Chichester harbour Yacht/Sailing Clubs

[BabySharkDooDooDooDooDoo]

SWMBO and myself have recently moved near the Western end of Chichester Harbour and have been looking at joining a club which supports dinghy sailing and ideally offers a good programme of rallies and "club" racing for my old tub.

Google gives a wide range of types of clubs with a similar range of membership fees and with at least one club claiming not to be accepting new members until September.

Any advice on places to consider or avoid would be most appreciated.

 

[Seajet]

Another option possibly worth bearing in mind is the ' Chichester Harbour Yacht Racing Association ' or whatever it's / was called, if someone can say if it's still going ?

This was not a club with a clubhouse, but I remember quite a lot of races per season one just registered for and turned up at - never went for it myself but I remember ad's at Emsworth Marina and Chichester Yacht Club.

My club is welcoming , active and good value but assuming you have a deep fin keeler is probably not ideal for you, unless you joined and kept the boat on a deep water mooring or marina, as a lot of members do - we have quite a few rallies but only one fairly casual race per season.

 

[derekgillard]

You could try CCRC no dinghy sailing but they race most weekends and have a good social scene.

Derek

 

[Will_M]

http://www.ccrc.co.uk/ for your cruiser racing, cruising in company & social etc
http://hisc.co.uk/ for seasonal cruiser racing, mid week evening fun cruiser racing & massive dingy racing scene, regattas, championships, general sailing and buggering about afloat, great beaches, great club house, full all year round calendar of activities, dinning, partying etc etc etc

 

[lw395]

SWMBO and myself have recently moved near the Western end of Chichester Harbour and have been looking at joining a club which supports dinghy sailing and ideally offers a good programme of rallies and "club" racing for my old tub.

Google gives a wide range of types of clubs with a similar range of membership fees and with at least one club claiming not to be accepting new members until September.

Any advice on places to consider or avoid would be most appreciated.

'Near the Western End'
Are you on Hayling or not?
On Hayling, HISC and Mengham. Both good, both mainly dinghies. HISC is expensive and mostly 'DFL' not locals.
If you are not on Hayling, then you could also consider the Langstone Harbour clubs, Tudor, Locks and the ECA. ECA does some club racing. Locks is good for dinghies. Tudor does both.
A bit further afield Portsmouth SC is good for rallies, runs some spring/autumn cruiser racing and a bit of low-key winter dinghy racing. Lack of parking limits its appeal for those out of town.
Langstone and the Emsworth Clubs are Ok, but tidal and IMHO a bloody long way from the actual sea.
Traffic in the area makes joining a local club a good idea IMHO. Otherwise CYC might be the best all round?
I have known nice people in all the above, but there is a bit of tribal rivalry in some cases....

 

[Seajet]

Langstone SC is an hour from the harbour entrance; I find the trip to and from Chichester Marina a lot longer, with the added fun of much more traffic.

Tons of dinghy racing and rallies etc, but for cruisers / big boats it's really just rallies, not club racing; a fair number of members have fin keelers and keep the boats at deep moorings or marinas, using the excellent facilities inc clubhouse & mobile hoist in winter.

Another option would be to keep the boat at Hayling Yacht Co or one of the other pontoon / mooring supplers and race via the Chichester racing outfit.

If looking at ANY moorings around Chichester Harbour, be sure to check on car parking and secure rigid tender storage.

Marinas of course are

Northney - excellent facilities, 90% deep access but a bit soul-less

Sparkes - heard of silting in the approach but worth checking - a bit dead last I saw it and means driving the length of Hayling, not good on busy weekends or peak times

Chichester Marina - good facilities but tidally restricted by approach channel & lock

I don't think you'd find Emsworth Marina suitable for a fin keeler in regular use, otherwise it's by far the most pleasant - but last I heard full anyway !

 

[Tidewaiter2]

Emsworth does restrict you if a fin keeler, but v.nice
Mengeham Rythe very nice, welcoming, seamanlike Club, have friends there, been going there since our boys Oppy days-eldest now 41!
So you will need to think about fin keel, as MRSC very tidal-Sparkes/Northney perhaps?

HISC- a tad too "own the Harbour " in my experience, Participants, Race Officers, and support ribs are deffo DFL, and Fellow Chi Hbr users needs, Seamanship, Colregs and Conservancy regs 'lite' from recent encounters, IMHO. Not the only such Chi Fed Club mind, but at the main exit channel, so 'do not impede' should be hammered in to all ranks.
But then SWMBO & I learnt to sail on the old Working Tidal Thames, where if you got it wrong, if you lived after the stomach pump out, you had learnt some new words from tugs, flatiron colliers and Watermen to take home to Mummy, even at SWMBO's 'Posh Ranelegh SC end".

