Castle Cove Sailing Club:

come on in ...
the water's lovely

Aim: the promotion of sailing for all ages

Membership Information

Castle Cove is a thriving, family club which sails in Portland Harbour in Weymouth. Established in 1923 in a cliff-top chalet overlooking Castle Cove it has grown steadily and in September 2002 we moved to our present clubhouse at the end of Old Castle Road.

There are over 400 members of all ages who race and cruise in a variety of dinghies and keelboats. Members have worked hard to provide a wide range of excellent facilities: a large dinghy park, moorings for the keelboats and ashore, a comfortable, well-appointed clubhouse and bar.

Dinghies

Racing

Racing is organised Monday and Wednesday evenings in the summer and at least one day at the weekend from Easter through till Boxing Day. The club provides safety cover when racing is in progress. There is a mixture of class racing and more general handicap racing. Preferred classes are: Wayfarer, Laser (including radial and 4.7), Scorpion, Contender, 29er, Buzz, B14, Mirror and Optimist.

Cadets

There is a very lively Cadet Section to cater for 8 -18 yr. olds. They meet on Saturday mornings to provide training and sailing supervised by a dedicated band of parents and helpers. Youngsters are expected to be able to sail to the standard of RYA start sailing scheme level 2 before they can take the helm themselves and they are encouraged to do this with a training centre before joining. If they cannot sail they may be able to go out with an adult helper if a suitable boat is available. Parents of those under 12 must stay at the club and may be asked to help with the sessions or with light club maintenance.

Club boats

The club has 3 Toppers, bought with Lottery funding, 2 Lasers and a Mirror available for members to hire.

Friday morning ladies

There is a friendly group of (mainly) ladies that meets on Friday mornings. It is a good opportunity for adult learners to improve their sailing and have fun in an informal learning situation.

Keelboats

A ferry service runs from the club at weekends and on race nights (Monday and Wednesday evenings from April till September). There are also some longer-distance races to Cherbourg or Alderney over a whole weekend. The cruising fraternity may join in with these or cruise to venues along the coast in company with others.

Moorings

The club leases an area of seabed from the Crown Commissioners. The Mooring committee allocates spaces on which members may lay their own moorings. Members are responsible for the care and maintenance of their moorings although help and advice is available.

Storage

Some winter storage is available on site and a crane is arranged for lift out. Those wintering elsewhere often form groups to arrange their laying up and crane hire.

Social

The hard-working social committee, with a band of volunteers, provide suppers after racing on Wednesday evening and a full programme of social gatherings in the winter. Sometimes a small group will get together to cook a club supper or a Sunday lunch, all prepared in our well-appointed, modern kitchen and very popular with members.
The sailing committee also runs a programme of talks and lectures in the winter.

Commitment

The philosophy of Castle Cove has always been that of mutual self-help. It is run and managed by its members through a committee headed by the Commodore.
The only employees are the rescue and ferry boat drivers. Everyone is expected to do their share of race duties – as Officer of the Day, Rescue Boat Crew or Refreshments.
During the winter there are weekly Work-parties to maintain and refurbish the premises and facilities.
You can learn all sorts of new skills on these occasions such as concrete mixing or anti-fouling rescue boats! And, of course, much coffee is drunk and friendships are forged.

Portland Port has taken over the running of the harbour, regulating activites on the water and all boats have to pay an annual fee and display a sticker. This is administered by the Club.

How to join:Before you get involved with form filling, come down to the Club on one of its race nights or weekends, and meet some of the members. In particular, try to meet the Captain of the class of boat you have an interest in, and one or two others who will sponsor you.

Then complete the application form, have the sponsors and the class captain sign it, and send it to the Membership Sercretary. Your application will be displayed for 14 days before being submitted to the General Committee for approval. If you need help to find sponsors, please ask the Membership Secretary.

e-mail to the membership secretary.

Contact details are available on the contacts page