Spinnaker Sailing Club

02/09/2026

After a very busy summer we now have a couple of quiet weeks in terms of teaching and coaching! However, this doesn't mean our staff team are quiet!

Today James took a trip to KSail HQ to pick up a lot of Firefly parts and some new flags!

Our race mark flags have served us well over the last several years, but the most commonly used ones are starting to show their age, so we have a new batch!
The dark blue, red, and green ones will continue to be used for Fleet Racing. Our new yellow ones are for Team Racing, and we have some shiny new light blue ones (with some more funky colours on the way) for coaching groups to use!!

Our red and blue fireflys have provided many years of faithful service, and this winter are being replaced! A new to us flight is currently being refurbished and will enter action early next year! The spars, foils and some of the other parts are now on site. Keep an eye our for updates on the progress!!

Firefly Sailing Team Racing UK British Schools Dinghy Racing Association

30/08/2026

It may have been grey and damp today but that didn't stop the fun at our Blashford Barrel, an awesome day of kayaking, paddleboarding and sailing!

Whilst some might describe it as organised chaos we think it was brilliant fun with more than members of Christchurch Sailing Club joining us as part of their Junior Week!

27/08/2026

We were very sorry to hear this week about the issues with the water quality faced by Christchurch Sailing Club

We are very happy to have been able to help and are looking forward to welcoming them onto the lake this weekend!

This summer we have heard of a number of local venues facing environmental challenges. We are hugely grateful to a number of members (most notably Dick) who work behind the scenes to liaise with Wessex Water and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to help protect the beautiful environment we sail in and keep it accessible!

RYA South The Green Blue RYA South West

Samples taken by volunteers find "alarmingly" high levels of E. coli at Christchurch Harbour.

27/08/2026

Last night was our Commodore's Cup and Alice Lisle Tankard Races, and what a way to spend an evening with 2 races (with sailors ages 2 to 82 racing) followed by fish and chips and a prizegiving!

For the next 4 Wedneadays we have our Twilight Handicap Series with a single race each day starting at 17.45!

📷 Thank you to Graham and Alexa for these photos!

RYA South

26/08/2026

Our latest weekly news is now on our website! Read about:
⛵️Club Racing tonight
🏆The Blashford Barrel this Sunday
😁Spinnaker Youth Training Block 3
🌞And more!

https://www.spinnakerclub.co.uk/article/weekly-news-2044

📷 Our Stage 1 & 2 course enjoying light winds and sunshine this morning!

20/08/2026

We've had a fantastic day on the water with over 40 people taking part in RYA Training Courses, Model Yachting, New Forest Sailability Race Training, Social Sailing and a windsurf taster for New Forest Young Carers Service

RYA South

20/08/2026

An update on the work to re-open the A31, the earliest it will be ready is now this weekend.

‼️ UPDATE on repairs to the A31 ‼️
From National Highways:

Resurfacing of the carriageway has been completed, new safety barriers installed, and we’re making good progress replacing the boundary fencing.

These measures are essential for safety reasons to deter animals from entering the road.

With the fire raging for over a week, we have found a lot more damage since our initial assessments and the repairs required are now more substantial.

Nearly 1,500 metres of fencing needs replacing before the road can safely reopen.

As a result, we now expect work will continue into the weekend.

We appreciate the inconvenience this will cause. The conditions are challenging, and we are working with the fire service, Forestry England and others as we co-ordinate efforts.

As part of our work on site, temporary protection has been put around parapets which were damaged by the fire and will remain there until we get the bespoke parts needed. This means we expect the road will reopen with a reduced speed limit. Permanent repairs will be carried out at a later date.

Read the full blog: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/blogs/national-highways-making-progress-on-a31-wildfire-repairs/

National Highways

15/08/2026

Are you looking for something to do on Thursday and Friday this week?
Well the good news is we have a few spaces left on our RYA Start Racing Course this week! So if you can sail a dinghy and want to learn how to have fun racing join us for two days to learn the basics including:
🏆How the rules work
🚦Starting techniques
⛵️Basic race strategy
🏆How to keep your boat moving fast

You can find out more and book on here👇
https://www.spinnakerclub.co.uk//event/1246599

13/08/2026

Do you want to know how to sail regularly with the support of a friendly instructor?

Our RYA Training courses have been very popular this summer! We have loved seeing so many young people learn to sail and develop their skills!

One of the questions we get asked regularly is how to carry on learning and progressing? Our Spinnaker Youth Training Programme on Sunday mornings has been developed over many years to be the answer to that question!

With multiple ability groups and the option to use a club boat or your own it is a fantastic way to sail regularly, make new friends and develop skills!

Find out more here 👇
https://www.spinnakerclub.co.uk/event/syt-block-1-week-35

RYA South

12/08/2026

Thanks to our friends at Downton Brewery we have a new drink behind our bar, Solstice Sobriety! This refreshing, low-alcohol beer is available from tonight, perfect for after racing and watching this evening's eclipse!!!