Bosham cash boost will take sailing to wider community

Bosham Sailing Club is the only one in West Sussex to secure a share of £10m of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities Fund. There were more than 500 applications for funding and of these, 92 clubs from across the sporting spectrum were selected.
There'll be even more opportunities for sailing at Bosham thanks to their lottery grant / Picture by Chris HattonThere'll be even more opportunities for sailing at Bosham thanks to their lottery grant / Picture by Chris Hatton
There'll be even more opportunities for sailing at Bosham thanks to their lottery grant / Picture by Chris Hatton

The grant will be used to improve club facilities to widen the appeal of sailing and offer better facilities for sailors, whether they be youngsters just learning or competitors from other parts of the country participating in open regattas hosted at the club.

Bosham Sailing Club’s commodore Simon Radford said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment, which means we can provide even better facilities for sailors enjoying the waters of Chichester Harbour. It is the cornerstone of our strategy to have an outstanding club for the 2012 Olympics legacy.”

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Since 2011, Inspired Facilities has been helping to improve sports facilities to encourage more grassroots sport, which ties in with Bosham Sailing Club’s mission to broaden the appeal and access to sailing through its links to local schools and Women on Water initiatives.

Sport England property director Charles Johnston said: “The Inspired Facilities Fund has had a huge impact on grassroots sport across the country. Since 2011, we’ve invested £94 million into more than 1,800 projects to improve and refurbish sports clubs and transform non-sporting venues into vibrant community sports clubs.

“It’s great to see Bosham Sailing Club join the long list of successful clubs to benefit from this fund.”

Based on feedback from previous applicants, the Inspired Facilities Fund is now an open programme which means projects can submit applications as soon as they are ready rather than being restricted by a specific deadline. To find out more and bid, visit www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities

CHICHESTER YC

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The warm weather continued into the weekend for the first races of Chichester Yacht Club’s Birdham Barrel series.

There was little wind in the morning, but the afternoon brought a light force two to three, providing gentle race conditions.

In the modern/fast fleet the 2000 contingent dominated race one, with Helen and Mark Green keeping Mike Linney and Giles Dixon about half a minute behind, with the Greens first on handicap and Linney and Dixon second. Roger Clare was ahead on the water in his Vareo, but slid into third on handicap.

In race two the faster boats got going on the water, with Tony Purser well ahead in his RS600 but taking second on Handicap. Clare again put in a good time, this time taking first on handicap. The Greens were third.

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The medium/classic fleet were predominantly composed of Solos and Lasers with only Richard Smale in the Streaker breaking the mould.

In race one Andy Palmer-Felgate in a Laser got well away from the fleet to take first on the water, only to be pushed into second place on handicap by Ian Lissamore in his Solo, who was close behind. Ron Green was third, also in a Solo.

In race two Charlie Porter in his Laser got away, taking first on the water and on handicap. Lissamore was second and Ian Payne in his Laser third.

Some of those feeling in need of more practice attended adult race coaching, including four 2000s and a couple of single handers. The session started with plenty of tacking and gybing to get everyone warmed up - more tacks than many put into an entire race series - a great way to develop technique and crew coordination.

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This was followed by more than 20 starts with various line biases and lengths, improving start positioning and boat handling. Pete Harrison also demonstrated lee bowing techniques for gaining a tactical advantage on the race course.

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