News

Where two healthy volunteers who understand the need to socially distance by 1m where possible, but who are prepared to breach this distance in the event of an emergency such as a sailor in distress, consent to it, this is now permissible at SSC.

Wind ventilation is considered to be an additional protective factor against virus transmission. Common touch points on Safety Boats should be wiped down with disinfectant, kept in the safety buckets, before and after use.

If volunteering to be a member of a 2 person unbubbled safety crew, members must have first signed up (as a one-time procedure) on the “Consent to Dual staffing” tab of the SSC Organised Sailing 2020 Google Sheet as understanding the requirements.

Please visit this members only page to get the link for the organised sailing spreadsheet.

We are pleased to announce that SSC is  now moving into Phase 2 of our “Return to Boating” plan, with some further unlocking for sailors using catamarans or large double-handed monohulls, under the new Government guidance of Social Distancing by 1 metre plus, where there are experienced adults sailors mutually and voluntarily consenting to sailing together in the same boat.

We plan to have some escorted sailing, in suitable conditions (windspeed no greater than 16 knots) on Saturday and Sunday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The escort will sometimes be one or two power boats, but on other occasions may just comprise other members in sailing boats. The sailing area for escorted sailing is being defined as a triangle in the Bay bounded on two sides by the 5 knot markers in the Bay. Please keep a check on the SSC Facebook Group to see when the sessions will be taking place, as it will depend on the weather and the availability of escorts.

The Social Distance rules prevent us staffing RIBs with mixed households, so we will not have sufficient safety cover to conduct organised racing for the foreseeable future. However members are free to race each other out in the Bay, using existing buoys including the 5 knot markers many of which are positioned well out to sea this year. Some informal time-trialling around these marks with self-timing of laps may be possible in due course.

We will be looking for volunteers for the RIBs being used for escorted sailing, either Senior Instructors for solo manning, or two from within a social bubble, and if you can help with this please contact either Mike Cemm, Chief Instructor or Rob Baker, Sailing Secretary.

Please see the SSC Covid-19 Addendum to Operating Procedures v1.2. The Operating Procedures has been updated to v28 to incorporate this addendum. Both are to be found under Sailing > Safety

Your Management Committee are pleased to announce the bar and galley will be re opened this Sunday 5^th July 2020.

To help us maintain social distancing and stay safe we are introducing some new limitations namely-

The Galley will open from 12-00 noon and will offer limited menu options. Roast Pork this Sunday.

There will be a maximum of 20 meals served and these will be on a first come first served basis.

Procedure for food

When arriving for a meal please go first to the bar and pay for your meal by card. Tell the bar person which table you will be sitting at

Having paid go and order your meal and go to your table

Your meal and cutlery will be bought out to you and your empty plates will be collected

Try and maintain a safe social distance at all times from anyone not in your family group or social bubble

Procedure for Bar

Order and pay for your drinks at the bar using card rather than cash

Tell the bar person where you will be sitting and your drinks will be brought to you

Please do not congregate at the bar and try and keep a safe social distance at all times from anyone not in your family group or social bubble.

Greg Vaughn

Rear Commodore

SSC 2/7/20

From the Sailing Club’s Management Committee:

Swanage Sailing Club has worked hard in recent years to increase its membership and engagement with our local community. We have made real progress in encouraging local schools, scouts and young families to take up sailing. We pride our hard-won designation as an officially recognised sailing training centre and must strive to maintain this status as we emerge from lockdown.

The club is very keen to resume its normally busy and inclusive sailing programme but is obviously still seriously limited by the Covid-19 restrictions imposed by Government and guidance from the Royal Yachting Association and the RNLI. 

Just like other sports organisation, the club has to adapt to function safely in the present circumstances. Despite the obvious health benefits of sailing in the bay in good clean air there are still risks to do with social distancing and contact with  boats and other club equipment.

The club has followed best practice guidance and produced new, hopefully temporary rules and notices to its members and non-members who may come to the immediate area. These are designed to control the environment for members of the club using the beach and, in particular, to make it safe for those rigging, launching and retrieving boats and also to safeguard members of the public who may stray into the club’s operational areas.

With the recent warm weather and the new limitations on our sailing activities, the club’s private part of the beach, which extends to the mean low water mark, has been used even more by non-members and sadly there has been some evidence of attempted damage to club boats and dogs being out of reasonable control. The club has its own guidance for members with dogs to encourage their dog’s firm control and this needs to be respected by others.

And so Swanage Sailing Club must now re-emphasise that it does not allow the use of its private beach at Buck Shore by non-members or any dogs that are not firmly controlled. There is strictly no public access to the car park, clubhouse or boat park as the signs make clear.

The club has had both positive and negative feedback about these new restrictions. This is understandable as Buck Shore can still be a haven of peace when the town’s other beaches are busy and with strict rules being applied there for dogs.

We will reduce the number of any new signs as soon as it is judged safe to do so.

SSC still warmly welcomes all applications to join us to add to our membership and our shared enjoyment of sailing, our clubhouse and Buck Shore. Please visit our website for further information swanagesailingclub.org.uk.