't a major issue. Scottish Borders Council and Dumfries and Galloway Council had managed to keep the main routes open - even if snow tyres would have been really useful at times. A slightly longer journey thant usual saw us arrive at the Docklands Travelodge in time for supper. This Travelodge has one of the new Bar-Cafes - reasonable food at sensible prices - and I suppose the bar tariff was not too outrageous for London. Our day started by meeting the RYA media team at the main entrance to collect our tickets. Then off to the RYA lounge for coffee, welcome and briefing. New jackets were handed out to the finalists courtesy of Pantaenious for the photo calls. A very full timetable for Callum: photo calls with sponsors, deck games, lunch and presentation left a whole hour of free time to actually see the show! Parents/chaperones etc were free until lunch. This year Ben Ainslie was presenting the awards: 13 years after he won it! The award ceremony started at 17:00 and we were free to leave shortly after 18:30. A long day, busy, but quite satisfying. We were very glad that the Squad session had been cancelled - and that the promised snow didn't arrive! Not that London really knows what snow is... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15:26 05 Jan 10 by Iain A | Sailing Honours I'm sure some of you will have noticed already: John Derbyshire has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours. Full article from the RYA press machine is here For those of you new to Oppies, John was an Oppie parent until last year. Not too suprisingly Harry is quite a good sailor, was part of last year's Oppie European's team, and is now to be found on the 420 circuit. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10:11 04 Jan 10 by Alasdair Ireland | 2010 Season Underway! After Strathclyde Loch was frozen off and Largo Bay (2 Jan) cancelled due to a poor forecast, it was 3rd time lucky for those Oppy sailors looking for a festive regatta in Scotland. Largs SC hosted their New Year Race on Sun 3 Jan in light winds under bright blue sky. Race Officer John Ridley managed to run 2 races in these testing conditions, and with short legs placing a premium on mark rounding there were plenty of place changes during the close racing, before everyone retired ashore for pie and beans. Alasdair Ireland won both races, taking the prize for first Oppy and winning the Handicap class. Hamish Taylor was second overall, followed by Nicollo Vetta and Sophie Taylor.  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11:32 01 Jan 10 by Iain A | Happy New Year I couldn't resist a 'traditional' style new year photograph:  Taken at 11:15, with snow coming down. For those travelling, 'safe home'. Happy New Year, and good luck with the 2010 season. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11:53 22 Dec 09 by Iain A | Merry Christmas from Volvo and Musto If you haven't seen it on the IOCA(UK) site, Volvo and Musto have produced a round up of 2009. I think it requires quicktime to view it. 2009 roundup movie: Click Here | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22:51 17 Dec 09 by Iain A | Trasnporting an Oppie Another reference page for your delectation and delight; Transporting an Oppie. Available from the menu: About Oppies > Transporting an Oppie. This is the distilled knowledge from over 6 years of transporting these boats around Scotland, the UK and the continent. It is by no means encyclopaedic - but is your 'starter for 10'. Any old hands with details to add please provide your knowledge: any questions, please ask. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15:01 16 Dec 09 by Iain A | New Met Office Weather Widget | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11:54 25 Nov 09 by Iain A | RYA Young Sailor of the Year 2009 The RYA Regional Young Sailor’s for 2009 have been announced. The award recognises sporting excellence in power or sail and acknowledges achievement of any sort such as a phenomenal win, overcoming adversity, or exceptional bravery. Nominated by clubs across the country and voted for by each RYA Regional Committee they are awarded to youngsters under 18 as of 31 December. The RYA Regional Young Sailor Awards will be presented on the main stage at the YJA Pantaenius Young Sailor of the Year Award ceremony Saturday 9 January at the Tullet Prebon London International Boat Show together with the winner of 2009 YJA Pantaenius Young Sailor if the Year. RYA Regional Winners
Rod Carr, OBE, Chief Executive, RYA says: “Winning an RYA Regional Young Sailor of the Year Award is a fantastic achievement. Sailing and power boating are great sports for young people and they are challenging both mentally and physically. "The Young Sailor of the Year Award highlights just how many youngsters there are out enjoying the sport and achieving great things, I am delighted to recognise this through the award” YJA Pantaenius Young Sailor of the YearThe three finalists for the YJA Pantaenius Young Sailor of the Year Award have also been announced. Finalists include: Isobel Hamilton, who was 3rd overall in RYA Youth National Champions and Trials 09 and has been selected for the Skandia Team GBR Development Squad, Phil Sparks and Ben Gratton who won gold on their final day of the 2009 Volvo Sailing ISAF World Championship in Brazil and finally, Aaron Lowther and Steve Curtis who have both won their age groups for the second year running in the Honda RYA Youth Rib Championship. Coupled with this fine achievement both boys are excellent ambassadors for the event, the sport and their respective clubs. The vote for YJA Pantaenius winner now goes to members of the Yachting Journalists’ Association (YJA) in a secret ballot and will also be announced at the ceremony at Tullet Prebon London International Boat Show 2010. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23:08 18 Nov 09 by Iain A | Gallery Update, Spring Championships I have (finally) found time to upload some more pictures to the gallery. These are courtesy of Iain Calder, and cover the End of Seasons and the Zones. Note that the IOCA(UK) Spring Championships are now in March (13/14) - and as a result the Scottish Squad weekend has moved to the week earlier (6/7)! This does mean the Squad session clashes with the Dinghy Show. A reminder that there is racing at SLSC on Sunday mornings - separate Optimist start. Beginners race training in the afternoon. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16:02 03 Nov 09 by Iain A | IOCA Calendar The IOCA website has migrated to a new ISP. You may have noticed a change to the menu structure. There is also a new version of the calendar - which should be slightly easier to maintain. Events from within EventAssistant (which we use for our travellers events) can now be published to the IOCA calendar - so fewer transcription mistakes can be expected! Note that there will almost certainly be a surfeit of 'new' icons floating around for a week or so.... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15:57 03 Nov 09 by Iain A | Champion of Champions Oppies on top! Ali Gray has won the Champion of Champions - with Robbie managing 4th in his RS200. More when we get it! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14:22 02 Nov 09 by Iain A | Vigo Results The regatta was scheduled to have a total of 9 races over three days starting on Friday. However, light winds meant that only one race could be completed on Friday and there was no racing at all on Saturday. The final day of racing produced some fine sailing in a south west breeze of 10 to 15 knots and a choppy sea. This combined with rain and mist made for a tough day with 3 races completed back to back. With only 4 races completed no discards were allowed. The 'official' team was Callum, Josh, Matt and Scott, joined by privateers Luke and Tim. Some excellent results from a fleet of 230 boats. Summary courtesy of Michael McCann, Royal Cork Yacht Club.
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13:12 21 Sep 09 by dumbledore | Content Management The news is now held in our database, so it is easier for the site to be managed. This also means you don't need to know html to be able to enter articles, although it helps! The 'new' icon indicates articles created (or edited) within the last week. |
