Celebrations at Flushing Sailing Club for new eco racing "Bot"
by Louise Midgley 4 Oct 13:09 BST
Flushing Sailing Club racing fleet rounding the MarkSetBot © aerial Tom @ Altitude Works
Flushing Sailing Club (FSC) has become one of the first clubs in the country to use a new technological, anchor-less racing mark known as a MarkSetBot during its busy summer racing season in the environmentally sensitive waters of Falmouth Harbour.
The MarkSetBot named "Bot-icelli" by club members, has an in-built battery-powered electric engine, controlled remotely using an iPad and located using GPS - removing the need for an anchor to keep it in place and preventing any impact on the seabed.
The investment by the Club, a charity run by volunteers, was generously sponsored by the Fal & Helford Protected Area Fund as well as operational support from Falmouth Harbour, Falmouth Boat Construction, Heather & Lay Estate Agents and Penrose Sailmakers.
Flushing Sailing Club hosts the busiest racing fleets in Falmouth Harbour with a record 50 boats racing achieved this year and the MarkSetBot has replaced the need for an anchored marker buoy during twenty eight FSC races already. The Club is home for the iconic Falmouth Working Boats and gaffer fleets with regular racing for these, four fleets of racing yachts and the Falmouth Sunbeams on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
FSC Commodore Peter Harvey says, "Reducing our environmental impact has been a core objective of Flushing Sailing Club for many years. The MarkSetBot delivers exactly that as regards our busy racing calendar.
"The project would have been impossible for us without the incredibly generous support of our sponsors. They all share our ambition to preserve the amazing surroundings - in which we are all lucky enough to live - for future generations."
Flushing Sailing Club was established on the village's New Quay in 1921 and a pinnacle of its commitment to sustainable practices was the opening of its distinctive new eco Clubhouse by HRH The Princess Royal in 2021 - celebrating its centenary as a much loved and used community asset.
The thriving and progressive Club's Environmental Policy has seen the Clubhouse built and operated with sustainable building materials, reduced energy consumption and virtually excluding food waste.
When not in use the MarkSetBot will be stored at the Falmouth Harbour's boat park, protected by a bespoke cover made for it by Penrose Sailmakers. It sits well alongside Falmouth Harbour's on-going mission to protect and enhance beds of sea-grass and maerl using smart mooring technology and marker buoys.
Falmouth Harbour CEO Miles Carden says, "Flushing Sailing Club's new MarkSetBot is a wonderful example of a local community - and organisations within it - coming together to protect our precious environment.
"As custodians of Falmouth Harbour we are passionate about reducing our impacts and caring for our precious habitats, whilst effectively running our leisure and commercial activities."
For more about the activities of Flushing Sailing Club visit flushingsailingclub.co.uk or for more on the work of Falmouth Harbour, including its environment initiatives, see www.falmouthharbour.co.uk/environment