A fantastic Easter at Blackwater Sailing Club
by Christine Brown 30 Apr 2022 13:59 BST
13-18 April 2022
Superb sailing over Easter at Blackwater SC © Anna Lau
Blackwater Sailing Club was the place to be during Easter with plenty of sunshine and cooling onshore breezes and lots to do for everyone. Over 60 boats raced during six days and many more just took to the waters to enjoy a relaxing sail.
The cadets held a successful Frostbite race series over Wednesday to Friday and joined in the usual club racing from Good Friday to Easter Monday. The Friday sailors, our adult social sailing group, held their Friends Trophy race on Good Friday with 20 boats competing.
On Easter Saturday over 100 cadets and their families enjoyed a Family Social which included an Easter egg hunt, family supper and disco. During the busy daytime a very popular charity cake sale was held to raise funds for breast cancer charities. Many members donated cakes including a 'showstopper' which was raffled each day. Thanks to the generosity of members a whopping £902 was raised for this worthy cause. On Easter Monday the Osea Cup, a general handicap race around Osea, should have taken place but light winds prevailed and some boats barely made the start line! However, the fine weather saw a good turnout for the car boot style boat jumble sale. Despite an early 7am start, the upper car park saw good trading as boat owners searched for a bargain and the galley team did a roaring trade with bacon butties. Thanks to those members who generously donated to the RNLI at the event. Collecting boxes on two stands raised £85.
Overall a fantastic holiday long weekend and it was great to see so many people enjoying being at the club soaking up the sunshine and sea air. Full details of the racing results can be found on our website, blackwatersailingclub.org.uk/BSC-Race-results
Meanwhile, further afield, the RYA National Youth Championships were being held in Pwhelli, North Wales. Many congratulations to talented Blackwater Sailing Club cadet sailor Charlie Dixon who has been crowned iQ Foil Youth National Champion. This flagship event is a pathway to selection for the British Youth Sailing Team to represent Great Britain at international regattas as well as the domestic youth squad for the year ahead. The RYA has just announced Charlie as the GB team representative for the IQ Foil class in the Youth World Championship taking place in The Hague this summer.
Charlie is a great ambassador for the Club and when he is not at a championship event he can be seen practising and training on the Blackwater Estuary. This is a well deserved reward for all his hard work and commitment to this exciting Olympic class.
British Youth Sailing sets young people up for a lifetime in sailing, whether in Olympic classes, club dinghy racing or yachts, or as coaches and race officials, and teaches them valuable skills to take into their adult lives.
If you are interested in finding our more or joining Blackwater Sailing Club why not come along to our Open Day on Saturday 7 May or contact our membership secretary, email .
For more details see www.blackwatersailingclub.org.uk