Dinner Dance with PYSC

This year and for the first time, the club is joining forces with Portishead Yacht and Sailing Club for the annual dinner dance to reflect and celebrate on the 2024 sailing season.

This is a great opportunity for us to get dressed up, have a fabulous 2 or 3 course dinner and join in the swapping of sailing stories and celebrate those who have won prizes across the 2024 season with PYSC members.

The details are as follows:

  • When: Saturday 8th March 2025
  • Where: Nailsea Masonic Hall, Nailsea Park, BS48 1BA
  • Time: 19h00 for 19h30 start

Tickets are priced at £37 per person for three courses and £28 per person for two. Selections to be made from the following menu

Starters

  • Brie parcels wrapped in filo pastry served warm (v)
  • Smoked haddock fish cakes, pea shoots and tartar sauce
  • Leek and potato soup (v)

Main Courses

  • Slow cooked Nailsea beef, red wine and mushrooms
  • Plaice stuffed with prawns and a seafood cognac sauce
  • Roast butternut squash and mushroom wellington (v)

All mains served with a selection of fresh vegetables and potatoes.

Desserts

  • Profiteroles and caramel sauce
  • Sticky date and ginger pudding with vanilla ice cream
  • Raspberry crème brûlée

To finish

  • Coffee & chocolates

To make your menu selections and for payment details, please complete this PYSC form noting that you’re from PCC when you add your name – i.e. John Doe – PCC. Please contact Julia Filer if you have any questions.

The Siren’s Calling…

With member’s boats coming out of the water for winter maintenance and the temperature dropping, there’s never been a better time for a pint in a warm pub and a discussion about the sailing exploits of the season just passed, the planned maintenance ahead and all the things you’re going to do next season that there wasn’t time for this year!

From Wednesday 4th December 2024, the club’s Wednesday social venue will change to the Siren’s Calling in Portishead Marina. Providing a wide range of craft and Belgian beers together with some fine local ciders, it provides the perfect waterside watering hole for club members to socialise.

While on the subject of socials, the club will also be co-hosting a social with Portishead Yacht and Sailing Club (PYSC) on 8th March 2025. If you have any other social ideas, let us know what you’re thinking. Even better, come and do it over a pint at the Siren’s!

Holms Race Results 2024

It was a very early start for this year’s Holms Race with 36 boats locking out from 06h30 before waiting for the right time to start their approach to the line. Wind conditions were predicted to be light and while the outbound upwind leg towards the islands had some stretches of solid breeze, as the fleet approached Flat Holm, the wind began to drop making for some testing conditions on the far side of the islands as spinnaker’s were hoisted to complete the rounding of Steep Holm.

On the spinnaker run back, the breeze filled in and the powered up fleet were fast approaching North West Elbow before once again a wind hole developed and bunched the fleet. With the wind absent and the new tide starting to run, crew skills were tested to ensure that when the breeze filled back in, they were in the right place (and facing the right direction!) from which to resume racing.

Approaching the line generated some more fluky conditions and of the 36 boats that started the race, 21 completed the full course. The skill of the Holms Race is to be between the islands at low water and for some of the fleet that had not factored in a dropping breeze, this meant that they could not round the islands before the tide turned.

After the usual lock scramble to get back into the marina (thanks to our friends at Boatfolk for once again perfecting the art of ‘lock Tetris’, it was off to Advance Marine who once again kindly hosted the post event BBQ and prize giving. This year, for the first time, a special award was made for the overall winner of the IRC boats and the BCYA rose bowl was once again awarded to the best placed club overall.

The winners were as follows:

  • Holms Race Winner Overall – Barefoot, CBYC
  • Holms Race IRC Winner – Just in Time, CBYC
  • BCYA Rose Bowl for Top Club, PCC

Click on the links to access all the detail from the overall, IRC and PY fleets.

A big thanks to the Race Control team who were based at Battery Point from the early hours, everyone that competed from clubs across the Bristol Channel and to our sponsors Boatfolk and Advance Marine. We’ll see everyone next year!

Bristol Harbour Cruise

Given the recent weather, a club social around Bristol Harbour may not have been a wise choice! However, for our summer social, the sun shone and everyone enjoyed a couple of hours cruising around the harbour, stopping off at the Grain Barge and chatting about the passing view or recent sailing adventures.

Boarding the Bristol Ferry Matilda at the Nova Scotia boarding stage and after dodging the many sailing dinghies, paddle boards and other craft enjoying the good weather, our cruise took in many of Bristol Harbour’s familiar sights.

From a glimpse of the MV Balmoral ensconced in dry dock as she undergoes an extensive refit to the passing of the impressively restored SS Great Britain through to sights of Bristol’s waterfront of yesteryear, it was the perfect venue for this year’s summer social.

If you’d like to join a club that has social events, cruising and racing but don’t know where to start, contact us to find out more! We have our weekly club night from 20h30 at the Old Mill pub at the seaward end of Portishead High Street on Wednesdays and new or prospective members can always be assured of a warm welcome.

River Severn Cruise

With another bank holiday weekend ahead and the locks fully operational again, PCC are eager to get back out onto the waters of the Bristol Channel!

To celebrate the start of the season, on Saturday 1st June, the club extends an invitation to any boat moored in Portishead Marina to join us. We’re planning to head up to some hidden places under the Severn Bridge, anchor for a picnic and then return on the tide.

This is an ideal opportunity to get together over the bank holiday weekend for some fun sailing, provide an opportunity to meet some fellow Portishead-based sailors and discuss future cruises planned for the 2024 season.

