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The Wayfarer fleet at
Waldringfield Sailing Club was established 25 years ago and has gone
from strength to strength. The club probably has the largest fleet of
regularly racing Wayfarers in the UK and continually has people ranked
in the top 5 in the UK and the world. It is easy to think that all that
the Wayfarers at Waldringfield do is race but located on the picturesque
River Deben this is far from the truth. This river provides excellent
cruisingopportunities for those who do not wish to race and access to
sea sailing is only a relatively short sail away.
A key reason for the
success of the Waldringfield Wayfarer Fleet is the club has managed to
keep class racing going at the weekend meetings and this encourages a
competitive but friendly environment. To give some variety to the
weekend racing around 5 weekends per year are dedicated to trophy races
of varying format, some of which are based in an all in handicap basis
and this truly brings a different character to the racing!
Waldringfield Sailing club
is dedicated to keeping class racing going and the Wayfarer Class is
determined to keep one class Wayfarer sailing. To this end we would
epically welcome one or more Hartley built Wayfarers in the club to see
how they perform in club racing compared to the “Classic” Wayfarer. Our
aim is to demonstrate there is not a significant speed advantage with
the new boat or, if there is, what can practically be done to the new
boats for club racing so they can sail in the fleet without adversely
effecting club racing. The intent is to review the club position at the
end of this season, striving for a positive outcome.
Waldringfield Wayfarers
are well known for competing in the UK open championship meetings and in
international championships. The club is proud that it provides members
of all levels of ability to open meetings. This provides great
experiences to the less experienced and considerable success to the more
experienced members. Last year 6 boats traveled to the Wayfarer World
Championships in Denmark and despite conditions not suiting the UK
competitors Waldringfield still had 2 boats in the top 10, including one
in the top 5.
Other than Wayfarer
sailing on Saturdays and Wednesday evenings the class offers:
·
A number
of cruising events during the year, not surprisingly some of which end
up at public houses along the river!
·
On the
water training, both formal and informal. For those that want it some of
the more experienced Wayfarer sailors are happy to “buddy up” with less
experienced sailors to improve sailing technique and build confidence.
·
The class
has 2 or 3 social events each year on top of the numerous events offered
by the wider club.
If you are interested in
finding out more about joining the Wayfarer fleet at Waldringfield
either helming your own boat or as a crew then please contact me.
Mark Johnston
Class Captain |
