Latest News

THE "STORMFORCE RIGGING CHALLENGE" & THE EARL'S COURT SAIL, POWER AND WATERSPORTS SHOW (20 11 08)

After the success of last years show we will be back exhibiting our range of Power and Sail training in the UK and Greece.

As a development from last year we will be running two exhibition stands. The Stormforce Coaching Stand will be handling sales and enquiries as always.

New for this year and aimed at all ages the "Stormforce Rigging Challenge" (Stand R55) lets visitors test their skills at rigging an RS dinghy against the clock. There will be two boats on the stand, a RS Q’ba for those 13 years and under and a RS Vision for those 14 and over.

Stormforce Coaching Instructors will give you a short demo of how to rig one of these boats and then its over to you to see how fast you can do it. There will be prizes throughout the week for the fastest times and a free sailing course with Stormforce Coaching for the overall winner.

Competitors will be requested to donate £1 a go to the London Sailing Project (LSP). All money collected for LSP (a Sail Training charity) will help provide opportunities for young people and people with disabilities to try sailing. This challenge is aimed at all ages; you do not have to be an experienced sailor, just ready for some fun. We hope to see you next week.

2009 SUMMER WATERSPORTS HOLIDAYS IN GREECE (22 09 08)

This summer saw the launch of our new watersports holidays in Greece, we are very pleased to announce only a few days after the close of the Southampton Boat Show that we are now fully booked for the whole of July and August 2009. There is still some availability in other months, half terms and at Easter '09.

BOAT SHOWS (22 09 08)

Thank you, to all of you who came to see us at, 'The Southampton Boat Show 2008' last week. The weather was fantastic for the ten days and visitor numbers were only slightly down (5%) from last year. Our next exhibition is the Earls Court Sail, Power and Watersports Show (26-30 November '08). We look forward to seeing you all there.

INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME (06 09 08)

Having successfully completed our first Internship Programme we are very pleased to welcome one of its graduates Adam O'Neill onto the staff full time. Two more Internships (Blake and Matt) have just embarked upon their year off on the job training. We believe we are the first and only RYA Centre that runs this unique training. We are also quite confident that our competitors will try to copy the programme.

RYA DINGHY SHOW – ALEXANDRA PALACE (04 03 08)

The weekend saw us exhibiting at Alexandra Palace. Although the show is aimed at Clubs and Classes rather than Training Centres it was another great opportunity to see so many familiar faces and meet new ones.

NEW APPOINTMENT (01 03 08)

Tim Bannister joins us full time at the Southampton Centre as the new Chief instructor. Tim has many years of sailing, power boating and coaching experience. His responsibilities include managing the instructors, fleet maintenance and the centres safety management.

NEW OVERSEAS WATERSPORTS CENTRE (07 01 07)

Our first overseas centre opened on the 1 March 2008. Stormforce Coaching (Peloponnese) is our brand new beach centre in Porti Heli - Greece. The centre will accommodate up to ten guests in four self catering apartments. Guests have full use of a fleet of windsurfers, mountain bikes, sailing dinghies catamarans and kayaks.

Our Greek watersports holidays are aimed at couples, families and groups. Coaching sessions are run daily. The resort is suitable for all levels of dinghy and multi hull sailor and for beginner and intermediate windsurfers. The key difference between our holidays and those organised by large tour operators is the personal approach our beach team deliver. If only part of the family wants to sail there are plenty other activities and sunbathing to be had. Please click on Watersports Holidays on the left hand menu for more information.

NEW CRAFT FOR SOUTHAMPTON CENTRE (04 11 07)

We have this week added to the fleet a new RIB - she is a Ribeye 7.8 fitted with Yamaha 225 HP 4 stroke engine. All of the RIBs and PWC are now 2006 or 2007, we feel it is important to keep the craft up to date.

The dinghy fleet has also grown with the addition of the RS Terra, aimed more at junior sailors but also useful for safety boat courses and dinghy instructor training.

