Sailing
Sailing is what our Club is all about. We organise Club sailing weekends in the Spring and in the Autumn with a cost as little as £100 per person. A few of our members do have their own boats, but mostly we charter through companies specialising in that aspect of sailing. Popular areas for our members to charter in for the past few years are the Solent, the South West and the East Coast.
Sailing Weekends
The yachts we charter all conform to the relevant Department of Trade regulations which stipulate stringent on-board safety equipment and distances from a ‘safe haven’ in which they are allowed to be sailed. Proper wet weather gear is available for hire from the charter company for a small fee. We ensure that all boats are skippered by suitably experienced Club members with the remainder of the crew being made up of people of varying degrees of ability. Everyone on board is encouraged to take an active part, if they want to, in the boat handling and navigation.
Longer Voyages
During the summer, some of our more experienced members organise longer voyages and look for crew from among Club members. Our members have regularly sailed across the Channel to the Channel Isles, France and Holland, and also visited the Scillies, Scotland and Ireland. Trips have also been made to the Mediterranean and the Baltic.
Several of our members have been on a two-year round the world voyage and an ever growing number have completed the ARC.
One young lady member, who has crossed the Atlantic over a dozen times, was Mate on a yacht that visited Cape Horn and then crossed to the Antarctic as part of a youth-inspired attempt to highlight the growing pollution problems there. And, last, but by no means least, another member took part in the 1998 BT Challenge race around the world as Mate on ‘Time & Tide’.