UK Dinghy Racing
Newsletter No 9
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This is the ninth issue of the Newsletter and I hope to produce one a month, with possible extra issuse during the summer when there is more sailing activity.

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Both the Newsletter and the site are a hobby, I do this in the evenings and weekends, and try to keep an open and neutral perspective on issues.

The aim of the site is to entertain like minded people who have a passion for dinghy racing or sailing. I have tried to keep the site as specific as possible, ie UK not worldwide although the info and chat may be of interest to many. The listings of Sailing Clubs and Class Associations are purely British so there are no hugh lists of useless links to try and find one useful one.

On the question of links I have spent many hours searching for the UK sites but am sure I have missed some, so if you find any relevant ones please send them to me.

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In this Issue

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1.Additions to the site
2.Promote your sailing site
3.Free Ads
4.Boatnames and Banners
5.Buying a boat
6.Help

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1.Additions to the site

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If you have not visited UK Dinghy Racing for a little while you will notice some changes to the site on your next visit. Gone are all the buttons for links, these have been replaced with text links. This should make the pages load much faster and please all visitors. Across the site I have also added a quick form so you may recommend the site to friends, this just sends the URL of UK Dinghy Racing to the individual by email, saying that you recommend the site, please use the service to help others find us.

There have also been a lot of additions to the links pages. Several more clubs have appeared on the internet and links been added to their sites, please browse the club listings www.ukdinghyracing.com/clubs2 and give them a visit, many include for sale pages and event calendars that are relevant to all.

The Sailing links pages https://www.ukdinghyracing.com/links.htm have been reorganised to make it easier to find specific types of site. Again many new links have been added, all of which should be of interest to UK sailors.

As always I send out a request that if you know of any sailing related sites that do not appear on my links lists please let me know, just as an aside, all links are willingly added to help promote the sport and an active community of internet sailors, some sites are now trying to charge for adding links, I do not!!

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2.Promote Your Sailing Site

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While not of a sailing related matter I have added a page to the site with a free submission service to Search Engines, and tips on promoting your site, I hope this will be of use to clubs and individuals it can be found at https://www.ukdinghyracing.com/webtools.htm

The page was added following a number of requests on how to get noticed on the internet, remember there are more pages on the internet than people on the planet, so its easy to get lost! and in my experience sailing sites are not easy to find. It is amazing that a number of clubs, classes and magazines have web sites but do not promote them in adverts they run in magazines, always looks like a wasted opportunity to me.

If I get positive responses I will allow the area to grow, so if you find any free or cheap and useful services let me know.

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3.Free Ads
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The Free Ads section of UK Dinghy Racing continues to be one of the most popular areas of the site. 20 plus ads are submitted each week and several people have advised me that it has led to a sale. Please be patient though as the ads are put on the site manually by me, and this may take 2-3 days. I have experimented with automatic submission services, but these are either very difficult to get to work or expensive to buy, so at least for now I will handle all the work.

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4.Boatnames and Banners
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A good friend of mine has recently ventured out on his own, starting a signwriting business. He is very well equipped with computer based graphic and design software and would be interested in producing names and graphics for boats, he has already done some for powered craft.

The software means that just about any design can be generated, from simple text to complex sponsors logos. If you are interested then please email mailto:[email protected] and I will send you some prices.

If your club is holding a major event and you require any large banners these are his bread and butter business so I can put you in touch and give you a quote.

The intention is to provide examples of the work on the site so you can see exactly what is possible, and prices so you can calculate the cost before ordering online, so look out for some additions to the web site soon.

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5.Buying a boat
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As many of you will know, I am currently without a boat, but I do not intend to let the situation continue for long.

While I would love to return to sailing 3 sail trapeze boats I have to take the family into account, and intend looking for a Scorpion over the next couple of weeks. I believe this will give me an opportunity to sail with my growing sons, and at least be competitive at club level. The class have an article in the latest Yachts and Yachting that is an excellent example of how the traditional classes can compete against the modern one designs.

So if you know of a reasonably priced 2nd hand Scorpion that is RTG for the season please let me know, I am based in the West Country so anywhere local would be an advantage mailto: [email protected]

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6.Help
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Finally I am asking for your help.

If you would like to place an article, some Go Faster Tips or just your comments onto the web site then please email me details. The UK Dinghy Racing site is there for everybody to express their views and comments and to promote the sport as a whole.

Currently the site gets aprox 650 visitors a week, which I am very pleased with given that the subject matter is very specific. While some 75% of the visitors are UK based the remainder come from across the globe looking for information, my stats counter shows I have had visits from over 50 different countries, with Australia, Netherlands, Ireland and New Zealand being the most popular after the UK.

So please help me by alerting others to the existance of the site, adding links, and I will add yours, and submit some content to the site.