Flag signals: the Newsletter of Ely Sailing Club January 2026

Christmas may already be fading in our memories, but thankfully there's lots to look forward to at the club in 2026.

Catherine is hard at work on the sailing programme for the year and once that is settled, the duty roster will be made available mid February-ish so that you can volunteer for the dates that suit you best.

On the social front, Brent and his wonderful team of helpers have already organised an exciting programme for us with lots to look forward to. They started us off with two great events featuring some highly topical first aid training and a fantastic Burn's Night with Scottish themed food and quiz. Coming up next are social evenings on the last Friday of January (the 30th), and the first Friday of February, on the 6th. Later in the month we'll be having our Knots and Nibbles evening on the 20th February, where Dave and others will teach us something new! Last year it was square knots and splicing and we all went away with keyrings we'd made under the expert tuition. What will it be this year? There's only one way to find out!

We've also been looking at the budget for this year. Having bought the new Wayfarer last year, this year's top priority is some improvements to the clubhouse to keep it safe, secure and a little warmer!

Many thanks to everyone who has renewed already; if you haven't done so yet, please do it soon, especially if you have a berth that you want to retain, as we get regular enquiries asking about berth availability and it makes a lot of extra work for Tamara if she has to try to contact you to decide whether she can give the berth to someone else.

The model yacht fleet are into their Winter series, 12:30-14:30 Saturdays and always welcome new members. Why not give it a try, using the club boat?

Lastly, thank you to everyone who made it down on Sunday for the really good turnout for our first working party of the year. These very sociable events will run every Sunday from now until the start of the sailing season and there's lots to do for all sorts of skill levels. If you've always wondered what it would be like to land on one of the islands, or how to do maintenance on a dinghy, this is your chance to find out!

We hope to see you all at the club soon,

Ian, Catherine and Brent