Sailing | South Bank Sailing Club

Club Sailing

The club has a programme of activities throughout the year mid week and at weekends as well as summer “taster” sailing sessions for people who are interested in joining the club.

With its fast tides and eddying winds sailing on the Thames is always fascinating and challenging, and it is said that if you can sail a dinghy on the river Thames you can sail on any water in the world!

The club is committed to helping members improve their sailing skills as well as having fun. Safety boat cover is provided and members are free to cruise or to race. Racing is round buoys on Putney Reach at high tide, or downriver; both going out and returning with the tide. Our members also visit and compete against other clubs.

Club dinghies for members to hire include 6 Lasers, 1 Solo, 3 Enterprises, 2 Xenons, 2 GP 14s, a Supernova and a Laser 13′.

Members Handbook 2021 edition

Use of the Club Dinghy Park

Members may keep their boats in the club’s dinghy-park subject to availability and the terms and conditions set out in the club regulations.

Please head over to the fees section of the website for pricing

Membership Fees

Sailing Gear

Ask a general committee member for advice about what to wear. To begin with you’ll need a wetsuit or drysuit, sailing boots, gloves, a hat and sunglasses. The club provides buoyancy aids. Remember to take a towel and a change of clothes in case you get wet.

Chandleries, online mail order companies and boat shows are good places to buy kit. (Go to the Links section for website addresses).

Useful Links

Social bean?

You can join the club with a social-only membership. We hold a variety of social events, all of which can be found through the following link:

Social

Midweek & Saturday Sailing

There is midweek sailing on Wednesdays, as tides permit, in the summer. To make it possible to launch, we need a minimum of two sailing boats and a volunteer to cover safety boat duties. Check the sailing calendar for dates and times.

Saturdays are all about learning and having fun! New members often like to start with our Saturday sessions, trying out different single and 2-3 handed boats with a safety boat on hand.

As Saturday sailors you decide as a group what you’d like to do – have a few short races, or do your own thing – perhaps practice a technique and get tips from our more experienced sailors.

Racing

Sundays are when we hold the club race series.

We have two types of race:

Upriver – racing round buoys on Putney Reach at high tide

Downriver – racing towards Battersea Reach, going out with the tide, and when the tide has turned, racing back.

With its fast tides and eddying winds the River Thames its always fascinating, often frustrating. But it’s said that if you can sail on the Thames you can sail on any water in the world!

Follow events on the water with our race reports and results.

Membership

Race Reports

Results

IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS

We welcome new members with all different levels of sailing competency, whether you are a novice or an advanced racer! Come down and see what we do; arrange a taster sail and meet our members. It would be great if you would like to get involved.

Our friendly vice-commodore Sara Bennett runs occasional Saturday ‘taster sails’ in the summer for potential new members

You don’t need your own boat. You can hire one of our club dinghies at a very low cost.

Don’t worry if you’re a bit rusty; our members have a wealth of experience and are happy to point you (and your boat!) in the right direction.

SBSC IS AN RYA ACCREDITED POWERBOAT TRAINING CENTRE.

Wind Observations

The image on the left is an attempt to provide a guide for mapping wind forecasts in knots into likely sailing experiences. Weather conditions vary, and it is not by any means definitive!

PY and Club Handicaps

South Bank Sailing Club uses the RYA Portsmouth Yardstick Handicap system for club races. The handicap system aims to provide fair racing between boats of different classes.

We use the following handicaps for classes that are regularly sailed at the club:

CLASS	PN
Albacore (Wooden)	1082
Albacore (Fiberglass)	1043
Byte	1169
Byte CII	1146
Enterprise	1111
GP 14	1149
Laser - Full	1078
Laser - Radial	1111
Laser - 4.7	1174
Merlin Rocket – No Spinnaker	1079
Merlin Rocket – With Spinnaker	1059
National 12	1083
Phantom	1035
Rooster 8.1	1052
RS 200	1057
RS Vision	1093
Solo	1148
Solo Plan B	1176
Supernova	1070
Supernova Small Sail	1148
Topper	1240
Wayfarer – No Spinnaker	1131
Wayfarer – With Spinnaker	1111
X0	950
Xenon	1111

Where a class does not have a handicap listed above they will initially use the handicap listed in the current RYA national list. Should a class not have a handicap listed there then they will be assigned a trial handicap by the Sailing Committee.

To view the RYA PY Handicap data click here