NEW APPOINTMENTS (25 09 07)

Doug, Josh and Becky are very pleased to welcome two new staff on to the team. Adam and Mark have both joined us for a year internship where they will train and work alongside the instructors and maintenance staff.

BOAT SHOWS (24 09 07)

We have just completed our first Boat show as an exhibitor, Southampton Boat Show proved to be a great success and it was a fantastic opportunity to meet so many familiar faces and new ones. The promotion we ran for the show (buy a practical course and get a free one day course) could not be matched by any of our competitors and the winter is looking very busy both afloat and in the classrooms. We are now looking forward to the White and Mackay London Boat Show at the beginning of December.

FASTNET RACE 2007 (16 08 07)

Josh Richardson our Chief Instructor sailed into Plymouth this morning having completed the gruelling Fastnet Race as skipper of Sidney. 300 yachts started the race 4 days ago and were met in the Western Approaches to the English Channel with Force 8 winds, this caused many retirals and 250 of the 300 boats that entered dropped out of the race, mostly on the outbound leg. Finishing is an achievement in itself, but we are especially proud of the result. The team came first in division 1A.

DINGHY, KEELBOAT and WINDSURF RECOGNITION (18 01 07)

The RYA have extended Stormforce Coaching's recognition to cover Windsurfing, Dinghy sailing and Keel Boating in addition to the current portfolio of activities- Sail Cruising, Motor cruising, PWC, powerboating and shorebased training. The main reason for seeking dinghy recognition was in response to existing customers who wanted courses available for other family members. We will obviously continue to offer all of the existing courses and hope you enjoy the new ones.

The Centre now offers the widest range of RYA courses of any commercial RYA training Centre in the world.

RORC COWES TO CASCAIS (PORTUGAL) RACE 2006 (06 09 06)

Once again the team aboard Chieftain raced to the finish to claim victory both in class and over all. The race was approximatly 900 miles and took 5 days. The start was upwind as was the Western Approaches and North Biscay, the team suffered a lot of fog in the Bay and founded themselves becalmed for a night before close reaching for the second half of the race. There was a warm champagne welcome in Cascais and a big night out to celebrate. Doug and the Chieftaion team have now secured first place in the 2006 RORC Offshore series both in class and over all. The boat will be competing in one last event this year- The Middle Sea Race starting in Malta in late October, this will be the first time the lads have had a chance to race against other Cookson 50s and they are all looking forward to it.

RORC ROUND BRITAIN AND IRELAND RACE 2006 (16 08 06)

Stormforce Coaching Principal Doug Innes has this season been racing aboard the Irish Cookson 50 Chieftain. The team completed the Round Britain and Ireland Race in 8 days to take first place in both class and over all. Doug is very happy with the result, which follows a number of wins in the offshore series this year. The next event is the Cowes to Cascais (Portugal) Race in September. Chieftain is curently lying first in the RORC 2006 series.

NEW PREMISES (01 04 06)

Due to the steady growth of the company over the last few years it has become necessary to move to bigger premises. We spent some time looking at a number of potential sites and finally settled on Kemps Quay Marina. It is still located in the heart of Southampton with easy access to the Solent but provides much bigger accommodation with three classrooms, two offices, plenty storage, two heads and a galley.

The new Centre has been fully kitted out with plasma presentation screens in all three classrooms, 9 live Radar simultors, 10 live DSC simulators, 4 live chart plotters, 2 training diesel engines and 4 outboard training engines. The fleet has also moved into Kemps Quay Marina and is also growing (see below).

This is an exciting time for us and we look forward to welcoming you to our new centre.

RACING MARK (22 03 06)

The special mark formerly know as Chilling in position 50 49.24 N, 01 17.48 W will now be known as Stormforce Coaching. The initial sponsorship deal is for five years and is part of the company's commitment to racing. The yellow mark will be lit at night and was laid during March 2006.