Exeter University Sailing Club needs your help to continue our success

Our story

The University of Exeter Sailing Club is one of the largest and most successful university sailing clubs in the country. As a club, we pride ourselves on both our competitive successes and our ability to inspire and encourage a large student body to learn to sail for the first time.

This year we have had over 200 casual sailors hit the water in a bid to learn to sail, 15 intermediate racers improving their skills to try and make their way into the university’s competitive setup, and 30 sailors regularly representing the university at national events. Competitively, 2019 was the most successful year EUSC has ever witnessed. With our best ever BUCS point and medal tally, along with receiving the university’s ‘Club of the Year award’. These achievements have cemented our position at the top of the University Sailing Club leader board.

The pace of change at the club is truly phenomenal; with membership continuing to rise year on year, we must ensure we have the equipment to allow this to continue and not restrict our further growth. As a result of their constant use, our boats, some of which are ten years old, are rapidly deteriorating. The condition of our boats is beginning to affect how we train and how much time we have to teach sailing due to all the small jobs and fixes they often require before our sessions.

Many of the other top university clubs in the country do not face such difficulties as they have a rolling ‘Firefly replacement scheme’. This allows 6 boats to be replaced every 5 years – a scheme that safeguards the longevity of clubs.

This year, EUSC has the unique opportunity to kick start a rolling replacement scheme of our own and we would highly appreciate any involvement you can bring to this project.

The project

To ensure the longevity of the club and start up our rolling replacement scheme we need to buy a new flight of 6 boats. Purchasing 6 new fireflies costs £46,000; so far we have been able to secure a significant investment from the University of £15,000, then after the the sale of our 6 oldest boats for £15,000 and a number of other avenues we will have raised the majority of the funds needed. However, we still require ‘one last push’ to get us to £46,000, so we are crowdfunding with the aim of securing the final £6,000 of funding.

It is here where your help would be overwhelmingly appreciated as we are so close to our final target, any donation that you can make will bring us one step closer to safeguarding sailing for many generations of EUSC sailors to come.

*If we don't reach this £6,000 target by 30 April 2020, any money raised will be ring fenced to purchase these 6 fireflies, once our £46,000 overall target is met.

Why 6 fireflies?

Whilst our boats are used evenly between both social sailors and team racers, it is essential we conform to team racing standards when purchasing our new fleet. In Team Racing, a team of 3 boats race against another team of 3 boats aiming to finish the race in an overall winning combination. To ensure even and fair racing between teams, boats are bought in ‘flights’ of 6 boats.

What’s in it for you?

This project will bring together a large group of people from all corners of the club working in sync to encourage young sailors into the sport we all love. You’ll be able to see your commitment make a positive impact as our teams continue their success in competitions across the country and our beginners continue to flourish into active sailors. Whether you are a current member, alumni, or family member of someone currently at the club; however small your donation, your investment is sure to be putting a smile on the faces of students at the university sailing club that either you or a loved one is so dearly connected to.

We can assure you that your help in setting up this rolling replacement scheme will contribute to hundreds of sailors being able to get out on the water every week for many years to come. In addition to this, we have a number of rewards (shown below) ranging from club merchandise to even naming one of our new boats!

We hope that we have expressed how much any investment into this project would mean to us and hope that we can look to work closely with you in the future.

Our kindest regards,

The EUSC family.