Chipstead Sailing Club – OPEN DAY
Monday 21^st April

A general invite had been sent out far and wide over the last few weeks to come to our Open Day ‘at our lovely Watersports Club on the edge of the Greensand Ridge – and to try our sailing taster sessions, as well as Canoes, Paddleboards and Remote Control Yachts. And even watch a proper race in the afternoon.’

Well, the weather was kind to us, lovely and warm when the sun was out, which was most of the day, with a pleasant breeze, almost perfect conditions, thank heavens!

Club volunteers were dashing about here, there and everywhere from early morning making sure that everything was prepared and the event would run to perfection. All taster sessions were fully booked, and all boats were ready.

Visitors started trickling in by 10am. The BBQ had already been set up sending out enticing smells to everybody who passed by, too tempting to avoid!

Boats and canoes and paddleboards either sailed or paddled out. A lot of youngsters, in particular, seemed to love the idea of the remote controlled yachts. And must have got the hang of it pretty quickly as there didn’t appear to be any crashes.

So many visitors were amazed that they had never previously noticed our wonderful lake and the facilities available. Quite a few people took out new memberships and even booked in for training sessions later in the summer.

And then a proper race by the ‘professionals’. The Chipstead Pin, a pursuit race, started at 2.30pm with Keith, our Commodore, giving a running commentary for those who knew nothing about dinghy racing. A Topper with our Rear Commodore at the helm, kept the lead for several laps, until 3 unruly Solos overtook her at the last minute. Where is the respect these days?

4.30pm and the day was nearly over. Lots of hard work left for those dragging the boats out of the water, putting them away and locking up.