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Terms of Use

Last updated: 28 July 2026

1. About these terms

These Terms of Use govern your access to and use of FirstShiftSailing.com.

By using the website, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree with them, you should stop using the website.

For the purposes of these terms, “FirstShift”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to FirstShift and its operator, Stuart Greenfield.

Contact details:

Stuart Greenfield
FirstShift — Yacht Racing Intelligence
Website: FirstShiftSailing.com
Email: [CONTACT EMAIL]

2. Nature of the website

FirstShift provides articles, commentary, analysis and information relating to subjects that may include:

  • Yacht racing

  • Offshore sailing

  • Race strategy and tactics

  • Navigation

  • Weather and routing

  • Yacht design and rating systems

  • Equipment and technology

  • Seamanship

  • Safety

  • Crew management

  • Nutrition

  • Coaching and training

  • Personal sailing experiences and opinions

The website also provides links to FirstShift articles and subscriptions hosted on Substack and may provide information about coaching or consulting services.

3. General-information disclaimer

Unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing, material published on FirstShiftSailing.com is provided for general information, education, discussion and entertainment.

It is not a substitute for:

  • Professional navigation advice

  • An official weather forecast

  • A vessel-specific passage plan

  • Professional engineering advice

  • A yacht survey

  • Medical advice

  • Legal or regulatory advice

  • Race-committee instructions

  • Sailing instructions or notices to competitors

  • Manufacturer instructions

  • Qualified safety training

  • The judgement of the skipper and crew on board

Sailing and yacht racing involve inherent risks. Weather, sea state, tides, traffic, vessel condition, equipment, crew competence and other circumstances can change rapidly.

You remain responsible for:

  • The safe operation of your vessel

  • Compliance with applicable laws and regulations

  • Compliance with the Racing Rules of Sailing

  • Compliance with notices of race, sailing instructions and class rules

  • Obtaining current forecasts, charts and navigation warnings

  • Checking equipment specifications and manufacturer guidance

  • Assessing the suitability and competence of the vessel and crew

  • Making your own seamanship, navigation and safety decisions

Nothing published by FirstShift transfers responsibility for a vessel, voyage, race, crew or decision to FirstShift or its operator.

4. Accuracy and currency of information

We aim to provide useful, carefully considered information, but we do not guarantee that every item is:

  • Complete

  • Accurate

  • Current

  • Suitable for a particular vessel or purpose

  • Free from errors or omissions

  • Available without interruption

Sailing regulations, race documents, entry lists, forecasts, tidal information, rating certificates, product specifications, prices, software features and external websites can change.

Publication dates and factual context should be considered before relying on an article. Older articles may no longer reflect current conditions, rules, technology or prices.

Where appropriate, FirstShift may use publicly available sources, specialist tools and artificial intelligence to assist research, editing, checking or presentation. The use of such tools does not remove the possibility of error.

You should independently verify information that may affect safety, expenditure, compliance or race performance.

5. Coaching and consulting

Information on the website about coaching, race preparation, navigation, yacht optimisation or consulting does not itself create a contract.

A coaching or consulting engagement will only begin when its scope, timing, responsibilities and fees have been agreed directly.

Any additional terms agreed for a particular engagement will take priority over these general website terms where they conflict.

The skipper and vessel owner remain responsible for the vessel, crew, insurance, regulatory compliance and all final operational decisions unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing.

6. Substack subscriptions

FirstShift’s publication, newsletters and free or paid subscriptions are provided through Substack.

When you follow a link to Substack, subscribe, comment or make a payment, you are also subject to Substack’s terms, privacy policy and payment arrangements.

Subscription prices, billing, renewal, cancellation, refunds and access to paid content may be administered through Substack and its payment providers.

FirstShift does not normally receive or store your complete payment-card information.

Any paid-subscription rights are subject to the subscription description shown at the point of purchase and to applicable consumer law.

7. Intellectual property

Unless otherwise stated, the original content on FirstShiftSailing.com is owned by or licensed to FirstShift.

This includes:

  • Articles

  • Written analysis

  • Graphics

  • Illustrations

  • Diagrams

  • Photographs

  • Videos

  • Audio

  • Branding

  • Logos

  • Page design

  • Downloadable material

You may:

  • View the website for personal use

  • Share a normal link to a publicly accessible page

  • Quote a short extract for legitimate commentary, review or discussion, provided that FirstShift and the original page are clearly credited

You may not, without prior written permission:

  • Republish a complete article

  • Copy substantial portions of an article

  • Reproduce FirstShift graphics or illustrations

  • Sell or commercially exploit website content

  • Remove copyright notices or attribution

  • Present FirstShift content as your own

  • Use automated tools to scrape, reproduce or compile the website

  • Use FirstShift content to train, fine-tune or populate an artificial-intelligence system or commercial database, except where this cannot lawfully be restricted

Requests for permission should be sent to [CONTACT EMAIL].

