Netley Sailing Club's new slipway opens after damage during Winter storms
by Dougal Henshall 28 Jul 2014 18:08 BST
27 July 2014
The unprecedented high tides and severe storms had not only torn away the lower areas of the slipway, but had undercut the top, making the whole structure unsafe © David Henshall
Compared with the damage suffered by many sailing clubs in the winter storms, Netley SC might be thinking that they had escaped the worst of the gales. The club enjoys the benefits of being located on the eastern shore of Southampton Water, an area that is afforded a good degree of protection from the worst of the winter weather. That was until the run of severe storms coinciding with above average high tides ravaged the shoreline from Southampton to Hamble. The flooding that followed was bad enough, but the real problems were taking place on the exposed beach. One of the two slipways at Netley Sailing Club was almost totally destroyed. When the storms finally abated and sailing restarted in the spring weather, the damage was found to be so bad that the slipway had to be condemned as dangerous.
Luckily, Netley Sailing Club was able to apply for assistance from Sport England through their Emergency Flood Relief Programme. Mindful that much of the damage done by the winter storms was causing very real issues in the current sailing season, Sport England responded very quickly with funding assistance to allow remedial work to stabilise the site, then a full rebuild to take place.
Whilst the work on land was able to proceed, the reconstruction on the lower areas of the slipway was complicated somewhat by the need to fit around the fairly narrow tidal windows. Thanks to the efforts of Sport England, lead contractor Nyk Harefield was able to get the work completed in time for the main sailing events that will be hosted by the Club this season.
On Sunday the 27th July, the new slipway was formally declared open and was immediately put to use by the growing squad of youth sailors at the club. Vice Commodore at Netley, Dave Machin, who has also been one of the driving forces behind the growing Youth presence at the Club, was pleased to declare the slipway "open for business". He pointed out the detrimental impact the damage had caused to sailing activities for the first half of the year, before paying tribute to the assistance from Sport England that had not only allowed the damage to be repaired, but had resulted in a launching ramp that was better than the original!
With its reputation for a relaxed atmosphere ashore and tightly run events afloat, Netley Sailing Club is a popular venue for a number of classes and it is expected that the slipway will be a busy spot in 2015! By then it is hoped that a lot more in the way of building work will have taken place at the club, making the location an even more attractive setting for those classes seeking an enjoyable setting for their events.