Camsail

Due to the present Covid circumstances, we have decided not to have any 'normal' meetings until at least after the New Year. The speakers we had booked for October and November have kindly agreed to postpone their talks until the 2021/2 season.

However, we will attempt to provide an on-line alternative, using Zoom. Our first Zoom meeting will be on October 14th: we are very grateful that we have had permission to show part of the excellent DVD "Life on the Deben", a film by Tim Curtis, presented by John McCarthy. Amongst other things, this film details the boatyards of the Deben, both past and present, and at one point features Robert Simper sailing his boat; many will remember Robert from having been a speaker at Camsail in a previous season.

Details of joining this Zoom presentation will be circulated to those who were members of Camsail last season. If others would like to be invited, please contact us by email at the enquiries address given below.

This Zoom presentation takes the place of what had been planned (Bryan Davies: "Nancy Blackett Trust"), which will now take place next year.

Please note that we are not linked to the Cam_Sailing_Club at Waterbeach. We apologise for any confusion.

CAMSAIL is a club which meets monthly from October to March to enjoy a wide range of illustrated talks about sailing, given by invited speakers and club members, and provides an opportunity to socialise in a nautical atmosphere (albeit in central Cambridge!).

We also organise occasional trips, both on and off the water. These have included two trips on Thames Barges on the River Orwell, a trip in March 2018 to Harwich to be shown the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) at the Harwich Haven Authority and the Lightship LV18. In May 2019, a small flotilla of 3 boats owned by our members undertook a two day trip from Felixstowe, giving other members the chance to get afloat. Also in May, a group of 15 visited Kings Lynn, enjoying a guided tour round places of particular nautical interest; there was also the chance to sail on the Baden Powell, the only double ended cockle boat of her type still in existence. In September, a group of 11 enjoyed a day sail in the Solent on the Rona Sailing Project boat Rona II (a 68' ketch - used normally as a sail training vessel).

Due to the present circumstances, we have had to cancel our three proposed 2020 spring/autumn trips. We hope that we may be able to reschedule them for 2021:
i) visit to Orford Ness (May)
ii) flotilla from the Orwell (September)
iii) to Lowestoft (September or October)

We operate a small lending library of nautical books.

We try to act as an informal crewing service, putting yacht skippers wanting crews in touch with crews wanting skippers!

2019/2020 was our tenth season, we had a membership of over 50. Some of the members have or have had their own yachts, others enjoy sailing by chartering or as crew, others have sailed in the past or are simply interested in things nautical!

Please note that the following details refer to past (and we hope future!) seasons, but, as detailed above, are at present in abeyance.

Our monthly meetings are on Wednesday evenings (normally the second Wednesday in the month) at 19.30 for 19.45. We meet in the Cambridge and County Bowling Club, Brooklands Avenue, CB2 8FG. The club is situated towards the west end of Brooklands Avenue on the north side, and parking is available there. There is a bar and hot drinks machine.

Our club welcomes a connection with the_Cruising_Association through their Suffolk Section. Camsail and C.A. members can attend each other’s meetings, and the Camsail programme is published in the C.A. quarterly magazine.

There is an annual subscription of £15 (to cover the cost of the venue and speakers’ expenses), but those new to us are welcome to attend one meeting without charge or any commitment to join.

History of the club:

The formation of the club was first suggested in November 2010, knowing that a number of people with an interest in sailing in or near Cambridge might welcome such talks and the opportunity to meet others with similar interests, but without the need to travel to one of the venues on the East Coast.

It first met in the U3AC building in Bridge Street. Wanting a more relaxed atmosphere, we moved to meet at the Red Bull in Newnham in October 2011.

We then moved to the present location, the Cambridge and County Bowling Club, Brooklands Avenue, in October 2012.

Contact us at: enquiries@camsail.org.uk

Committee (2020):

Chairperson: Peter Jones

Secretary: John Aylmer

Treasurer: Malcolm Dee

Member: Jim Hibbert

Member: John Peregrine

Member: Jayne Tracey

Chairperson's Report for the 2018/9 season

Treasurer's Report for the 2018/9 season

Camsail has a constitution, which was adopted on 12 December 2018.