8. Third-party material

Some articles or pages may include material belonging to third parties, including:

  • Photographs

  • Quotations

  • Race results

  • Yacht specifications

  • Charts

  • Logos

  • Maps

  • Data

  • Embedded media

Rights in that material remain with the relevant owner.

FirstShift’s inclusion of third-party material does not imply ownership, sponsorship or endorsement unless expressly stated.

Where you believe material has been used incorrectly or infringes your rights, contact [CONTACT EMAIL] with sufficient information to identify the material and the basis of your concern.

9. User communications

When you send an enquiry, comment, correction, photograph, story or other material to FirstShift, you confirm that:

  • You are entitled to provide it

  • It is not knowingly false, defamatory or unlawful

  • It does not infringe another person’s rights

  • It does not contain malicious software

  • It does not disclose confidential information without authority

You retain ownership of material you submit.

Unless otherwise agreed, you give FirstShift permission to use material submitted specifically for publication, including editing it for length, clarity and presentation. We will seek to provide appropriate attribution where publication and attribution have been agreed.

Sending unsolicited material does not guarantee that it will be published.

10. Acceptable use

You must not use the website:

  • Unlawfully or fraudulently

  • To damage, disable or interfere with the website

  • To attempt unauthorised access to systems or data

  • To distribute malware or harmful code

  • To collect information about other users without permission

  • To impersonate another person

  • To infringe intellectual-property, privacy or other rights

  • To transmit abusive, threatening, defamatory or discriminatory material

  • To make automated requests that place an unreasonable burden on the website

We may restrict access or take appropriate action where we reasonably believe the website is being misused.

11. External links

The website contains links to Substack and other external websites.

These links are provided for information and convenience. FirstShift does not control and is not responsible for:

  • External website content

  • External privacy or cookie practices

  • The availability of an external service

  • Products or services supplied by a third party

  • Loss arising from your use of an external website

A link does not necessarily mean that FirstShift endorses the organisation, content, opinions, products or services concerned.

You should make your own assessment before relying on or purchasing from a third party.

12. Products, equipment and prices

References to yachts, equipment, software, clothing, food, services or other products are based on the information reasonably available when the relevant material was prepared.

Specifications, availability and prices can change without notice.

Unless clearly stated, FirstShift does not warrant or endorse a particular product and does not guarantee that it is suitable for your vessel, race, crew or intended use.

You should obtain current technical information and professional advice before buying, installing or relying on safety-critical or structural equipment.

Where an article contains an affiliate or commercial relationship, we will aim to disclose it appropriately.

13. Limitation of liability

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so, including liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, or death or personal injury caused by negligence where such liability cannot legally be excluded.

Subject to that qualification, FirstShift and its operator will not be liable for loss or damage arising from:

  • Reliance on general website information

  • Navigation, tactical, weather or seamanship decisions

  • Participation in sailing or yacht racing

  • Inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information

  • Loss of data

  • Loss of revenue, profit, business or opportunity

  • Vessel damage or equipment failure

  • Injury or operational consequences

  • The acts or omissions of third parties

  • External websites or services

  • Website interruption, viruses or technical failure

  • Any indirect or consequential loss

This provision does not affect rights that cannot lawfully be excluded under consumer law.

14. Website availability

We may change, suspend, restrict or withdraw any part of the website without notice.

We do not guarantee that:

  • The website will always be available

  • Access will be uninterrupted

  • Every feature will operate on every device

  • Content will remain permanently accessible

  • Links to external material will continue to work

We may update, correct, archive or remove content at any time.

15. Privacy and cookies

The collection and use of personal information are governed by the FirstShift Privacy Policy.

The use of cookies and similar technologies is explained in the FirstShift Cookie Policy.

Both policies form part of these Terms of Use.

16. Changes to these terms

We may revise these terms when the website, services, business arrangements or applicable law changes.

The revised terms will take effect when published on this page. The date at the top indicates when they were last updated.

Continued use of the website after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

17. Severability

If a court or competent authority finds part of these terms unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply.

18. No waiver

A failure or delay in enforcing a provision of these terms does not amount to a waiver of that provision or any other right.

19. Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms and any non-contractual disputes arising from the website are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

The courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction, except where applicable consumer law entitles you to bring proceedings in another part of the United Kingdom or another jurisdiction.

20. Contact

Questions about these terms should be sent to:

Stuart Greenfield
FirstShift — Yacht Racing Intelligence
Email: stuart@greenfield.co.uk

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