 

[BabySharkDooDooDooDooDoo]

Unfortunately as I have become accustomed to keeping my boat in a marina without tidal limitations, I don't think keeping it adjacent to the club would be possible unless I kept it somewhere the Hamble or Lymington. I kept my last boat in a club marina and do occasionally miss that aspect.

As today's weather wasn't particularly conducive to sailing we walked to Emsworth, both clubs seemed to have adequate facilities (although tidally limited) for dinghies but I believe Emsworth Slipper SC isn't accepting new members right now.

The yacht haven looks much improved since I last looked around almost 20 years back but I could only comfortably get over the cill on very big springs. Makes the access window at somewhere like Woodbridge or Tollesbury look almost generous!

With membership fees of around £650 per year plus a joining fee of £350 and £150 each year for the dinghy we will have to give HISC a miss.

Does anybody have experience of The club at Bosham?

 

[Seajet]

While I have visited Bosham Channel by dinghy and cruiser many times, I have limited experience of Bosham SC; all contact or visits I have made they have been a very helpful and friendly lot.

Not sure what they do about parking - the public car park is a long trek to carry stuff - and of course beware the tide if parking anywhere else, the Anchor Bleu has a board full of photo's of flooded cars !
Not sure about cruisers ashore for the winter either; NB Thornham Boatyward is excellent, good rates too; forget the pontoons though.

Depending on whether the hoist would take your draft, consider a marina - Northney probably - and Langstone SC, you may be pleasantly surprised by the club and fees.

I agree with Tidewaiter re HISC, I was a member there when I had a fin keeler and did not find it a pleasant experience, a lot of ' Air Traffic Controllers rather than Pilots '...

Bosham and a mooring would be good, think it would be a muddy experience with the tender near LW but a very pleasant place to be.

 

[langstonelayabout]

You could, of course, keep your fin keeled boat on a Chichester Harbour Conservancy or Langstone Harbour Board swinging mooring and bring it ashore at your chosen club in the winter?

I nearly put my boat on a Langstone HB mooring. Good VFM, includes harbour dues and you get a choice as to where you keep your dinghy. The voice at the HB did say ”I hope your tender isn’t too shiny as we don’t provide any security”. My response was along the lines of: “It’s a good one. It cost me £50”. I could feel the smile coming down the phone line…

You’ll need a small outboard to use most of Langstone HB or Chichester HCs moorings but they are properly maintained. In the end I went to Wicormarine and have no plans to move elsewhere.

 

[emsworthy]

Unfortunately as I have become accustomed to keeping my boat in a marina without tidal limitations, I don't think keeping it adjacent to the club would be possible unless I kept it somewhere the Hamble or Lymington. I kept my last boat in a club marina and do occasionally miss that aspect.

As today's weather wasn't particularly conducive to sailing we walked to Emsworth, both clubs seemed to have adequate facilities (although tidally limited) for dinghies but I believe Emsworth Slipper SC isn't accepting new members right now.

The yacht haven looks much improved since I last looked around almost 20 years back but I could only comfortably get over the cill on very big springs. Makes the access window at somewhere like Woodbridge or Tollesbury look almost generous!

With membership fees of around £650 per year plus a joining fee of £350 and £150 each year for the dinghy we will have to give HISC a miss.

Does anybody have experience of The club at Bosham?

Can't comment much on Bosham other than I know that they have some sort of arrangement with Cobnor Centre to use their facilities which gives them far better all tide access. I can though comment on both Emsworth Clubs as I am a member of one and closely associated with the other. If you are a serious sailor (as opposed to one that wants a dinghy billet but really just props up the bar) then you should be able to get into either by the beginning of next season. Little point accepting new members this far into the season. Slipper has slightly less access to the water and not much parking but is cheaper and more cruiser racing goes on, Emsworth has much better tidal access (+/- 3 hrs HW), better parking and more dinghy space and an outdoor heated pool but is a bit more expensive with less organised cruiser racing.

Lots of members of both clubs keep cruisers in Northney marina which has pretty good tidal access most of the time except LW springs and this seems to be a good arrangement. They both also have Club moorings which are less dead man's shoes than they used to be although if you want one for a 36' fin keeler you might have to take out a contract on a flag officer!

Feel free to PM me if you want more details of either.

 

[BabySharkDooDooDooDooDoo]

Thanks will send a PM once I'm ashore