Sailing

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Welcome to the University of Warwick Sailing Club

What we are:

An active, diverse and vibrant club full of wonderful people, always looking for new members and catering for all sailing levels. Whether you’re a beginner wanting to give sailing a go, a dinghy racer waiting to show off your talent, an experienced yachtie looking for like-minded sailors or you simply want to have a great social life with a bit of sailing in between, we have something for you!

Who we are: Meet our new 2012-2013 Executive Committee

President: Hermione Stanley

Treasurer: Joel Russel

Team Racing Captain: Ben Treloar

Yacht Racing Captain: Will Ormerod

Social Secs: Ben Mackley & Millie Craker-Horton

Club Secretary: Tom Gross

Casual Sailing Coordinator: Astrid de Gasté

Bosun: Hermione Stanley

Publicity & Media: Katie Page & Camilla Holloway

Tour Organiser: Chris Gudde

To find out more about our society and to get involved, visit us on Tuesday October 4th at the Sports Fair or email us at sailing@sunion.warwick.ac.uk and get on our mailing list to hear about everything that's going on .

News

Click here for the latest news

Dinghy racing

The main form of inter-university sailing competition is team racing and our teams form the core of the sailing club. This is an exciting and challenging form of sailing, where sharp boat-handling skills and quick thinking are at a premium.

What we sail

We own a fleet of 6 firefly dinghies, kept at Draycote water sailing club (25 minutes drive from campus). These are small, maneouverable, 2 man boats which are ideal for team racing.

Recently we've put in a bid for some new boats which has been accepted so hopefully we'll have a whole new fleet coming soon!

When we sail

Normally our racing teams train every Wednesday and the occasional Saturday or Sunday in terms 1 and 2. We compete at a number of events at other universities throughout the year (as well as hosting our own Warwick Turtle) culminating in the British university championships during the Easter holidays. For the last two years we have qualified two teams for this event, which is only for the top 24 university teams in the country.

How to get involved

The best time to get involved in team racing at Warwick is from the start of term 1 so come and visit us at the Sports fair on Tuesday 4th October! We hold sailing taster sessions in the first few weeks of term, at least one of which will be aimed at giving people a shot of team racing before we hold our team trials. Don't worry if you don't have any experience sailing fireflies or team racing; they're easy boats to sail and almost nobody comes to university with team racing experience so we're well set-up to err, show you the ropes...

Fleet racing

Although we do not regularly compete in fleet racing events, there are both the BUSA nationals and BUSA inland championships where you can represent your university, either in a university boat or your own. These events are always fun and relaxed with a good social scene. As a member of Warwick uni sailing club you will also be able to compete in club racing at Draycote Water, where we sail.

Yachting

Despite being about the furthest from the sea of any British university, Warwick sailing club has a pretty active yachting section. Throughout the year we do cruising, fleet racing, match racing and occasionally even some team racing in keelboats.

Cruising

We generally offer a couple of casual yachting trips throughout the year to all our members, irrespective of experience (although people with experience and qualifications are always in demand!).

Racing

Warwick enters yachting teams into several fleet racing events throughout the year, culminating in the BUSA yachting nationals at Easter. These events are all held in Sunfast 37s and we enter teams of 8, usually of mixed levels of experience (don't worry if you've never even been on a yacht before!) Despite this we tend to do pretty well, with our first team finishing 6th out of 35 teams at BUSA 2009, and in the top third in 2011. We also aim to enter teams every year into the BUSA match racing competition, sailed in the much smaller J80s (changed to Sonars in 2010).

EDHEC

Warwick also had the opportunity to send a team to La Rochelle for a yachting competition. The team was made up of both seasoned yachters and relative novices and they managed to hold their own against teams from universities across the world. It was a brilliant weeks sailing and all the team had to pay was their travel costs.

Casual sailing

At Warwick we aim to provide an alternative to team or match racing and therefore offer casual sailing to all our members, irrespective of ability. If you've never sailed before, are a bit rusty or are a good sailor but can't manage the commitment of being on the team, then we have plenty of opportunities for you. We own 6 Fireflies and 6 Laser II dinghies, in which beginners will often receive some free tuition from our more experienced members, many of whom are qualified instructors.

Over the course of the year we aim to offer:

• Beginners Dinghy Sailing Afternoons
• RYA Sailing Courses in conjunction with Draycote or another sailing club
• Intermediate/ Advanced 'Team Training' dinghy sailing days
• Opportunities for competent sailors to get out on the water
• Yachting Courses & Cruising/ Racing Weekends
• Sailing Holiday during Easter and/or summer ?

Every summer we have our annual sailing club tour, where we go off to exotic places and sail exotic boats. We try to alternate between dinghy and yachting tours. In 2008 we went dinghy sailing on Lake Garda, Italy, while summer 2009 was yachting in Croatia. This year we are planning even bigger and better things and hope to have a Yachting trip and maybe try our hands at some other water sports as well.

Socials

Off the water, the club has a fun, friendly and active social scene. Whether you are on the team or just want to come along for the fun, everyone is welcome. We have a dedicated team of 'social sailors' whose commitment to dry land is impressive! Wednesday evening is the main social night and our attendance rate at POP on campus is high (your commitment to the fancy dress theme will not go unnoticed!) Other socials include pub golf, plenty of other nights out in Leamington and any suggestions for more unconventional socials will be embraced with open arms! At each sailing event we attend, there is always a massive Saturday night social where you get a chance to meet sailors from universities all around the country. Come along to POP at the beginning of term and say hi!