For many the New Year brings resolutions and goal setting as we aim to better ourselves and our world. Have you set your ambitions and goals for the New Year and the new decade?

Sailor Geoff Holt has already achieved one of his goals. On 7th January 2010 he became the first quadriplegic to sail across the Atlantic to the same destination where 26 years ago, a diving accident left him paralysed. Geoff’s achievement proves that no goal is out of reach, if we really want it! Click here to find out more about Geoff at http://www.personalatlantic.com/

With the 33rd America’s Cup beginning next month between Swiss Defender ‘Alinghi’ and the  American challenger ‘BMW Oracle’, a book that you won’t be able to put down is ‘Born to Win’ by John Bertrand. His belief that he could take the Cup from the American’s back home to Australia in the 1983 challenge will inspire you to come sailing (or racing!).

If you’re up for some great sailing this year, we have very exciting and diverse programme including cruises across the Channel to France, the Channel Islands and the Greek Islands, our hugely popular range of RYA courses in the Solent and racing in our new J80, ‘Wairua’.

Happy goal setting and see you on the water!

How many times do I say to new skippers when they are training, keep it simple and make life as easy as possible. That means, when berthing, take the easy option. I completely forgot all this on Saturday night.

We’d had a great beat up the western Solent to Lymington. With the wind building (as forecast) and the rain set in, we decided on the soft option to head to the Yacht Haven Marina rather than roughing it on the Town Quay.

Our designated berth was starboard side too (not so easy on Koru) and as we approached in the darkness it became apparent that the wind was going to be blowing across our beam for the final approach (so blowing our bow into the motor boat moored next to our berth) and our designated finger berth was extremely short in length (reaching just past our beam).

One final factor that should have rung warning bells (had I bothered to listen) was that the motor vessel already berthed (to be on our port side) was moored stern too and was dressed with oversized danforth protruding from its bow- so limiting our turning angle.

Julian was helming (an RYA Coastal Skipper- he was with us for the weekend to refresh/increase his skills) and had a couple of attempts at berthing, both times the bow was swept towards the motor boat before we could get those ready with bow and stern lines close enough to step ashore.

My turn to show that it could be done (what pig headedness!). Same issues on my attempts and I didn’t bother to recognise that I was putting the crew under unnecessary pressure in their attempts to get off with their lines.

At this point I could so easily have asked for fenders and lines to be changed and let us be blown on to one of the vacant port side too berths that were around. But no, I had to prove a point-it could be done.

Well, on my final attempt we ended up with one crew member off (with stern line). The moment the stern line was pulled of course, our bow swung rapidly to the motor boat and we ended up pulling bow and stern away from the motor boat (good job we were both well fendered!) to bring us alongside.

What a mess. All my doing and completely unnecessary. My intuition was telling me to take the easy option, but would I allow myself to hear it-no way.

When it’s pitch black, everyone is cold and wet, you’ve been allocated an awkwardly short berth (in a marina which is only half full) and the wind is making life difficult, then just ignore your instructions. Make life easy for everyone on board!

I did apologise to everyone for my pig headedness and having beaten myself up all night, we had a great sail back to Gosport yesterday!

As we enter our third week of unusually unsettled weather in the Solent, I am feeling increasingly land locked! Winds of over 50 knots hit us again yesterday accompanied with torrential showers. Classic examples of passing weather fronts- one minute the Isle of wight can be clearly seen and then it completely disappears.

All credit to the Met Office as their current forecasts are really spot on and are helping greatly in our decision to run with or postpone a course.

I’m not sure what the difference is, but back over the summer months the forecasts from the Met Office often under-estimated the wind strength that we were sailing in which became a focal point of conversation between skippers and their crew.

Having had similar experiences from forecasts, Tom Cunliffe suggests that we need to consider ’signs from heaven’ too. Red sky at night, sailors delight and red sky in the morning, sailors warning are two prognosis which many of us have heard.

An old square-rigger’s tip he suggests is more often right that not relates to approaching squalls:
‘If the rain’s before the wind,
Tops’l sheets and halyards mind.
If the wind’s before the rain,
Tops’ls soon you’ll set again’

If you have other obscure means of forecasting, we’d love to hear from you. You can add you comments to the Skippers Blog section of our Forum http://www.yachting-school.co.uk/forum/index.php

You can read Tom Cunliffe’s article in the RYA Member’s Magazine Winter 2009

Last evening I went along to the annual Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Instructor/Examiner Briefing in Southampton. As our governing body, the RYA provide us with guidelines and standards for operating within, what is now the most  respected and recognised sail and power scheme in the world.

What was great to hear, is that through this unsettled economic climate there remains a steady and increasing number of people who want to learn to sail and to keep progressing to RYA Day Skipper and upwards through the Scheme.

It just goes to show that sailing offers one of the greatest escapes from our hectic lives and you just can’t beat that feeling of being away from it all, doing something physical and ending the day with a really healthy glow!

With winds reaching gale force relentlessly over the last few weeks, I can’t remember ever seeing the Solent looking so wild and so empty.

It feels like weeks since there has been any sailing activity on the water- apart from the few windsurfers enjoying the exhilaration of reaching in force 8 winds in the shallows of Stokes Bay.

I’ve searched all the weather sites I can find on the web for an explanation. What is going on?

Why are we experiencing storms associated with a 1000 year frequency?

Yes, we all know that the storms could well be associated with global warming, but what has happened to cause the UK to be hit by one Atlantic weather front after another?

We know that the position of the Azores High is crucial in determining whether we will be the victim of these fronts. In summer as it moves north so the fronts can be deflected further north and in winter as it retreats south (often to south of the Azores) then we are more susceptible.

