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Whether you’ve never been on the water before, are a seasoned sailor and new to the area or just fancy a family day out, Blackwater Sailing Club’s Open Day is for you!

The annual event offers people the opportunity to try sailing and have a look around our Club’s wonderful facilities overlooking the Blackwater Estuary.

Held on Sunday 7 May between 11am and 5pm, visitors can drop in at a time that suits them and find out more about one of the leading sailing clubs in the country.

There will be taster sessions on the training lake, where people can experience sailing in a safe environment whatever the tide is doing. Experienced instructors will helm a range of dinghies, taking adults and children aboard with all buoyancy aids provided by the Club.

For those wanting more of an open sea experience, there will be trips on the Estuary, giving them a feel for the beautiful experience of being out on the water between Heybridge, Mill Beach and Northey Island.

Refreshments will be available from the Clubhouse along with tours of the facilities. Club Members will offer a warm welcome and will be able to discuss membership options and answer questions.

Taster sail in the Quest on the Club lake at Open Day 2022. Image: Nigel Butler

Allan Hunt, Rear-Commodore, said: “We are a membership Club and our annual Open Day gives anyone interested in sailing the opportunity to find out more in a friendly and welcoming environment. Many people who come along to the event have seen boats on the Estuary and are just curious to find out what it’s all about.

“We’re proud of our Club and the new Clubhouse with all its stunning facilities so we will be very pleased to give more information to anyone who comes along to the Open Day. Membership enables you to use the Club and access a whole range of adult and children’s sailing courses so we hope people will leave inspired to give it a go!”

Sailing on the Estuary will be available around high tide at 2.45pm so we would encourage anyone wishing to have a taster trip on the river to come along around 1pm. Lake activities will be available all day.

The event is being held only months after Blackwater Sailing Club was named the Royal Yachting Association’s East Region Club of the Year and 18-year-old cadet Charlie Dixon was crowned the Yachting Journalists’ Association’s Young Sailor of the Year and the UK Windsurfing Association’s Windsurfer of the Year.

Blackwater Sailing Club's Charlie Dixon has been crowned Young Sailor of the Year!

Charlie, from Maldon, won the prestigious Yachting Journalists' Association title on 25 February 2023 and was presented with an enormous trophy at the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show at Farnborough International Exhibition Centre.

He won the award a day after he turned 18 and only weeks after he was named Windsurfer of the Year by the UK Windsurfing Association.

Charlie had a fantastic 2022, finishing the year Youth National IQFoil Champion, iQFoil Youth European Champion, iQFoil International Games Gold Medallist, iQFoil World Champion and World Sailing Official Youth World Champion.

Charlie (second from right) with the trophy. Photo: RYA

Blackwater Sailing Club was also named East Region Finalist in the Club of the Year 2023, an award from the RYA and Sailing Today with Yachts and Yachting Magazine to recognise and celebrate the hard work that goes into making the UK's 1,000 clubs successful. 

Nigel Butler, Club Commodore from 2020 to 2022, collecting the Club of the Year East Region Finalist award. Photo: RYA

Charlie said of the Club: “The Blackwater is a great place for windsurfing and a place I love to call home. It provides flat water no matter the wind strength and a massive area for flying around. It can be sailed in any wind direction and it never disappoints.

“I am lucky enough to be able to windsurf all over the world for events and training but I still love to come home and love to come back to the river - on its best day nothing compares to it!”

Charlie now has his sights set on the Paris Olympics 2024 and Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and is training regularly with the British Sailing Team in Weymouth.

Photo: Sailing Energy

If you would like to support Charlie’s Olympic campaign you can donate on his Crowdfunding page

The evening commenced with the Vice Commodore, Sheena, addressing the haggis and then the Selkirk Grace was read by the Rear Commodore, Allan. We then tucked into haggis, neeps and tatties expertly cooked by Steph, Simon and Alex. Julian Berney said a few words about Robert Burns and recited a poem. We then had dessert, a delicious cranachan with whisky cream. The bar was well stocked with whisky and tasting was available. We then danced the night away with the Cumberland Reel, Gay Gordons, Dashing White Sergeant, Virginia Reel and Strip the Willow.

Thanks to everyone involved who helped make it a great night

We are delighted to announce that 17 year old Blackwater Sailing Club cadet Charlie Dixon has been voted the UK Windsurfer of the Year 2022.

He was nominated alongside three other top athletes from different disciplines of windsurfing for the UK Windsurfing Association 2022 title and won the public vote. 

