Flag signals: the Newsletter of Ely Sailing Club May 2026
Published 09:40 on 30 May 2026
Firstly, welcome our new members! It's great to have seen several of you from the first courses back already and we look forward to meeting those of you signed up for courses later in the year: remember that you're already welcome at social events and to come down and crew for someone.
Coming up soon is the overnight race, a highlight of the sailing season. This is a 12h race from 18:00 on 20/06/26 to 06:00 on 21/06/26. We use the club wayfarers and sail in teams of mixed experience so everyone is very welcome and encouraged to come - either for the whole night or whatever you can make. We'll make up teams on the night so come down for 17:00 or so and we can get everything started. You're welcome to catch 40 in the club or bring a tent to pitch, make use of the BBQ and enjoy the firepit. This is a really great event and we'd encourage everyone to come experience the magic of the lake at night.
With the warmer weather hopefully here to stick around, we're hoping to see lots of boats out on the water for social sailing - make the most of the longer days on the water & feel free to bring some food and make an afternoon of it. Fridays & Saturdays are social sailing days so come down and enjoy the lake. Or of course, if racing's more your thing, there's Thursday nights and / or Sunday afternoons, make sure to check the calendar for details.
Looking further ahead, bookings for the club trip to Hunter's Yard on 18th July are open on the website. This year, it's for all members on one trip (cadets welcome with an adult) & we'll have at least 4 boats. These are beautiful 1930s wooden boats and we spend a day cruising the Broads with a leisurely lunch stop and maybe even ice cream. As we'll ensure a mix of experience across the boats with experienced skippers, there's no need for anyone to be nervous about coming along and it's been a brilliant day the last years we've run this trip. Booking and more information are on the website.
A big thank you to everyone who has turned up to do their duties so far, but we do have one small plea. We understand that sometimes life happens and dates you had committed to for duties are suddenly now difficult, it happens to us all, but please, please, please remember that asking _us_ to fix things for you should be an absolute last resort, as we all have full time jobs, families and busy lives as well! Instructions for requesting swaps are on the website in both text and video format: https://www.elysailingclub.org/membership/duties, so please try those methods before asking for help. Follow the instructions carefully and try as many different swaps as possible, not just a few dates that you'd prefer (the system shows how many you tried).
As the evenings get longer, it's a lovely opportunity to use the club facilities after, or even during, sailing and enjoy the evening sunshine in our very own beauty spot. The gas bottle for the BBQ has been refilled and everyone is welcome to come down and make use of it.
Lastly, we're planning a cheese and wine evening on Friday 26th June: put the date on your diary and look out for more details being added to the calendar on the club website.
Smooth sailing,
Ian, Catherine and Brent
Last updated 09:40 on 30 May 2026