Author: Andrew Dowley

Sail a catamaran of fast dinghy and fancy a sailing challenge this year?

Following a weekend of splendid weather, Marconi Sailing Club are toasting the success of their Open Day which was held on Saturday 17th May where their doors were opened to the residents of Essex to offer them the chance to take to the water in a choice of craft. Starting at midday, over 75 guests were welcomed by the club’s Commodore and her husband Michaela and Andrew Dowley. After visitors had registered, they were given the opportunity to explore the club’s site next to the River Blackwater. Club member Jenny Ball was in charge or orchestrating the on-the-water activities. Those…

Interested in having a go at club dinghy/cat racing? Not quite sure what’s involved? Club Racing is a great way to build your sailing skills, meet other sailors and have an enjoyable time on the water – with the added benefit of support boats being on hand. Our club racing scene is very friendly and there is a fleet for everyone – Cadets (18 and under), Solos, Monohull Handicap Fleet, Sprint 15s, Medium and Fast Cat Fleets. So why not give our Come Racing Day a try? Sunday 15th June – Come Racing The opportunity to join in club racing with…

Marconi Sailing Club are teaming up with other clubs on the River Blackwater for Bart’s Bash! What is Bart’s Bash you might ask? The Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation is planning a monster sized attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for ‘The Largest Sailing Event in the World’, which we they’re calling ‘Bart’s Bash’! The idea is to have a mass participation club race across the UK and the whole World. We know that pretty much every club has a race on Sunday morning, with all kinds of boats taking part, the goal is to get everyone participating together…

In unprecedented mild weather, 17 visitors joined 6 local sailors at Marconi SC for the first Traveller event of the 2014 summer season. Three races were sailed back to back on Saturday afternoon in fairly breezy conditions throughout the afternoon. For Race One, the majority of the fleet opted to start on port with one or two boats on starboard creating an interesting dynamic on the start line.  The two Sport mode boats, Kevin Dutch and Paul Grattage battled it out between them all the way round the course with the rest of the pack led by Stuart Snell, Jenny Ball,…

Join Marconi Sailing Club for their 2014 open day on Saturday 17th May. The action all starts from midday when you’ll have the chance to experience sailing in a range of boats up until 4pm. Our sailing club site is just outside Steeple in Essex at the bottom of Stansgate Road, post code is CM0 7NU for your sat navs. It’s not only sailing we’re offering on the day with a range of on shore activities too including face painting and a bouncy castle to keep the kids amused. For the adults the bar will be open and we have…

After having received £10,000 of National Lottery funding in Winter 2013 the club have since taken delivery of a new safety vessel. Marconi Greygoose, as the boat has been named, took to the River Blackwater for its maiden voyage in February 2014, not before a customary Champagne christening. The RIB has been named after a life-long member of the sailing club Ron Greygoose. It is hoped that the newest addition to Marconi’s fleet will enable even more youngsters to take to the water safely and help expand the club’s growing Cadet Fleet. Upon hearing the news MP for Maldon, John…

Hi All, We are sitting on the beach at the Barbados Yacht Club resting after an action packed couple of weeks. We left Rodney Bay St Lucia on Friday 11 Jan to sail across to Barbados. The trip across was our worst. Two friends of David Onyons members of the Maldon Little Ships Club (MLSC) David and I are all experienced helms and we had a new friend with us who had never sailed a boat before although he had owned river boats back in the UK. The wind has been strong around St Lucia and Barbados for several weeks…

Following another packed sailing calendar during the 2013 season members at Marconi Sailing Club are making preparations to hibernate over the winter period. For some this will be taking down their masts and tying their boats down for winter; others may be partaking in a winter series at other local clubs – or some may simply be enjoying a brisk walk along the seawall followed by a drink in The Mamgu Bar. As another season draws to a close we look back at some of the highlights of the 2013 Marconi Calendar. Open for Business Visitors are always welcome at…

Congratulations to David Nickalls and Sophie Savill who competed in last weekends Dart 16 National Championships at Thames Estuary Yacht Club. On Saturday they scored three wins from three races leaving them well and truly in top spot going into Sunday. There were only 2 races completed in the light winds on Sunday, an initial first let them take a more relaxed approach for their final (discard) race, which Sophie helmed to a third place. Although they counted only firsts across the whole fleet in their results, they were told they weren’t eligible for the main trophy due to their…