North West Blog January

A glorious winter's day provided the backdrop for the traditional Leigh & Lowton New Year's Day racing. Over 50 competitors took to the water, with just a gentle breeze providing ample power for Leigh & Lowton's Andy Carter to take the win. Jasper Bramwell took the Junior top spot for Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club.

Well done to all the clubs who have hosted open fixtures over the Christmas period. It's also great to see new events on the calendar. I'm particularly looking forward to my first event of the year, the Hollingworth Lake Freezer Open Meeting, on Sunday, 19 February; for more information, visit the club website.

I hope you are enjoying being back on the water. I really enjoyed getting out on Sunday for my first sail of the year. I took my daughter's mirror dinghy out for the day and nearly reached a high of 10knots, which for a mirror dinghy isn't too shabby. No racing, but it was nice to get back on the water!

Dates for the diary!

The dates for the Senior Traveller Series will be live on the website soon, and the first event is on 25 April at Leigh and Lowton Sailing Club. Questions? Join the NWSTT Facebook group to speak to the series coordinator. Notice to race and more details coming soon. 

The dates for the Junior Traveller Series will also be online soon; the first of 10 events kicks off on 1 May at Budworth Sailing Club. Save the date! Booking and entry are expected to open in early April.Save the date for the Regional Training Day (18th March). Bookings will be limited and will open in February. Keep an eye on social media for when they go live.

The Senior Instructor Course is confirmed for the first two weekends in March at Elton Sailing Club. The subsidised cost is £275 per person. For course enquiries or to book a place, email me.

It's great to see the region's interest in Powerboat Instructor training. The latest course at Hollingworth was fully booked in just days. We are working with the trainers and training centres in the region to put on more courses. We will keep you posted.

Staying with the training theme and the National Training Conference, 4-5 February, a great way to network, learn and ask questions of the national team. There are some fascinating speakers, I will be there, and it would be great to have some Northwest clubs join me. Book Now

The must-attend event for Sailability is the RYA Sailability conference, of course, on -11 February at Wyboston Lakes. Get involved

Club of the Year- Have you voted?

Remember to cast your vote for our Northwest finalist Bassenthwaite Sailing Club. Voting closes on Monday, 23 January. Read all about Bassenthwaite and the other finalists here.

The winner will be announced at the RYA Dinghy & Water sports Show 2023- 25-26 February at Farnborough International. It will be great to see you there. It's also an excellent excuse to get your new kit ahead of the sailing season.

And for anything your club needs, let's remember the Sport England Small Grants Programme is back! Grants from £300 to £15k. The closing date is 30 June 2023. For more information, click here. If you need help putting your application together, please do get in touch.

For now, I would like to wish you all an enjoyable winter of sailing!

Adam