The Salopian no. 160 - Summer 2017

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OLD SALOPIAN NEWS
Old Salopian Yacht Club (OSYC)
The OSYC will be again be entering a Shrewsbury boat in the Arrow Trophy (13th-15th October 2017).
The Arrow Trophy is a sailing competition between independent schools, raced as an annual weekend
regatta in yachts crewed by former pupils. It is an event that gives us the opportunity to introduce
novice racers to competitive yacht racing, as well as provide experienced sailors with
challenging racing in a matched fleet of one design yachts.
The event takes place in the Solent
off the Isle of Wight, aboard
Sunsail’s fleet of F40 racing yachts.
The yachts are collected from Port
Solent (Portsmouth) on the Friday
evening and then sailed over to Cowes
Yacht Haven. The event format is
fleet racing on the Saturday, finishing
up in Cowes late afternoon, followed
by a lively and entertaining Arrow
Trophy Dinner at Cowes Yacht Haven,
with further racing to follow on the
Sunday morning and then a return to
Portsmouth by mid-afternoon.
Additionally, OSYC members continue
to offer crewing opportunities to race
or just be out on the water:
• Will Collins has opportunities for
Old Salopians to race aboard his First
310, ‘Dogmatix’, in the Junior Offshore
Group (JOG) series. JOG organises a
variety of highly competitive races for
IRC rated yachts on the South Coast.
A number of OSYC members raced
very successfully in 2016 with Will
on Dogmatix, which won the JOG
Offshore Class 6 trophy.
• Further, Steve Gorst has organised an
OS sailing trip in Conwy as part of a
1976 reunion. As Steve writes: “I have
two Old Salopians coming out with
me in May and another six in June,
all from the 1976 leavers. As a group
we are all from the school sporting
fraternity, having school colours for
Cricket, Football and Rugby between
us and it is nice to see how the healthy
lifestyle we learnt at school has carried
us through life well. We are going
to be taking part in pursuit races
between Conwy and Anglesey in my
old Moody 33. As she is a solid old
boat that can take heavy weather,
we are hoping for a good blow...
The Salopians are coming from as far
afield as London to take part and are
all beginners in sailing but they are
still keen to raise the Spinnaker and
go for it. The North Wales Cruising
Club in Conwy are hosting the event
and will be laying on a BBQ during
the afternoon and evening after
the racing. If this goes well it could
become a regular feature on the club
calendar and could potentially be
opened up to other years.”
New members are always welcome and
if anyone would like to join the OSYC,
participate in the Arrow Trophy (13th-
15th October 2017) or take part in any
crewing opportunities, please contact
the Secretary, Will Collins – email:
welc@hotmail.co.uk. All are welcome,
especially recent school leavers,
whatever your experience.
Will Collins
(SH 1982-85)