Sail Training

Hammond Innes Centenary Race - 25th to 30th August 2013

To celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of author and ASTO benefactor Hammond Innes (born 15 July 1913), ASTO will be arranging a special Small Ships Race in 2013. This event will run from Ipswich to Cowes, and will be a part of the Ipswich Maritime Festival. Ralph Hammond Innes lived out the final years of his life only 10 miles from Ipswich.

All Sail Training vessels are invited to take part in this exciting event, as well as other vessels provided they meet the entry requirements. Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.

Hammond Innes Race Entry form (please ignore the published closing date)

10th Cowes Small Ships Race - 5 October 2013

The Cowes Small Ships Race is usually held on the first weekend in October. This year is no exception and the 10th annual Cowes Small Ships Race will be on 5th October 2013. Boats will arrive on Friday 4th October with the Race starting bright and early on Saturday 5th October followed by a prize giving in the evening. Boats will disperse on Sunday 6th October. We look forward to lots of boats being in Cowes for this 10th Race.

Cowes 2012 Small Ships Race - Results

The 9th Cowes Small Ships Race was a success and enjoyed by the crews taking part. The race started at 0830 for the first group of boats. The whole fleet headed into the Eastern Solent to take advantage of the tides. While the wind dropped to virtually nothing during the morning, it started to fill in again  later with a light north easterly breeze which allowed the vessels to finish the race at Peel Bank Buoy. Final Results available.  These results are slightly different to those announced at the event prize giving due to an error made by the Race Committee. Apologies to Stonechat please find updated prize details.

A printable Race Report with pictures is available here.

Once again ASTO would like to thank our sponsors and volunteers without whom this event would not have been possible.

Download the Race Guide to help you identify the vessels (pdf file, should work on PC, tablets and smartphones, also it's printable)

London to Portland Small Ships Race June 2012

The London to Portland Small Ships Race event was a huge success for all the young trainees taking part and something they will remember for a very long time. A brief report on the race is available here.

Don't forget that the UK Sail Training fleet operate all year round, and you could take part in your own adventure this summer! Go to 'Sail to Adventure' and 'Find Member Organisations' on this website to find out more.

Full results and a list of prizes awarded for the London to Portland Small Ships Race can be found here. For pictures of the prizegiving contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Fleet visit by HRH The Countess of Wessex on Friday was a huge success. She met and spoke to all of the crews, and looked around a few of the boats, and we hope that she had a fantastic time and was impressed by our young trainees and by the positive impact their Sail Training adventure has had on them. The crews gave a rousing 3 cheers when it was time for the Countess to leave.  A huge thank you to the Countess of Wessex from all at ASTO and we hope to have the honour of meeting her again soon. For photographs of the Countess' visit, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The London to Portland event was organised by ASTO, with generous assistance from Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, Brewin Dolphin, Adventure under Sail, Trinity House and many more. All photographs courtesy of Max at www.tallshipstock.com. 

The ASTO Small Ships Races are a youth event open to any Sail Training vessels of which at least half the crew is under 25. Small Ships races are run under the rules of Tall Ships Races but with, as the name suggests, some smaller vessels involved.  The inaugural ASTO Small Ships Race from Weymouth to St. Malo in 2002 was deemed to be a tremendous success by all involved. Since then, host ports have included Ipswich, Delfzijl, Glasgow, Greenock, Belfast, Cowes, Torquay, St. Peter Port, London and Portland. Although these events are termed races, and there is certainly hot competition on the water, the main aim is to bring a range of Sail Training vessels together for their crews to compete, socialise and rise to the challenge.

ASTO now organises two types of race event, an annual 'round-the-cans' race, and about every 2 years a longer 'passage race'.  2013 will see a special race commemorating Hammond Innes' Centenary, see 'Events' for details. The round-the-cans event happens in Cowes on the first weekend in October every year. This short Solent based event is extremely popular in the Sail Training world, with 29 boats and 355 people taking part last year.