Wingfoiling / Windsurfing
I am very pleased to be able to advise members that Bristol Water (and Natural England), have now granted permission to allow windsurfing and wingfoiling on the lake all year round, rather than limited to only the winter months.
The permission is by way of a continued trial with a monthly review, with a view to it becoming a permanent permission for activity on the lake.
Note – the permission does not extend to every sailing day and there are small number of days (largely aligning with large fishing competitions) when no wingfoiling/windsurfing is allowed. These are already clearly noted in the club calendar as per this example extract below for 05-Apr-26.
Any existing members wishing to windsurf/wingfoil on the lake will need to pay an additional sailboard/wingfoil registration fee linked here, and should also please read and abide by the guidelines on the club website here. (NOTE the registration fee is in addition to the normal boat registration fee)
While our focus remains on Dinghy sailing and racing, we hope shortly to also launch a limited membership for new members that may want to join to windsurf/wingfoil only.
Thanks are due to Elliot Booley and Rob Higgins for their work behind the scenes in helping progress this initiative
Join us for the grand CVLSC Easter Egg Hunt
The Easter Bunny has officially informed members of the CVLSC Committee that they will be bouncing by the club on Easter Sunday 05-Apr-26, and hiding a whole basketful of egg-cellent surprises around the grounds!
Bring your curiosity and your best clue‑solving skills as you follow a trail of Easter‑themed riddles. Crack the code, uncover the secret password, and you’ll be rewarded with some seriously tasty treats!
Hop on over to the bar area between 11am until 3pm to collect clues and maps. We look forward to seeing you there!
All welcome!
Training Opportunities
There are a still a few places available on forthcoming training g courses – but you need to act quickly to book them!
PB2 course Tuesday 07-Apr-26 and Wednesday 08-Apr-26 two places still available.
RYA first aid course Saturday 11-Apr-26 places available.
ARHSC Saturday 11-Apr-26 places available.
For the PB2 course contact Jeff via email chief-powerboat-instructor@chewvalleysailing.org.uk everything else please book via Webcollect.
Housekeeping Reminders
Outer Gate
Ahead of the club getting busy for spring, a few reminders for when using our facilities. Firstly, that the outer gate must be kept closed and locked whenever not passing through it. In the past we have been able to remove the lock for larger events with visiting sailors, however, we have now been asked by Bristol Water to keep the locks and chain at the gate and ensure it is kept locked. If you are on duty for an open event, please do not remove the lock as we have done in the past.
Walkashore
A reminder that part of the lockup procedure for OODs is to bring the Southern walkashore out of the water following sailing. This is to reduce the risk of damage in adverse weather (it takes a battering in any kind of waves). The walkashore only needs to come up far enough for all wheels to be out of the water, and then chocked. However, this is a two person task so requires some prior thinking ahead. To help this, if you are the last boat afloat that will use the Southern pontoon, please help the duty team out by removing it from the water when you come ashore. If needed, the winch rope and winch can be used to assist. Under no circumstances should the walk ashore be secured to the pontoon – the two must be able to move independently to avoid damage
Rocks in front of the clubhouse
Lastly, please don’t climb on the rocks in front of the clubhouse at the edge of the lake. Any slips here could be extremely difficult to recover, especially in adverse weather. This applies to adults and children alike!
Members Travels & Events
Last weekend saw the start of class open meeting season. James Colls sailed at Weymouth for the Topper National Series event, while Chew hosted our first open of the year, with the RS400 Southern Tour (Frostbite members Tom Halhead and Paul Hillier winning the event), the RS100 Inlands (Jake Bowhay top Chew boat in 3rd) and RS700 Inlands (Rob Higgins once again winning the trophy with his name seemingly permanently engraved on). Meanwhile, Ollie Allen-Wilcox and Ed Baker both sailed in the ILCA7 National Open at Warsash.
This weekend we welcome the Fireball and Scorpion fleets to Chew.
Club Racing Start Sequence
A reminder that from the start of April we will be using the revised start sequences for club racing. The changes are small and align better with racing across the rest of the country (rolling 3 minute sequence). Please review the displayed documentation within the declaration room for more guidance when we get to the start of April. Our PRO Adam Broughton is currently updating all the race documentation on the website and this will soon also reflect the changes.
Andy Jones
Commodore