It was wonderful to be able to open our doors to the public on Saturday 26 June for the first time in 2 years due to Covid-19 and welcome the 365 visitors who flocked to Blackwater Sailing Club for our Open Day and RYA “Discover Sailing” event. The Blackwater was looking stunning under clear blue skies with glorious sunshine all day. 73 adult and cadet helpers from the club helped make this a fantastic day out for our guests, many of whom had never considered trying sailing before. The Friday sailors were kept busy providing numerous sailing taster sessions on our 7-acre training lake in our fleet of RS Quests throughout the 5-hour event. Once the water arrived, 26 family groups enjoyed a river trip on the launch, a Rib, a classic motor launch or sailing on a cruiser. Many just sat and enjoyed watching our club racing and the activity on the Blackwater Estuary.

Our Tour guides were kept busy showing 82 family groups around our beautiful new Clubhouse. We had a one-way system in place and a tally system operated by our Covid Marshall who regulated the flow of members into the building & ensured Covid regulations were followed. The galley did a marvellous job providing food and serving soft drinks, tea & coffee. The upstairs galley closed at 15.00 and the downstairs bar was then opened for drinks using table service.

The membership teams worked hard all day resulting in new applications from 47 adult members & 13 cadets, making this our most successful Open Day ever!

Thank you to the army of volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout the day welcoming our guests and presenting a friendly, smiling face. Blackwater Sailing Club is a family friendly, members club run by the members, for the members. We are fortunate to have so many willing volunteers who freely give of their time to make the club such a great place and help make events like this such a success. Thank you to our many visitors for coming and we hope you enjoyed your day as much as we did.

Photos © Nigel Butler & Zoe Nelson