If you haven’t been out beyond the lock recently, would like to join in but would also like to benefit from having someone aboard to help you with the navigation etc, please contact us as we may be able to connect you with a PCC member who can join you for the afternoon and impart some local sailing knowledge.

High water on Saturday 1st June is 15h20 BST. The plan is to lock-out and muster at Portishead Pier two hours before high water. Please listen in on VHF Channel 37 for any mustering information from either Stuart or Geoff.

Our adventure will only take place in good weather. As a guide, we’ll sail up channel in a force 3 and if the wind is blowing force 4, we’ll likely head up to the Suspension Bridge via the River Avon. As is tradition, we’ll then round the afternoon off with a social drink at the Sirens Calling.

If you’d like to join us, just complete the form below and include your mobile number so we can add you to a WhatsApp group for more information.

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RNLI Sea Safety Evening

The RNLI have been in touch to offer members an evening focussed on lifejackets and the latest developments in safety at sea. Designed to be an informal event pitched at both novice and experienced sailors, we would encourage members to attend. Equally, if you’d like the RNLI to give your lifejacket a once over, bring it along!

The event will also feature a short presentation from the Deputy Duty Harbour Master from Royal Portbury Dock who will talk about the dangers associated with sailing in a busy shipping lane.

After the event, members are invited to retire to the nearby Royal Inn for drinks.

The event will take place on 14th March at 19h00 at the RNLI boathouse.

To reserve your spot, please register via the following link. Note that the event space has a capacity of 25 people so don’t delay, reserve your spot today!

Please contact Tim at PCC or Bernd at the RNLI if you have any questions.

Annual Awards Night

The club wrapped up an extensive sailing season across both cruising and racing fleets at the annual awards night. With Vice Commodore Nick Duppa-Miller as host, it provided a lively, fun-filled review of the year’s racing and cruising activities.

2023 honours were awarded as follows:

Easter CupHullabaloo (Steve, Pete, Tim & Julia)
Regatta RaceCtrl-J (Andy Williams)
Gluhwein RaceCtrl-J (Andy Williams)
King of the RoadsCtrl-J (Andy Williams)
Cockburn CupCtrl-J (Andy Williams)
Autumn SeriesScrumpy-J (Tim, Ian & Nick)
Bristol Channel Cruising CupColin Brooks & Julie Sunderland (Lady Gwyneth)
Longest Cruise from PortisheadRod & Margaret Deacon (Teaselah)
Longest Single Handed CruiseGeoff McBroom (Fly)
Best LogJo Sutton (Molia)
Most Promising NewcomerPaul Sharpe (Khazuki)
Outstanding Services to the Club ShieldTim Pearson & Mark Sutton

Thanks to everyone for coming and congratulations to all the winners, some of which are pictured below! Here’s to another great year of racing and cruising in 2024. If you’d like to join in the fun, drop us a line or come and see us at our weekly club nights at The Old Mill pub from 20h00 on Wednesdays.

Club Christmas Lunch

It’s time to start peeling the spuds, prepping the sprouts and getting those turkeys in the oven! Per club tradition, Val Bundell and her crew will be taking to the club kitchen to prepare the annual feast, hosted in the clubhouse. This year lunch will be served at 13h00 on Sunday 17th December and will comprise a main course, desert and cheese.

Demand for tables at this event is always high so get your booking in to Val as soon as possible. Our well stocked bar will be open too, ensuring you’ll be able to enjoy a beer, glass of wine or soft drink with your festive fare.

As our last social event for 2023, this is an event not to miss! Alternatively, if you’re considering joining the club, there’s no time like the present! Check out our membership page or contact our membership secretary, Dave Martin to learn more.

Festive Music Night

As the festive season rapidly approaches, the club will be hosting one of its traditional evenings at the clubhouse. Come and hear the Pill Owls and the Mudlarks while munching on a mince pie and enjoying a glass of mulled wine.

Providing a great opportunity to kick off the festive season in style, why not come down to the clubhouse and listen to carols from the Mudlarks and then the Pill Owls bedecked in their Dickensian garb of top hats, fancy weskits and flowing cloaks!

The fun will start at 20h00 on Wednesday 13th December at the clubhouse.

If you can’t make it, check out our other social events for the rest of 2023. Alternatively, if you’re considering joining the club, there’s no time like the present! Check out our membership page or contact our membership secretary, Dave Martin to learn more.

Laying Up Supper

As the temperature starts to drop and the days shorten, many club members are starting the process of lift out and wintering on the hard. As the Parish Wharf starts to fill-up and to celebrate the end of another busy sailing season, the club will be hosting its annual laying up supper at the clubhouse on 11th November 2023, starting at 20h00.

New this year will be an appearance from the Port of Bristol Shanty Crew for which there will be a collection in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. For food, the club is taking an ‘American Supper’ style approach – i.e. bring your own dish. However, to make sure we don’t end up with 20 plates of sausage rolls etc., please liaise with our Social Secretary’s Owen and Sushi Boyle who will co-ordinate everyone’s contribution.

Why not take this occasion to come to the clubhouse, discuss your wintering plans with fellow members and celebrate another fantastic season on the water? With club members cruising over to Ireland, sailing round Scotland, attempting the FastNet, the Round the Island race, the Shanghai Cup and our own racing series here in Portishead, there’s much to discuss over a drink or two from the well-stocked clubhouse bar.

If you can’t make the laying up supper, check out our other social events for the rest of 2023. Alternatively, if you’re considering joining the club, there’s no time like the present! Check out our membership page or contact our membership secretary, Dave Martin to learn more.