Charlie had an incredible year in the Olympic iQFoil class, finishing 2022 youth National Champion, Youth European Champion, International Games Gold Medallist, World Champion and World Sailing Official Youth World Champion.

Charlie said: “It has been an amazing year and I will remember it forever! It started off with me being not known on the windsurfing circuit - just a normal boy who had a love for windsurfing - and ended by being known as the boy who could not be beaten by anyone else in the world.”

Charlie now has his sights set on the Paris Olympics 2024 and Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and is training regularly with the British Sailing Team in Weymouth.

Charlie is a great ambassador for the Club and for the sport and an inspiration to our cadets and adult members. If you would like to support Charlie’s Olympic campaign you can donate on his Crowdfunding page

Read the full article on Yachts and Yachting

Photos © Sailing Energy, Dixon Family

Blackwater Sailing Club is proud and honoured to have been chosen as the RYA East region finalist for the prestigious Royal Yachting Association and Sailing Today with Yachts and Yachting Magazine 2023 Club of the Year award.

Please CLICK HERE and vote now! 

There are over 1000 sailing clubs in the UK, 136 in the East region and 12 finalists, but only one can be crowned Club of the Year 2023! Our selection is testament to the commitment and dedication of the many volunteers who help make Blackwater Sailing Club such a successful, friendly community where all are welcomed to enjoy sailing and watersports.

The finalists now go through to the public vote with the winner announced at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports show on Saturday 25 February 2023.  

This has been a brilliant year for the club, but we need to get more votes than all the worthy finalists to win this fantastic award which would be an amazing accolade to recognise our achievements.

Thank you for your support and thank you to everyone who has voted for us already.

Santa has been busy at Blackwater Sailing Club keeping up with our festive social programme!

On Sunday 11 December 35 children had a fun time at their X-mas party with a brilliant entertainer, party tea and all enjoyed getting a present from Father Christmas. The parents all joined in with the Hokey Cokey at the end.

On Thursday 16 December the Christmas lunch returned to the beautifully decorated main clubroom. After a delicious traditional X-mas turkey meal followed by X-mas pudding, we enjoyed a sing along with a variety of favourite carols. There was some particularly enthusiastic participation to “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with each table in charge of a day!

On Friday 23 December Santa will be back to watch the beautifully decorated boats enjoy a festive sail before the Friday sailors X-mas lunch. Adults who have been good will get a chance to sit on Santa’s lap and get a gift from his sack!

With best wishes for a very happy Christmas to all our members and friends and a sailing filled 2023.

Photos © Nigel Butler, Tracy Haigh

Massive congratulations to Blackwater Sailing Club sailors who have won the famous transatlantic ARC race from Gran Canaria to St Lucia. ‘Sunbeat VI’ finished the crossing in 18 days to not only win their monohull class D but they also achieved the fantastic result of first overall out of the 95 competing cruisers!

The Dehler 42 was skippered by Steve Kuhl and crewed by Drac Norman, Tim Gratey, Angela Docherty, Ed Sadd and Nigel Clark with shoreside support from Andy Pickering.

The full results can be seen here

On Friday 18th November, Blackwater Sailing Club members and their guests packed into the beautifully restored 17th century thatched Essex Barn function suite at Channels, Chelmsford for our black-tie Laying up Supper. Everyone looked very smart in their finery and there was a great atmosphere with the venue looking very festive and decorated for Christmas.

After grace from the Rear Commodore, Sheena Berney, everyone settled down to enjoy a delicious three course meal with friendly and efficient service from the house. During coffee, the raffle was drawn. Thanks to the generosity of members, we had some amazing prizes including a delicious looking (and tasting) showstopper lemon cake made by Zoe. The raffle was followed by the 200 Club draw.

Without further ado, DJ Mitch Fisk entertained us with his mix of music and the dance floor was quickly full of people showing off their moves. As usual, the Friday Sailors energised themselves with ‘fortified’ coffee and led the dancing all evening until the carriages arrived at midnight to take them away!

A great time was had by all - many thanks to the team at Channels for looking after us so well and to Tracy Haigh and Sheena Berney for organising a most enjoyable event.

Photos © Nigel Butler, Zoe Nelson

On Thursday 20 October members sat down to enjoy a delicious Trafalgar lunch in celebration of Horatio Lord Nelson’s famous victory at Cape Trafalgar in 1805. Don Baines introduced the proceedings and following the Trafalgar Grace by the Commodore, diners enjoyed crowned steak and ale pie, monarch’s mashed potato, carolingian carrots, cheesy leeks and roasted vegetables. This was followed by patriotic sticky toffee pudding with Trafalgar toffee sauce and cream.

