Spring Sailing: from Hackney to Miami

Our students are getting started on the busy season ahead, with everything from world championships to getting started on the local reservoir.

While the rest of us made the best of a very British February, our senior Etchells team went to Miami for the second World Championship warm up event. They finished an incredible 5th out of 12 in the amateur-only Corinthian Class. It’s a brilliant result in this elite fleet. In April, they will be going back to compete in the Worlds themselves. Fingers crossed!

Closer to home, we’ve been taking our keen year 8 and 9 students to West Reservoir in Hackney every week. The repeat visits mean they properly get the hang of the basics. More want to go, but we’re only limited by the venue’s capacity.

At the same time, some of the older students have been regularly training in Lasers at King George Sailing Club nearby in North London, and others have been out in dinghies at UKSA and Lymington Town Sailing Club. We’re really grateful for the support we’ve received from them.

Six of our senior girls are studying for Dinghy Instructor courses at London Docklands. They are doing brilliantly and should complete by the end of April.

And two larger groups of our girls will heading off on Prolific with the Ocean Youth Trust before Easter, on 5 day voyages around the Solent.

Jaydon (right) has just completed his Advanced Engineering qualifications and is now starting his maritime career crewing on a superyacht! We’re excited by our partnership with QuayCrew who made this possible. Five of our former students are also finishing their Day Skipper courses with practical work on the south coast.

Scaramouche is completing her refit (and looking for a headline sponsor – could it be you?). She should be launched in mid April, straight into intensive sailing with larger groups of younger students. Our mini-tonners are all prepped and ready to swing into action every weekend when the conditions are right. Watch out for us on the Solent!