SBSC provides the most comprehensive sailing, kayaking, canoeing, kite/wind surfing and paddleboarding opportunities for both beginners and experienced participants in the area. We have the only full time Royal Yachting Association approved training centre in North and West Norfolk and are unique in having both a lake and the sea equidistant from the clubhouse.
The club is currently recognised as a Sailability centre and we already support pupils from Churchill Park Complex Needs School who are ambulatory, we can accommodate a variety of needs, including physical disabilities, learning difficulties, and more, but Accessible Sailing is about more than disability. There are significant numbers of people who, as a result of age or personal circumstances are no longer able to sail but would love to get on the water and we also offer an opportunity to learn a new skill in a group and a communal activity to address isolation for people of any age and background.
The advantages of sailing are that It can help people relax, and reduce stress. Sailing also helps with muscle strength and endurance, cardiovascular fitness, mental wellness, increases agility, improves concentration and improves communication skills and spatial awareness.
To achieve this we have purchased two Hansa 303 Accessible dinghies for use on the lake, installed a new wheelchair accessible floating pontoon, complete with hoist, to enable us to transfer wheelchair bound users to the Hansa dinghies and to our Wayfarer dinghy. We have also installed a new surface on the slipway and a level concrete pathway to allow easy wheelchair access to the pontoon. All of this work has been carried out by club volunteers. While the topography of our site means we will never be fully accessible we are making as many changes as we can to improve access.
We also have a successful grant bid from the Sports Council Mobility Fund for 50% of the cost of a new Hartley Wayfarer dinghy to further support Sailability and the Training Centre, we just now need to raise £7000 through a crowdfunded programme as part of this – you can find the details here https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/snetbeachsailability
How we will operate: Next year bookable 1 hour slots will be available on Friday afternoons from 1.00pm to 5.00pm between April and October 2025, but between September 13th and October 11th this year we will be running taster sessions for invited groups – if you think you may be interested please contact us on the email below.
For more information contact Adrian: email: sbsc.accessible.sailing@gmail.com or visit our website https://www.snetbeach.co.uk/