Don then gave an entertaining talk “The Admiral Requests” which detailed the complexity of moving from one ship to another in an open rowing boat to allow face-to-face meetings between the admiral and his captains. We also learnt about the niceties of heaving-to in a ship of the line like HMS Agamemnon or HMS Bellona. At the end of the talk the Commodore gave the loyal toast to the King for the first time in 70 years! The Rear Commodore then read Nelson’s prayer before battle and then former Commodore, Anthony Sinclair, proposed the toast to the Immortal memory of Horatio Lord Nelson, and to all those who fell with him. Guests then “Spliced the Mainbrace!” with Lady Hamilton’s nip – a tot of spiced rum. Tea, coffee and pieces of eight followed to round off what was a most enjoyable occasion. Many thanks to Don for organising and to Marilyn Sinclair and her team for continuing to provide these popular lunches at the club.

Photos © Nigel Butler

A fantastic Autumn morning, with a clear blue sky and a building breeze from the southeast greeted the 29 boats taking part in the traditional end of season Dyer Cup race. This is an all-in handicap race sending the fleet down river to Doctor, then back upriver to Herring Point before finishing at the club line.

This year the fleet ranged from a foiling Moth and an IQ-Foil windsurfer, both starting from a PY of 490, through to the doublehanded Mirror’s with a PY of 1390. As was shown by last years winner, Julie Nelson, sailing a Mirror, it isn’t exclusively the fast boats that could win this one.

A Committee boat start was set up at Clarks, with a long start line from Clarks to Osea Road, giving a tight fetch down the river to Doctor. The fleet got away first time, despite several boats pushing as close to the line as they possibly could to get away in clear air. Best starts were Rob Carver, Laser, Brett Townsend, Solo, Guy Welch, Snipe, and Charlie Stewart, Fireball. Charlie Dixon, recently crowned IQ Foil World Youth Champion, hit the line at full speed a few seconds after the start gun, and made it clear that he was the man to catch! Gareth Davies in his Foiling Moth was never far away from Charlie, and the pair were being chased hard by Rory Dixon in his Waszp.

After the fetch to Doctor, the fleet turned to head back upriver, a tight reach allowing some spinnakers to be flown, but for others it appeared frustratingly too tight to hold them.

Chasing Gareth and Charlie, the Fireball was enjoying a fast 3 sail reach all the way to Hilly Pool and seemed to be in contention while Mike Iszatt in his RS600 was setting a blistering pace. Other mid-race contenders were Andy and Florence Pickering, Mirror, Jess Welch and Hugh Andrews in their Laser 4.7’s, who were enjoying their own private match race right up to the finish. Other races within the race were Brett Townsend and Ian Smith, continuing their season long duelling in their Solo’s, and Jess Finch and Gary Ling enjoying a close tussle in their Laser Radial’s.

Leading cruiser was Breezy, John Dyer and team, but not flying their spinnaker on the tight reach, it wasn’t going to be their day.

The fleet rounded Hilly Pool for a long beat up to Herring Point, followed by a fast run back downriver to the finish. Gareth and Charlie finished just four seconds apart, in an incredible race time of just 16 minutes!

After finishing, there was the lure onshore of the cakes and drinks being served as part of the Macmillan Charity cake event, but others chose to go back downriver and make the most of the stunning October afternoon. 

Sheena Berney and her team on the bridge turned around the results very quickly, whilst competitors enjoyed some well deserved cake, and a prizegiving was held in the sunshine on the patio. It is a lesson to us all that the first three winners all missed the prizegiving because they were still on the water practicing!

Thanks to the generous support of our members the event raised £600 for Macmillan Cancer Support and £400 for the RNLI. 

Results:

1st Charlie Dixon, IQ Foil

2nd Gareth Davies, Int. Moth

3rd Rory Dixon, Waszp

1st Cruiser – Breezy, John Dyer

1st Club Cruiser – Ffumbler, George Whitchurch and Jonathan Payne

1st Slow Handicap – Andy and Florence Pickering, Mirror

1st Cadet – Rory Dixon

1st Slow Handicap Cadet – Jess Welch, Laser 4.7

Photos © Steve Perkins, Tracy Haigh, Peter Gould

Steve Perkins, Hon Sailing Secretary