RYA Dinghy Trails

[Graham W]

Has anyone tried to follow one of the RYA Dinghy Trails yet?   https://www.rya.org.uk/knowledge/dinghy-trails.  They're intended as day sails and aren't particularly adventurous by Swallow standards but may be worth a go.  They're a bit few and far between so far, with only one or two trails for each geographical region of the UK.  For example, Wales has Lake Bala and Milford Haven and Scotland just has Great Cumbrae near Glasgow.  Incidentally, the Lake Bala one suggests that there's a nice beach to try at the far end of the lake. However, I know that if you leave your boat hauled up there while you wander off, you may find when you get back that the irate farmer who owns the beach has cast your boat adrift on to the lake.

Roger Barnes (him again) has a new video where he tries out a dinghy trail across the Solent to the Newport River on the Isle of Wight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5muZ2aQu1ts&t=612s.  In case you're interested, the geese on the river with the strange honk are Brents, which are not very common and winter at a few selected spots in the UK from their breeding grounds in Siberia and Greenland.

[garethrow]

I have hung my nose over these Graham, but not yet had the chance to try one other than Milford where we had Seafair Haven last year. I do like the look of the Sottish one.

Gareth Rowlands
Ex S17 Gwennol Teifi
GRP BR20 Halen Y Mor

[Nicky R]

We've sailed at Rutland a number of times, although we've not used the trail. It looks pretty accurate to me. Rutland water is quite big, so the timings don't look too bad for a swallow, particularly if you stop for ice cream!

We tend to launch at Whitwell rather than the sailing club. It was cheaper the first time we went (I haven't checked since) and it has a pontoon alongside the slipway, meaning you can launch without getting wet feet. A very rare luxury in the East of England!