New sponsors and attractions for Brightlingsea Regatta 2018

Brightlingsea Regatta - New sponsors and attractions © brightlingsearegatta.com

Brightlingsea Regatta weekend 2018 will feature new attractions, a new title sponsor, a new raft race and a fabulous firework display, as well as all the traditional favourites which have made the regatta one of the most popular annual events in the area.

The 2018 regatta will take place over the weekend of 2 and 3 June at venues along the Brightlingsea waterfront, with Brightlingsea Sailing Club, the Colne Yacht Club and the University Community Sailing Club leading the event organisation and welcoming the public throughout the weekend.

The Purelake Group, developer of the prestigious new Harbourside development at Waterside Marina, steps forward as Principal Sponsor for the 2018 Regatta. Tracey Wheelan, Sales Director of Purelake advised, "We are thrilled to be the title sponsors of the regatta at Brightlingsea this June. Such a fantastic family weekend bringing the community together with many of the events taking place in and around the marina. Our new development of luxury apartments and houses sits in the heart of the marina offering a bird's eye view of the regatta." For further information about the new homes on the Harbourside scheme launching this summer please visit HERE.

Also new for 2018 is the St Helena Hospice Craft Your Raft Race, which will see teams of up to 8 competitors racing their home-made rafts around a course laid between Brightlingsea Sailing Club and Brightlingsea Lido starting at 2.30pm on Saturday 2 June. All proceeds from the race will go to fund the vital work of Colchester based St Helena Hospice. Entries are invited from groups of friends, clubs, pubs, schools and organisations for this event with further information available at HERE.

The historic Brightlingsea Lido open air swimming pool will also be taking part in the regatta for the first time this year. Built in 1933 and one of the few remaining municipal open-air pools still operational in the UK, the Lido is now under new community led management and will be open throughout the weekend with special regatta events being organised.

Alongside the new features will be all the old favourites, including Try Sailing, Paddle Boarding, Gig Rowing and Powerboating, crabbing and sand castle building competitions, rubber duck racing, dinghy rugby football, a bouncy castle, magician, Punch & Judy, musical entertainment and lots of delicious food and drink offerings. The full programme will be available from brightlingsearegatta.com.

An excellent range of stalls are already booked in for the event with stalls being located at both the Town Hard and Brightlingsea Sailing Club, and stall spaces are still available with various pitch sizes on offer. Stalls will open from 10am each day.

The spectacular Saturday night Firework display, which will be located on Point Clear spit and can be viewed from the Promenade, Waterside Marina, the harbour, Point Clear and East Mersea, will once again be a highlight of the event and the organisers are grateful to Firework Sponsors The Purelake Group, Brightlingsea Boat Park & Ride, Brightlingsea Harbour Commission, Brightlingsea Sailing Club, Brightlingsea Town Council, Colne Yacht Club, EXO Environmental, Matt Plant Marine Services, Morgan Marina, Olivers Wharf and the University Community Sailing Club for their generous support.

Also sponsoring the event are Supporting Sponsors Town & Country Residential Estate Agents and John Fowlers LLP Solicitors.

Full details of the regatta programme, how to get involved and how to book a stall are available here.