Flag signals: the Newsletter of Ely Sailing Club August 2026

Published 22:18 on 26 Aug 2026

Dear all,

And just like that, it's almost the end of August! We hope you've all had great summers so far and the good news is there's still lots to look forward to.

August has been a busy sailing month for us. We've seen the start & end of the August mini pursuit series which has seen beautiful sunshine and variable winds. We'll be rounding off August with the Roswell Monster races this Sunday - first race 11:30.

In addition to the racing, we've been making plenty of time for fun with the Fun on the Water afternoon seeing abundant chaos, arbitrary scoring and everyone bringing out their inner child. And last weekend was the friends and family day where a good number of us bought along our relatives, colleagues and friends to show them the delight of sailing and the loveliness of our club!

September will see the start of the Autumn Series on Sundays and the continuation of Saturday social sailing. The last Thursday session will be 10th September and Friday session 18th September so come get some last evening sailing of 2026 in. There will also be the Ladies Plate on 6th September - starting at 1pm and eligible to be won by female helms and crews. If double handed sailing is more you're thing, that's covered too with the Double Handed Trophy Races taking place 20th September starting at 13:00.

And that's not all... There's also Bart's Bash at 12:00 on Saturday 12th September, an annual sailing event where the goal is as many boats on the water as possible - club boats will be free to use and it's a 1h 'race' although the goal is very much to just get out and have fun - all boats are asked to make a donation to the Andrew Simpson Foundation via the Just giving site (https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/bartsbash2026). The race will be followed by social sailing. For those who haven't heard about this before, it's a charity event, bringing the whole sailing community together. It's organised by the Andrew Simpson Foundation, in memory of the late America's Cup sailor Andrew 'Bart' Simpson, with sailing clubs all over the world taking part over the course of the weekend. If you'd like to know more, have a look at https://www.bartsbash.com/.

And finally, to round of a splendid sailing September, the Washington Cup will be on Saturday 26th September. This is a race for everyone with 2 races and that can be won only by those who haven't won a racing trophy before. It'll be great for those who've raced this year but also those who haven't & we can give some tips on racing on the day if you need - it's a friendly racing event designed for beginners. There'll be social sailing that day after racing so do come down for a bit of both.

With evening sailing drawing to a close, we're working on the social program for the rest of the year, but the highlights to get in your diary early if you haven't already, are the Laying Up supper on the 7th November, the AGM on the 26th November and the Christmas Lunch on the 13th December: more detail to come on all of those over the next couple of months! In the meantime, keep an eye on the website (and Facebook if you're that way inclined) to see what else we'll be getting up to!

Last but by no means least, the model yacht fleet are going great guns and their Tuesday evening Summer series has so far racked up a new record 163 races and it's not over yet! New members are always welcome and there is a club boat you can borrow to give it a go. More info, as always, on the club website.

Enjoy the rest of the summer,

Ian, Catherine and Brent

Last updated 22:18 on 26 August 2026