Top guest speakers

The Dinghy Sailing Show will have and impressive line-up of speakers this year

This year’s Dinghy Sailing Show, in association with Yachts and Yachting and Suzuki, boasts an impressive line-up of guest speakers and is your chance to learn from some of the leading lights of the dinghy sailing world.

The Dinghy Show’s unique coaching area allows you to talk to leading experts and get a range of practical hints and tips to improve your skills both on and off the water. From basic rig tuning, where the set up of your rig can mean the difference between first and last place, to an insightful master class on Laser dinghy sailing with three times Laser European champion and Skandia Team GBR’s Paul Goodison.

The RYA’s National Sailing Coach John Thorn and the Royal Navy’s sailing coach Grahame Forshaw head up the rigging sessions throughout the weekend giving a ‘hands on’ demonstration of some of the basics of getting the most out of your rig.

Grahame said: “We will get the audience involved in a number of practical demonstrations aimed at club sailors trying to get the most out of their rig. Poorly set up rigging can make a massive difference to the performance of a boat.”

If you’re looking to get that extra edge out on the water then ex Fireball world champion and top coach Adam Bower’s special ‘Winning Talk’ could be just what you need. He will be letting listeners in on one of the great secrets of winning: communication.

Adam believes that a quiet boat is a slow boat and that simply through communicating better a team can pick up considerable speed.

He said: “Imagine going for a tack without telling your crew, it would be chaos and you would obviously lose boat speed. This talk is about taking that concept further, winning teams communicate losing teams don’t. It’s about going faster without spending a penny on your boat.”

For visitors with a need for speed then the ‘Performance Cat Racing’ and ‘Sailing takes off’ presentations are a must.

One of the fastest boats on the water, performance catamarans can provide some of the most exhilarating sailing imaginable but require a high level of expertise. Cat legend Brian Phipps will provide some insight into the skills required to tame the beast.

On the main stage and new to the 2008 Dinghy Show programme foiling pioneer Peter Barton, provides a glimpse in to the future of sailing with a stunning presentation on the development of hydrofoiling dinghies. He will explain the basic principles of foiling alongside some amazing footage of these remarkable boats in action.

The Dinghy Sailing Show 2008 takes place at Alexandra Palace, London, Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 March. To find out more and book your tickets go online at www.dinghysailingshow.org.uk or call the ticket hotline on 0845 345 0424. By pre-booking your tickets you will also automatically be entered in to a free prize draw to win a fantastic family holiday from Crystal Active – for full details visit the website.