Aerial View

A view of the Club taken in May 2017 from a member’s drone.

Families' Day

A fun day for all the family with a picnic lunch and a barbecue on completion.

The Bar

The clubhouse and bar are open on Tuesday evenings throughout the year. The bar also opens at lunchtime each Sunday during the sailing season and on the first Sunday of each month over the winter.

The bar is managed by a Bar Manager and his Assistant – both volunteers. They are ably assisted by a group of other members who volunteer to tend bar.

Overnight Cruise

A highlight of the cruising calendar, the overnight cruise does not involve sailing overnight; it is one where you stay away overnight. The first recorded Seafarers’ overnight cruise was to Bembridge in 1977.

Corf campsite in Newtown Creek on the Isle of Wight is a popular overnight cruise destination. The slide shows Wayfarers pulled up on the edge of Shalfleet Lake.

DIY

The Club is committed to providing “affordable” access to sailing. This is achieved through an ethos of self-help. The original construction of the clubhouse and the many rebuilds thereafter have all been done with members carrying out most of the work – skilled and un-skilled – to keep costs to a minimum.

The slide shows members working on a first floor extension in 2008.

Commodore's Challenge

Each year the programme includes a Commodore’s Challenge to raise money for the Club’s charity. In 2016 the challenge was to set a new Seafarers’ record for the number of boats/members participating in a Club cruise. Forty-seven members in seventeen dinghies and two RIBs crossed to the Royal Victoria Yacht Club in Wootton Creek and set seven new Club records.

RYA Training

Capsize recovery drills are practiced just offshore from the Club.

This may appear “scary”, but everyone who takes part says it’s great fun.

Coffee Morning

A coffee morning takes place in the clubhouse on the last Friday of each month.

In September this coincides with, and is run as part of, Macmillan Cancer Support’s "World’s Biggest Coffee Morning".

A Small Tractor

Seafarers is fortunate with its location within a public (free) car park and with access to a public slipway. When launching or retrieving a boat at low tide, there is an expanse of beach and an inclined slipway which can be difficult to negotiate with a heavy dinghy or one of the Club’s RIBs. The Club uses a small tractor to recover boats.

Interclub Races

Seafarers has a good relationship with neighbouring Hill Head SC and Lee on the Solent SC. An interclub race, or series of races, known as the SLOSHH (Seafarers – Lee On Solent – Hill Head), has been running since 1989. A Winter SLOSHH Series was inaugurated in 2016.

Barbecue

A great way to end a day on the water.

Patrol Boats

The Club operates two RIBs (Rigid Inflatables Boats) with outboard motors which are used as Patrol Boats.

Getting Formal

At least once each year the Club has a more formal social function – ties are worn! Trafalgar Night and Burn’s Night can provide justification for such cultured events

The slide illustrates the Club’s Trafalgar Night in 2018.

Cruising

Situated where it is, the Club is spoilt for choice when it comes to cruise destinations.

This slide illustrates Club boats beached at one of the favourite destinations, Wootton Creek.

Prize Giving

The highlight of any sports club’s year.

Evening Racing

There is racing on Thursday evenings from the end of April until the end of August, when the days are longer.

Clubhouse at Night

On the way home after an enjoyable evening spent with friends celebrating the Chinese New Year.

End of Season

This is not the end of an evening race. It is the end of an afternoon race late in November.

The Frostbite Series is proving increasingly popular. With the Winter SLOSHH Series (see elsewhere), there is plenty of “out of season” racing.

Gosport Half Marathon

A busy morning on the promenade. As always the Club coordinated with the race organisers to avoid runners and dinghies becoming entwined.

Range of Dinghy Types

A variety of traditional and modern design dinghies are sailed at Seafarers including Mirror, Topaz, Laser (4.7 to 2000), RS (Feva to 600), Wayfarer, ISO and Buzz. At present the Laser is the most prolific class.

The slide shows an RS Aero, a Contender, a Solo, a Laser Radial and a Wayfarer.

Sunset Over the Compound

On the way home after watching a Six Nations Championship match on the Club’s big screen.

Round the Island

‘Round the Island’ cruises began at Seafarers at the beginning of the 1980s and appeared in most annual programmes from 1980 to 2004. One of the Club’s current members considers his sailing year is incomplete unless it includes at least one circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight. Consequently these marathon voyages, although not in the Programme, still usually take place once or twice each year.

Caribbean Evening

A themed social function .. .. which culminated in a limbo dancing competition!

Half Ton Cup Race

The Half Ton Cup race – for helms aged 50 or over – is a popular annual race which was introduced in 1977 as an Open. A race for under-50s, the Under half Ton Cup race, was added in 1988.

Craft Corner

“Craft Corners” are held throughout the year usually at the beginning of each month. The sessions are either a ‘free activity’ or a workshop led by a volunteer or an invited professional.

The slide shows a watercolour painting session run by local artist and ex-Seafarer, Elaine Reed.

New Year's Day

On 1st January 2019, twenty hardy souls set off in thirteen dinghies to celebrate the New Year .. .. and to clear their heads!