SESCA's 2022 Season Preview

Racing at SESCA © Mike Steele

Members of the St Edmundsbury Sailing & Canoeing Association are looking forward to the start of the Club's 2022 season, which commences at Lackford Lake, 5 miles NW of Bury St Edmunds, on Saturday 26 March.

A full programme of events is scheduled with on the water activities taking place on most days until the beginning of November. Dinghy racing is held on every Sunday morning and Thursday evenings throughout the summer. Social sailing and kayaking can take place at any time, as long as two adults are on site.

The highlights of the season's programme will be the RYA 'Discover Sailing' Open Day, which will be held on Sunday, 8 May and the Club's '9th Antigua Sailing Day Regatta', which will be held on Sunday, 12 June. The latter is a fun event, which celebrates 'Antigua Sailing Week' and is once again being generously supported by the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority.

The Club marked its 40th Anniversary, last year, and, contrary to expectations, is flourishing despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Membership numbers have increased by fifty percent in the past couple of years, as many more people have been looking to participate in local, healthy, outdoor activities.

To meet this demand, the Club has expanded its training and hire fleet of sailing dinghies and kayaks, while also introducing stand up paddleboards (SUPs). It is a great feature of the Club that you do not need your own equipment to be able to sail or paddle.

Training capacity has also been boosted with the appointment of a professional RYA (Royal Yachting Association) Senior Instructor to help run sailing courses, rather than solely relying on volunteer instructors. An extensive programme of adult and junior 'Start to Sail' and more advanced dinghy courses are now scheduled to be run throughout the season.

The Club's disabled sailing section, WASH Sailability, has also been flourishing with a significant increase in participants and volunteer supporters. WASH sailing sessions are now being held on three days a week - Tuesdays; Thursday mornings and on most Saturdays. The group caters for individuals with a variety of special needs, as well as people with a wide range of physical disabilities.

Canoeing and kayaking opportunities have also grown dramatically, with weekly training sessions being held on the Lake and an active group of paddlers, who have been exploring the many rivers and waterways throughout East Anglia - even throughout the winter!

Increased income and funding have also enabled the Club to improve its onshore facilities with the addition of a new picnic area, new clubhouse furniture and storage facilities.

The Club's group members: the Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Mildenhall Sea Cadets; Young People Afloat (a sailing youth club); Suffolk Scouts; RAF Honington Canoe Club; Priory School and Culford School are also hoping for the resumption of full on the water programmes, having been rather restricted in their activities due to Covid, over the past 18 months.

Anyone who might be interested in joining the Club is invited to look at the Club website www.westsuffolksailing.org.uk or contact the Club secretary on if they have any questions or require further information.