Welcome to FSC Offshore Racing Section 
If you want to extend your skills and boost the challenge of sailing, consider taking up offshore sailing this season. Fremantle Sailing Club has a prominent place in Western Australian Offshore Racing, with FSC boats generally comprising 50% of the fleet.
All the challenges of navigation, sailing technique and tactics are augmented, and aspects such as stamina, planning and discipline come to the fore.
It may seem a daunting prospect but you don’t have to have a million dollar yacht to compete – this season there will be three divisions. Division 1 and 2 usually need a Category 2 or 3 rating. Division 3 will be for yachts 30 feet and under, and will only require safety equipment up to Category 4.
The yellow book available at the club office will tell you what equipment you need. It’s not as off-putting as you think - most of the gear you either have already or probably should have!
Offshore racing isn’t every weekend. There are approximately 24 races in the 2008 – 2009 Season, including the winter races, so you can still participate in some inshore racing. A full programme is available from http://www.wa.yachting.org.au.
Most offshore races are one day long, although there some two and three day races. Many finish at another club (e.g. Hillarys, Mandurah, Bunbury, Geraldton, Albany, Carnarvon), often with a return race. Many boats from other clubs also participate, giving you the chance to socialise and compare tactics with top notch sailors from all clubs and some exclusive yachts.
If you enjoy the camaraderie and fellowship of an inshore race, imagine the bonds you forge over longer races. The team work and reliance between crew members are heightened by the endurance aspect of offshore racing.
Offshore racing will develop the skills you have learnt in inshore. For crew, it will be necessary to learn a greater range of skills so that there is more than one person on the boat who can, for example, work foredeck, or navigate, or do the radio scheds. Meals and refreshments will have to be prepared, and you can’t just leave that kite to pack when you get back to the pen!
Useful crew often have First Aid Certificates or Radio Operator Licences, or even navigational qualifications. FSC runs courses in all these disciplines. However these are desirable attributes only – more important is that crew have good wet weather gear!
Crew don’t have to be very experienced – an eager beginner is worth his or her weight in gold, and skippers and crew are happy to train you on the job.
For skippers, if you have plans to cruise, offshore racing will help you achieve some of the confidence and experience you will need for sailing long distances offshore. You will gain this in the company of other yachts and under close radio supervision. Your crew will relish the step up to offshore and the increased responsibility they are given. Your growth and theirs, in both sailing and personal terms, will be extremely satisfying.
On a long race watches are scheduled so that all crew get to rest, but stamina and discipline are required. A single leg of a race could last hours, and lazy crew will simply set the kite and stop trimming it, but offshore races are won by crews that maintain their concentration and never stop racing. Winning crews’ minds are alive, thinking about tactics, trimming, currents, wind shifts and sail changes.
As always in sailing, skippers are looking for reliable crew. The sailing administrator can put you on a list of available crew, or even put you in contact with a skipper.
Take up the next level of challenge.
See you at Hillarys, or Mandurah, Bunbury, Geraldton, or Albany! Or maybe even in Hobart !?!