An exciting new season starts at Itchenor Sailing Club

420s sailing from Itchenor Sailing Club © Mary Pudney

With classic racing keelboats returning to their moorings in pristine condition after the winter lay-up and dinghies taking their allotted spaces on the dinghy staging, Itchenor Sailing Club is ready for a new season.

This weekend sees the start of the most ambitious sailing programme in the club's history, with over 700 races scheduled over the season. An additional committee boat has been commissioned to support this, and more accommodation on the staging made available. The dinghy classes are expecting to grow; the Mirror class, already the country's largest, continues to expand, the RS200s following on from a very popular winter series where 20 boats enjoyed close competition, expect new interest, as does the RS800 class.

Expansion is also the watchword in Itchenor's classic keel boat classes. Numbering over 100 the XOD, Sunbeam and Swallow classes will see their fleets grow – the XODs welcome back three boats returning to the fleet with new owners, the new generation Sunbeams continue to arrive and the Swallows break new ground by offering a boat for short term charter.

Itchenor will be hosting open meetings for a number of its classes. The Mirrors hold an event in June and the 420s in July. The RS200 also have an open event in June and the International 14s welcome visiting boats at a number of their traditional open events. XODs from other clubs will visit Itchenor during Points Week to compete for the Benson Platter and the club will host the Swallow national championships.

This year has already seen members of the club being crowned as champions. In January Eleanor Keers and Izzy Pugh became World Junior Mirror champions in South Africa while Eleanor's elder sister Gemma won the Ladies 420 inland crown with Isabel Davies earlier this month at Rutland Water.

However, as Chris Blevins, Rear Commodore Sailing at Itchenor comments, "It is not just about race after race after race. We recognize that the development of sailing skills is a key element in the life of the club and therefore we have programmed a significant number of training days to address the needs of all our members, young and old. We are determined to produce even more champions."

Two major events are aimed at younger sailors. Itchenor Schools Week, a regular fixture for over 60 years, is now an international event with a crew from Florida winning the Firefly class last year. Junior Fortnight holds a special place in the programme each year as hundreds of young sailors develop their skills and make life-long friendships in the special surroundings of Chichester Harbour.

An Open Day on May 17th is in place to welcome prospective new members while a number of classes, including the Swallows and Sunbeams, have invitation events planned during the season.

For more information on Itchenor Sailing Club and the events planned for this year, please visit www.itchenorsc.co.uk