Hunts Sailing Club

At long last the weather and water is warming up and Thursdays Afloat can make a welcome return to our junior programme.  For those who are new, these sessions are not formal training but instead our instructors organise fun and games afloat with plenty of safety cover, so our youngsters can improve their sailing whilst having having fun and making new friends.

We aim to be ready to launch at 6pm and finish as we lose the light.  Parents/guardians MUST stay on site, and there is a minimal charge for biscuits and squash.  Club boats can be hired at the usual rates.  Members wanting to take advantage of the safety cover and enjoy an evening sail are more than welcome.

Fast Track Tuesdays are a great way to improve your sailing skills or simply enjoy an evening cruise.  Safety cover is provided and instructors and experienced sailors are on hand to give advice and instruction to those who need it.  One to one tuition can be arranged or you can take part in group activities.  Club boats for hire at the usual rates.

There's a Turn Up and Train session planned for the morning of Saturday 18th May from 9.30 to 12.30.  It's a great way to improve your sailing with instructors on hand both ashore and afloat to offer advice and encouragement.  Free to members, usual boat hire charges apply, no need to book.

An Adult Level 1 course is planned for the 1st and 2nd June, to be followed the weekend after by Level 2.  There are still some places available but they're going fast.  Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to find out more.

RYA Race Coach Brett Cockayne is coming to the club on Saturday 22nd June to offer expert racing tips to all sailors aged 14 or over.  To take part you must be able to sail a triangular course in windy conditions and must be able to recover from cpasize with miinimum assistance.

As many of you will already know, the club was fortunate enough last year to gain grant funding from Sport England with which we purchased two brand new Laser Vagos.  We also bought a third boat with club funds, all with the aim of getting more young people aged 14 to 25 onto our lake in these sporty new double handers.

Now our instructors are fully up to speed with the new boats they’re ready to pass those skills on to you, but first of all, we need help to find a great name for each boat.  We need our members to come up with a set of three names – one per boat – which the Development and Training committee will then judge and choose the best set.  

A personal prize!
Those names will then be printed out in special lettering and put onto the boats as part of a special launch ceremony on Open Day!  Not only that, but there’s also the prize of a special personal two hour coaching session using video analysis with one of the club’s best coaches!  If you don’t want the coaching for yourself you can pass it on to another member of your choice.

What’s in a name?
We’re looking for something special for these boats, so choosing ‘Tom, Dick and Harry’ might not cut the mustard, but why not think along Olympic lines, choose some great yacht racers, superb sailing venues or heroes from history?  The choice is yours, but try to keep them short and sweet, easy to remember and ideally linked to our great sport.  

May 6th – Open Day
Once the judges have made up their minds – in the event of a tie or several people choosing the same names, the winners will be drawn from a hat – the winning names will be announced on Open Day and the winner him/herself will get their photo taken with the boats ‘wearing’ the names they chose.   You can then take your coaching session at a time to suit you, your coach and the weather!

How to enter
Think of your names then send them on an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it making sure you say who has sent the email and how best we can get in touch with you..  
Only one entry per person please, and make sure you send your choice in before the closing date of Sunday 21st April.  
You must be a member to enter.

Good luck!

Vanessa Weedon-Jones, Training Principal.

Here is the latest training newsletter showing all the fun new things that are happening this year, as well as some of the old favourites. 

Details of how to book your courses are given inside but please remember all courses are for for Hunts Sailing Club Members only.

Click here to download a PDF of the newsletter.

The ever popular winter race training starts this Saturday 3rd with some general sail training followed by one or two races.  If numbers suffice sailors will be split into groups according to ability, and all races will have on the water coaching.  Sailors must be at Level 2/Stage 3 or equivalent.  The first general session  will be followed by:

10th November: Morning general race training, afternoon asymmetric spinnaker training

17th November: Morning general race training, afternoon symmetric spinnaker training

24th November: Morning general race training, afternoon seamanship/pre assessment skills

1st December: Sprints - a series of short windward/leeward races. 

The idea is that there will be one or two short races every Saturday morning with the results forming a short series, hopefully with some prizes!

For our young and enthusiastic Topper Sailors we have special Saturday training starting on 10th November.  More details coming very soon!

For morning sessions, please be rigged, changed and ready for a 9.30am briefing.  We will aim to finish general training/racing at around 12.30, with the specialist training starting at 1.30pm and ending at 3.30pm.

All sessions are free and for members only.  The galley will be open for sweets and hot drinks only, so bring food if staying for the whole day.

Any questions please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

.