Wednesday night A Series at Delph Sailing Club - Race 1

Delph Sailing Clubs 2026 season is underway © Ian Brown

After 2 false starts with heavy weather adversely affecting the Sunday sailing in Bolton, on Wednesday 8th April, Delph Sailing Club's 2026 sailing season finally got off to a bang with 22 sailors in 17 boats taking part in the first race of their ever popular Wednesday night A series.

Chris Pickles and his son Jack took the honours in their RS200, winning their first race since they returned as members this season. In fact 10 of the sailors on the start line have joined in 2026 as the club has welcomed a near 25% increase in membership already this year and that is before their official open day on Sunday 3rd May.

The new members have been welcomed by a clubhouse that has been fully refreshed over the winter by its team of very active volunteers, recently receiving a 5 star food hygiene rating too. As the club's members relax with a drink after sailing, their eyes cannot help but be drawn to the striking mural created by resident artist Poppy Haslam that captures the essence of sailing.

Out in the boat park, the bosun and his team have made excellent progress on the large fleet of club boats that are available for members to hire, making good use of a recent RYA foundation grant to upgrade all the Toppers to Pathway standards in line with the clubs RYA Pathway status and they have added spar carriers to the club's triple stacker too.

The club's cadets recently used those boats to good effect to complete their Race Coach Level 2 qualifications thanks to a generous grant from the Eric Twiname Trust bringing the clubs coaches to a record level of nearly 30. Their 12 Powerboat Instructors were also kept busy through the winter too, working towards the club's aim of getting every member through their PB2 and established members through their safety boat qualification.

And speaking of powerboats, the sailing committee are busy making their final decision on which new safety boat to buy after the members rose to a recent matchfunding challenge Sports England set them towards replacing their ageing Fletcher Dory with something with a bit more oomph!

With over 40 Instructors the club is not just welcoming established sailors who have been attracted by the competitive racing, they are able to get complete beginners out on the water with confidence on their journey to becoming life long sailors at a very busy and active club.

The coming weeks see the club host The Miracle Northern Championships, The Ilca Northern Grand Prix and Youth open and The North West Junior and Youth Travellers alongside their open day and some taster sessions for local groups but with an influx of very experienced sailors into the club racing scene, it's all eyes on who will win the much coveted prize of 'Helm of the Year'.

Whoever gets their hands on it, it's going to be another tremendous year at Delph Sailing Club.

Race 1 Results: