Claires Court schools competes in BSDRA virtual sailing competition

Claires Court schools compete in the BSDRA virtual sailing competition © Virtual Regatta

Claires Court schools compete in the BSDRA virtual sailing competition © Virtual Regatta

Claires Court schools compete in the BSDRA virtual sailing competition © Virtual Regatta

The British Schools Dinghy Racing Association has successfully launched a national virtual sailing competition enabling youth sailors to get their sailing fix without taking to the water during the lockdown.

32 teams from schools across the country are involved in the competition. Each school competes against another school in a match of five races.

Paul Robson, Head of Sailing and Outdoor Education at Claires Court School in Maidenhead who designed the competition with the BSDRA, commented: "Our pupils have spent the winter training as part of their sport curriculum for the summer competitions and are naturally disappointed not to be on the water due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The BSDRA competition however is providing a new challenge for our sailors who still have to work hard on controlling their virtual boats, understanding the tactics and are building their skills ready for when they are able to race again on the water."

The racing follows the two boat team racing format where the results from both boats are added together to determine which team won a race. This leads to very tactical sailing and the blocking of the opposition to ensure you get the best results.

Normally the BSDRA co-ordinates live team racing regattas for schools throughout the summer and autumn terms but with schools and sailing lakes closed they have turned to technology to create a virtual regatta inshore game to ensure competition continues. The competition is being kindly supported by KSail, who are providing the regatta scheduling, results and some prizes.

The sailors use their computers, phones or tablets to race a virtual Star dinghy on an upwind-downwind course that takes around five minutes to sail. The game automatically applies the sailing rules and hands out penalties to boats that crash whilst they should have been keeping clear, which replicates the umpired team racing done on the water. Sailors have to plan ahead and choose how they will attack or defend their position to ensure they get the winning result.

Andy Cornah, BSDRA Commodore and Head of Sailing at Sevenoaks School, added: "It has been fantastic to have something like this to fall back on when it became clear our usual programme of events wasn't going to be possible. The level of participation has been great and the feedback very positive; it has also been a very useful way for sailing teachers and coaches to stay in touch with and offer some learning outcomes for their sailors across all the BSDRA member schools."

Results from all the teams competing from around the country across the week are available at events.ksail.co.uk providing a ranking for the teams.

For more information about Claires Court, please visit www.clairescourt.com or follow the school's social media pages to see more.