But it’s currently in its correct position, if not even further north (currently over the Iberian Peninsula) so you would think these fronts would be passing to the north of the UK. Yet they are hitting us full on- why?

If anyone out there could provide some answers, it would be great to hear from you. I’m sure we’d all like to know what is going on.  If you know something we don’t (or would like to know more) then can you follow this link to the Dream or Two Forum and have your say! http://www.yachting-school.co.uk/forum/ and click into Skippers Blog

It has taken many an hour thinking about the name of our new yacht and I definitely believe that getting the name right really affects the energy on board.

Koru is the name of our Beneteau First 36.7. Koru is a Maori word meaning new beginnings, positive change, peace and harmony and our yacht certainly provides these strengths for all those many many clients who are fortunate enough to sail her.

We ask a huge amount of Koru. She spends an enormous amount of time and patience with all those who join us for teaching, whether from beginners to RYA Yachtmasters. She also keeps safe all those who venture further with us across the Channel and I trust her implicitly.

Koru also allows herself to be put through her paces when we race her and this is where I think we ask too much of her. She rarely gets to race against other 36.7’s and I think that her handicap is harsh when compared to other yachts of similar size.

So, we’ve added a J80 to our fleet and after much deliberation we’ve decided to call her Wairua, another Maori word meaning ’strength of spirit’ and ‘dream’. It’s been my personal dream to have the opportunity of racing in yachts which are identical and amongst an active fleet, such as they are in the Hamble. It’s also been a dream to teach in a big dinghy that won’t capsize!

At the weekend I spotted a 40ft Legend with the name ‘Breaking Wind’ and wondered whether that was a name chosen with meaning? I also heard of another berthed on the Medina called ‘Where the **** are we?’ I wouldn’t want to call the Coastguard with that name!

If you have an interesting name for your yacht (even if you don’t yet have a yacht) then we’d love to hear from you and if you’ve seen any names on yachts that you know you wouldn’t have, then let us know (excluding ‘Wet Dream’- numerous, not very imaginative and definitely not a yacht we would want to sail on!!)

One of the big talking points for every group that comes sailing is the different marina facilities in the Solent and surrounding area. Perhaps it is testament to many clients wanting a little bit of luxury after a good day sailing, but those marinas with good, plentiful and clean showers always seem to score the highest.

Of all the marinas we visit, it seems to be East Cowes that scores the highest (even has free hairdryers!).

This weekend we have 12 women on board (2 yachts) so this will be a definite challenge for any marina shower facilities. Let’s see how the Hamble scores……!

Very many congratulations to Sam Davies and Dee Caffari who have completed their race around the world, coming 4th and 5th respectively. How fantastic for Great Britain and inspiring for all women sailors! Of course the men are doing well too!

Sailing in the UK is really becoming a sport to be reckoned with!

Those who read the last skippers blog will have been introduced to James and jelly, who provided a much needed tow for Koru at the weekend.

It was just over a year ago that we had a very similar experience with a block at Koru’s sea water in take. It happened in very similar conditions. We were entering Portsmouth Harbour against a spring ebb tide, taking down our main sail in a northerly wind, close to our marina entrance.

The difference then, was that we didn’t have any warning bells and intuition didn’t kick in (or I wasn’t listening!). Consequently the first sign of any problem was black smoke from the engine vents. Engine off, we then planned to sail into the marina, rehoisting the main and unfurling the genoa.

What I hadn’t seen while down below checking the engine and trying to make contact with James (our berthing master), to arrange a suitable berth to sail onto, was the squall on its way.

The result was a tangled genoa leaving little choice but to go with tide and consequently we were swept out of the Harbour. It was at this point that our match making service began. James came to the rescue and it took over 2 hours to tow us back to our marina, against the tide.

During this time jelly was perched at the bow, supposedly keeping an eye on the tow line. The other eye was firmly focused on James the rescuer!

A year on James and jelly have bought their yacht called Milestone and they live aboard in the marina- who needs Date Line ?!

Just back from a very full few days on the water which included a good lesson on listening to uncomfortable pangs within.

It was the first day of sailing for most onboard and amongst safety briefs we looked at the engine, noting the automatic extinguisher which we put in place just over a year ago, as additional security against possible engine fire. While checking the engine I noticed the low water level in Koru’s sea water filter (which moves from here to the impeller to be pumped around the engine to keep it cool).

I felt uneasy but, having spoken to Steve, our mechanic, and checked the impeller (on his advice), we started her up and checked the exhaust for flow. All fine, so off we set.

After some good sailing practice on Portsmouth Harbour, it was time to head out into the Solent. We sailed towards the entrance of the Harbour with the wind almost fully behind us, and making great speed in the spring ebb tide. Quickly approaching the Small Boat Channel, (where engines are required if fitted), we went through the starting routine, immediately checking for sea water flow from the exhaust- only this time there wasn’t any.

Not wanting to be swept any further out of the Harbour with the tide, we beat upwind into the Harbour (which was enjoyed by all onboard) and finished with a tow close to the marina, courtesy of James (our Berthing Master) and jelly.

With the sea water filter completely dry, it surely meant there was a blockage between the engine seacock (water intake) and the filter which was therefore preventing flow to the rest of the engine. With Steve, we pumped water back from the filter to the seacock. Job done…there was flow again.

We must have picked up a plastic bag or some rubbish. If I had just listened to the nagging voice in my head, we would have made Cowes a lot sooner. However, to everyone on board, it seemed to be a positive experience and they loved beating up into the Harbour and the drama of being towed in!