Winter months can provide the biggest challenges for sailors, as winds can be strong, waves large and the sea temperatures dropping to 7C.
The Lord’s Taverners stepped in to mitigate some of these risks by purchasing the new, fully-fitted-out rescue craft.
Alan Trustum, the newly appointed chairman of the Lord’s Taverners in Guernsey, arranged a fundraising quiz night hosted by TV personality Chris Tarrant back in March.
This event and some of the previous Lord’s Taverners Guernsey events raised the necessary funds to purchase the new craft.
This now provides a full complement of cover for coaching activities of the GYC and the Guernsey Sailing Trust.
The assets of GYC’s junior sections are equally shared with the trust, which includes the water-borne safety craft.
The trust was established over 35 years ago to provide sailing tuition to the island’s schools through term time.
The extensive number of summer courses provided require many support craft, so this new Bombard greatly enhances safety.
Mike Chapple, the GYC rear commodore for juniors, highlighted the section’s successes, which include national and world age-group champions and numerous members in national squads.
‘The support provided by the Lord’s Taverners is invaluable in providing the extra cover needed throughout the winter months for the Guernsey Yacht Club,’ he said.
‘This will enable the club to provide extra training for those that represent the club off-island and those that represent Great Britain.
‘In addition, the Guernsey Sailing Trust will have the much-sought additional safety cover to help promote grassroots sailing during the school summer break, for abled and disabled members of our community.’
Trustum added: ‘Without the support of the local Guernsey community at its fundraising events, it would not be possible for the Guernsey Region of the Lord’s Taverners to assist local children in sport.
‘Equally, the Lord’s Taverners are pleased to have been able to assist with keeping our young adults safe on the water, through both the Guernsey Sailing Trust and the Guernsey Yacht Club.’
Anyone interested in sailing can contact the trust’s Sarah Creasey on info@sailingtrust.org.gg or Chapple on rcjuniors@gyc.org.gg.
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