Racing
Keyhaven is ideally located in the westernmost end of the Solent and boasts a large, sheltered river which then opens up into a wide bay in the shadow of Hurst Castle. This area offers a fantastic place for dinghy sailing and particularly racing as the bay is protected from the prevailing south-westerly wind which keeps the chop down. We run a full schedule of racing at Keyhaven Yacht Club.
The Races are open to all members of Keyhaven Yacht Club. In addition, the Commodore's Cup Series is open to Hurst Castle Sailing Club and members of other local Yacht or Sailing Clubs; as are open events such as the Easter Regatta, Keyhaven Regatta Week, Scow-travellers' series and the Rum Race (New Year's Day) (which are covered by separate Notice of Race [NoR] documents). Entries to events are either online via Sail Event Entry which takes you to the Racing Online Race Entry section of the website or Sign In on the Day!
There are two fleets for each series:
Slow-handicap fleet including Scows, Teras, Zests and any dinghy with a Portsmouth Yardstick Number (PYN) of 1,300 or more e.g., Mirror dinghy and Gull
Fast-handicap fleet including, Finns, Lasers, Laser 2000s
In addition, Novice/Youth races may be held during the Summer Series.
KYC has two fleets, the Open Class or fast handicap and the Scow Class or slow handicap. Racing is usually outside the river in the bay and started from a Committee boat. Wednesday evening racing starts from our river line. We have a wide variety of boats including Scows, Finns, Lasers, Laser 2000's, Zests, Teras, Wayfarers, Wanderers, Magno etc.
We run a number of series during the sailing season: Early Series AM, Early Series PM, Late Series AM & Late Series PM are all Sunday races. Early Series Midweek and Late Series Midweek are usually Wednesday evenings, as well as several regattas including Easter, the Commodore's Cup and the legendary Keyhaven Regatta Week, which is a festival of family-focused racing and sailing. For more detail on all our events please look at the Calendar for high water & start times.
For Keyhaven Yacht Club sailing instructions & NoR please check the following link Sailing Documents - which will take you to the Racing>Sailing Documents section on the Club's website.
Race officers, assistant race officers and support boat crews are all volunteers and it is incumbent on all racers to take their turn in these duties. Additional help comes from non-racing members and we are indebted to them. If you want to volunteer and you fit the qualification criteria* Duty Roster is your friend here.
*Qualification criteria - Race Officers - Experience of sailing, particularly a knowledge of the tides and winds in Keyhaven River and the western end of the Solent. Assistant Race Officers - No experience required. Support Boat Helm - RYA Power Boat 2 Certificate or above and for Support Boat Crew, no qualification but must be competent. Please contact the office if you wish to discuss the Criteria further on sailing@keyhavenyc.co.uk
Downloads
Last updated 15:34 on 4 April 2024