St Edmundsbury Sailing & Canoeing Association's 2021 season preview
by Mike Steele 18 Mar 2021 10:27 GMT
SESCA junior sailing © SESCA
Preparations are in hand for the St Edmundsbury Sailing & Canoeing Association's 2021 season, which will now commence at Lackford Lake, 5 miles NW of Bury St Edmunds, on Monday, 29 March.
An extensive programme of events has been drawn up by the parent Club and SESCA's seven affiliated group members: the Bury St Edmunds, Mildenhall and Newmarket Sea Cadets; YPA (Young People Afloat - a sailing youth club); WASH Sailability (disabled sailing); the Suffolk Scouts and Priory School.
Despite severe disruptions to last year's programme, due to Covid restrictions, Club members were still able to get out on the water for much of the summer. Contrary to initial fears, Club membership actually grew by 20% in 2020, with a particular increase in interest in kayaking; paddleboarding and start to sail courses.
To meet this demand, the Club has purchased four more kayaks; six childrens' Optimist dinghies and a paddleboard to augment the Club's existing hire and training fleet and planned an ambitious training programme headed up by professional RYA sailing instructors. It is a great feature of the Club that you do not need to have your own dinghy or kayak to sail or paddle, as the Club has a large fleet of boats, which are available for hire to members.
The Club has further enhanced its facilities with a new and extended main jetty, which provides better docking arrangements, particularly for disabled sailors, while the Club's outside picnic area has also been greatly improved.
Dinghy racing is scheduled for Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings throughout the summer, with WASH disabled sailing sessions programmed for Tuesdays, Thursday mornings and the first and third Saturday afternoons of each month. Members can use the Club's facilities at any time, so long as there are two adults on site.
The Club is pleased to see an influx of Solos and Enterprises this season to add to the existing fleets of Lasers; Toppers; Wanderers; Mirrors and Gulls.
The highlight of the Club's racing programme should be the 'Antigua Sailing Day Regatta', which will hopefully be held on Sunday, 11 July. This event is once again being generously supported by the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority.
The Club is also hoping to hold an RYA 'Discover Sailing' Open Day on Sunday, 4 July, when members of the public can visit the Club to try their hand at sailing and kayaking for free.
Family membership is available at £90 pa with adult individual membership £ 62 pa and cadet membership at £25 pa.
Anyone interested in getting out on the water is most welcome to visit the Club to see what is on offer or contact .
For further information, please see www.westsuffolksailing.org.uk