End of the 2025 Season at Porthpean Sailing Club
by Stacey Bray 18 Nov 10:05 NZDT
16 November 2025
End of the 2025 Season at Porthpean © Ken Fobbester
And that's a wrap!
Yesterday marked the final three races of the season and the official end of our 2025 sailing programme. It's been a fabulous year for the club, with some of the highest turnouts we've seen in recent seasons. Racing has been predominantly handicap-based, with the fleets split into Fast and Slow. The Tasar and Blaze fleets continue to be our strongest classes, but we've enjoyed competitive racing across a broad mix of popular boats, including Solos, Lasers, Scorpions and RS classes.
Our cup races have proved especially popular. We've worked hard to give these days a real "event" feel, and they've become a brilliant way to help members develop their sailing and racing in a positive, supportive environment. Some of the racing this year has been incredibly close—providing plenty of material for enthusiastic discussions in the bar afterwards!
As with all clubs, running events is essential to keeping our finances healthy, ensuring we can reinvest in safety equipment and keep everything in top condition. One of our more recent investments, the all-terrain vehicle fondly known as Don, has been a huge hit with members and visitors alike. Nimble enough to weave around summertime beachgoers and strong enough to haul several dinghies and safety boats up the slipway, Don has quickly become indispensable.
This year also saw many of our Tasar sailors travel to Lake Garda for the class's 50th Anniversary World Championship, and we were proud to host both the Blaze and Solo classes for their first-ever events at Porthpean — each a great success.
The club thrives because of our fantastic volunteers. We're incredibly fortunate to retain members who, even after giving up sailing, remain eager to support and be involved. With the workload that comes with hosting events, we're always mindful of keeping things fun for both participants and helpers. With that balance in mind, we've adopted a rhythm of hosting a National Championship every other year. Next up: we welcome back the Tasar Class for their Nationals from 3rd-5th July.
As Christmas approaches, members are now looking forward to our end-of-season laying-up supper, dinner and dance, with this season's prize-giving taking place at the club in January.
Our 2026 season opens on 15th March when we host a round of the Sailing South West Winter Series, and we look forward to seeing many of you there.
The next Sailing South West event will be at Paignton Sailing Club on 30th November for their popular Christmas Cracker pursuit race.
And finally, next year marks the club's 75th anniversary, and we're absolutely buzzing to make it a fantastic and memorable year of celebration.