Volunteers at Rye Harbour Sailing Club (RHSC) and RHSC Sailability awoke to a grey day on Saturday morning but true to the forecast the skies cleared and just as hopeful tasters started turning up, the sun shone with a gentle breeze from the south. Some 48 people of different abilities, some who had sailed before and some with no sailing experience took part, with nine experienced dinghy skippers and boats turning out to give people the chance to try sailing. With so many volunteer skippers the taster sailors had a longer session on the water.
Nathalie who was staying in the UK but lived in Germany, had never sailed before said: “I loved it, where I live in Germany there is no water to sail on because it is high up in the mountains and this is the first time I have sailed, a wonderful experience.” Other families, visitors of all ages as well as club members, were delighted to have been able to experience dinghy sailing at The Point, Rye Harbour.
On both days the Harbour Master, James Bateman, informed the RHSC Commodore, Richard Hopper that there would be commercial traffic movements at high water. The dinghy skippers with taster sailors aboard were eager to launch and head up river towards Rye, past the commercial wharf, before this happened. When commercial traffic enters or leaves the port all other vessels have to wait until the all clear is given from the Harbour Master’s office. The weather remained fine over both days and people were refreshed from the bar and enjoyed the burgers and sausages from the BBQ as well as teas and coffee with delicious cakes and sandwiches.
Both RHSC and RHSC Sailability had agreed to work together over the weekend. RHSC Sailability is applying for funding to buy a safety boat, a Whaly 500, so to provide suitable cover over the weekend the Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat (PLIRB) generously agreed to stand by as safety boat cover for the Sailability boat Luey, a Sport 16. A huge thank you from the RHSC Sailability team goes to the PLIRB team. Also, very many thanks to the amazing volunteers at the club and everyone who took part and made it such a great weekend.
Don’t worry if you missed out but would still like to try sailing because this weekend on Saturday June 2 RHSC are offering people the chance of a longer sail with some coaching from an experienced skipper. For more information please email either richard@richardhopper.plus.com or carolinewylson@btinternet.com or call 01797 223112. The RHSC Sailability Spring Raffle, for a week under the Tuscan sun, will be drawn at 4pm that afternoon at RHSC, The Point, Rye Harbour, Raffle tickets will be available on the day. The money raised from the raffle will go towards funding the balance of the RHSC Sailability rescue boat. Look out for further try sailing days this year on our website.
Photos RHSC