Second Sailability Boat Arrives

Earlier this year in June, after being awarded funding from People’s Postcode Trust, Rye Harbour Sailability were able to order their second Sailability boat, a Drascombe Lugger. On Wednesday 30th September, the brand new Drascombe Lugger was delivered by the builders Churchouse Boats, Hampshire. Not being able to sail this year because of the Covid – 19 virus, other than to have a trial sail in early September and with the sailing season coming to an end, we were unsure if we would be able to get even one shakedown sail in before the weather really deteriorated. A shakedown sail tests the performance of the boat.

The forecast on the Friday was shocking with heavy rain and wind forecast. However, a local forecast had steadily predicted a window of good weather mid-morning onwards on Saturday, enough time to get a sail in. True to the forecast the clouds parted and with the sun shining and a light breeze from the south west, Sailability volunteers, Daniel Tomkinson, Mike Bone, George Parkin and David Tomkinson set about rigging the Drascombe Lugger. With High Water at 1pm the Lugger was launched. The Sailability rescue boat, helmed by Coxswain, David Tomkinson and crewed by Caroline Wylson, acted as safety boat for the sail. Everyone was pleased with the performance of the boat and we look forward to more shakedown sails before the start of the next sailing season.

A massive thank you to People’s Postcode Trust who have supported Rye Harbour Sailability with an outstanding award of £19,617 which has funded the project. The number of sailors has increased steadily since our launch in August 2017 and with only one boat our sailors have had to wait sometimes for over an hour for a sail. The second boat enables us to take more sailors out on the water and reduce waiting times. For sailors and volunteers alike, the wait has often been frustrating. A huge thank you to everyone who plays the People’s Postcode Lottery from the Rye
Harbour Sailability family.