Sailing Clubs

Dinghy racing, both class and handicap, takes place nearly every Sunday from mid-March to the end of December. There is also, occasionally, racing on a Saturday. Some races are organised jointly with the neighbouring club, Maylandsea Bay Sailing Club, to ensure competitive racing.

There are three handicap fleets, Fast for PN 1030 and below, Medium for PN 1031 to 1149 and Slow for PN 1150 and over. There is a good selection of dinghies including the following classes: Fireball, 5-0-5, Laser, Kestrel, Solo, Mirror, Topper, 420, RS400, Phantom and others. Any class of boat is welcome to participate as long as it has a current Portsmouth Number (PN).

Leigh-on Sea Sailing Club is situated in the heart of Old Leigh, in Essex and from our Clubhouse bar one can experience panoramic views of the Thames Estuary. We enjoy extensive facilities at the waters edge, with rack storage and slipways for dinghies, and moorings for cruisers. Car parking and winter cruiser storage are available on the club grounds. A full programme of sailing and social events is provided throughout the year, as well as training opportunities for both children and adults.

A friendly family sailing club. Catering for all types of sailing. From Cadets to hardcore cat sailors - something to suit everyones needs. Sailing water all year round. Hosting open events, nationals and Europeans. Fleets include Hurricane 5.9 & 5.9SX, Squibs, Hornets, 505, Shearwater, Wayfarer, Cadets, Cruisers, Fast Dinghies, Slow Dinghies, Unicorns.

Recent years have seen the Club hosting increasing numbers of Open events and, with our Sandhopper fleet now totalling over 30 boats, we were instrumental in establishing their own Class Association. Our cruising fleet continues to enjoy a full programme of weekend rallies, the regular annual trip to Calais and, of course, summer cruises to a range of venues. We are currently a recognised Training Establishment with the intention of developing our Cadet membership and also offering race training.

The dinghy and multihull fleets continue to expand with single handers becoming ever more popular.

Currently the committee are carrying out modernisation to the ground for facilities and actively fund raising for a replacement Jetty.

Finally, the Club is financially secure and with its steady and enthusiastic membership of about 1000, Thorpe Bay Yacht Club still lives up to the tradition and purpose for which it was established 60 years ago.

The club is situated in the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside about 3 miles south of the historic town of Tewkesbury, with it's delightful Norman Abbey (the site of a crucial battle in the War of the Roses) and is located on the west side of the river Severn by the village of Chaceley.

The club has a healthy fleet of both cruising and racing members, The club is available to members at all times although no racing or social activities are organized during January and February as the access road is often flooded.

All type of boats are sailed at the club, some are more suitable Cruising craft up to 18ft in length can be moored at the club for sailing the river than others, boats over 18ft (6M) become difficult to sail on narrow stretches of the river.

Among the more popular boat's owned by members are Solo, Enterprise, National 12, Toppers, Lasers, GP14, Mirror, Merlin Rockets, Day Boats and small cruisers

A Merlin Rocket is a very wide boat for its length (It has been compared to a saucer), measuring at about 7" wide and 14" long. This is approximate, as one of the joys of the boat is that it is a "development class". This means that within certain guidelines, hull shape and material are experimented with to achieve better performance.

The Enterprise, as well as being raced, is used for training and cruising purposes as it can be easily sailed at two levels - beginners and top class racers.

The Enterprises compete effectively at Avon SC in the club pursuit races and often win the events, showing that the old hull shape design is still very competitive. The club boats have competed in the Southport 24 hour in previous years.

The Laser is a one crew boat and a "one design" class,. It is a very competitive racing boat and is effective at Avon due to its easy tacking and manoeuvrability. Although not a beginner's boat, the Laser is fairly easy to sail, mainly because it is easy to right after a capsize, and takes in no water during this process, however, when sailing one of these, expect to get wet!

The club's Solo fleet has been one of the bigger fleets in resent years and is sailed by members from in there teens to there 80s. The Solo is a one man boat built from wood, GRP or Composite. They are less forgiving to beginners than lasers due to their fully battened mainsail and difficulties after a capsize, although they are harder to capsize than a laser.

The GP14 was once extremely strong at Avon, and it still remains a good boat to learn in. The GP14 is very similar to an Enterprise in many ways, except it is heavier and has a spinnaker to use downwind. It is, in strong winds, a very difficult boat to keep flat but is very stable, making it ideal for teaching level 2 or level 3 in the RYA training scheme.