Weymouth
Sailing
Club

With a persistent High pressure system sitting over the North of the UK, and hence a moderate North Easterly and good weather forecast for at least a week, it was full sail ahead for our next WSC cruise in company to the Western Solent.

Stories from the Slipway 2 – Talking Bilge

The young sailors of the Club have been busy this month, starting with the Ringstead BBQ. Two of our more experienced YOBs sailed themselves over to the festivities whilst the remainder jumped onto the cruisers as crew. It was a fabulous day and everyone looks forward to the event next year when we hope to have more YOBs sailing over in the Feva fleet.

I had been wanting to do the Cimbri race in a Squib for ages ! In previous years the sailing conditions and opportunity had never aligned until last weekend. Celia and I had been around the Bill on passage to the West Country and back again on various yachts quite a few times however not on the same day and not on the same boat.

1st July saw the Bailiwick of Guernsey opening their borders to visitors from the UK who'd received their double vaccinations. A plan was soon hatched for a cruise in company across the channel, the first for some in a long time. Four boats, Arcsine, Crystella, Nutcracker and Moonshadow all showed a keen interest on originally setting out on Saturday 24th July, however, as often happens, a sharp change in the weather outlook including storms on Saturday meant an earlier than planned Thursday departure gave the only possible weather window. Unfortunately, this ruled out Moonshadow from making the trip due to other commitments.

After 2 ½ years of waiting, including planning twice for the event; Weymouth SC finally got to host the 2021 (delayed from 2020) OK UK National Championship. With the attraction of the OK World Championship in Lyme Regis in 2023, 45 boats, including a number of high-profile professional, amateur, an Americas cup sailor, and 5 Weymouth Oks, gathered in the club yard on Thursday 5th August ready for 4 days of some great sailing in the bay.

The Club is organising the annual Ringstead BBQ next Sunday (1st August). There will be a race there and back for Squibs while cruisers and motor boats are invited to escort the fleet. Everyone is welcome to join what is very much a family event. Club boats are welcome to participate in this event and can be booked out using the usual procedures.
We will anchor off the south end of Ringstead beach by “Burning Cliff”.

In the last two years the popularity of YOB/cadets membership section of the club has rocketed. We have increased the sailing sessions and trained up more adult volunteers. However, in order to keep the sailing safe and well organised we have now reached a maximum capacity of over 35 cadets. There will however be spaces available for the winter season when some of the older YOBs leave us for university.

Well Lockdown no.2 has ended and restrictions have lifted, this means visiting ports again is allowed and we have a week off work and a trip to our favourite places in the Solent for a nice little break.