The boathouse is officially opened!

It seems a long time since we first described our plans to extend the Clubhouse with a boathouse. In retrospect, starting in January 2020 was a mistake as we had not anticipated the floods (remember those?) Covid, lock-downs, more Covid and the rest. However, at last, the work is complete and we were delighted to hold an official opening ceremony on Sunday 8th August.

The weather had not quite finished with us and although we managed to run the Yorkshire Water Trophy race in the morning, the winds, dark skies and rain kept away many of our expected visitors and not a single craft made it to the water for the intended afternoon of silly games and a Treasure Hunt on the water.

Nevertheless, a few hearty souls gathered and were greeted by the Commodore, Steve Hiley, who described the project’s development before Barrie Jones who instigated the project gave thanks to the various individuals, builder Andy Spencer, the Millenium Trust, architects Bowman and Riley, and others who had made the build possible.

The honour of cutting the ribbon was given to Ian Kennedy who has been a member since he was a lad and can even recall the days before there was any clubhouse at all. Members had to make do with a chemical toilet for ‘facilities’ and a run up and down the lane if they got cold in those pre-wetsuit days.

The club is run entirely by volunteers. Water activities go on all year round at the reservoir and we have been delighted to welcome many new members over the last few months.

We hope to have another social event in September.

If you have an interest in dinghy sailing, windsurfing, canoeing or stand-up paddleboarding, have a look at the details of our club facilities and our membership information and rates at cravensailingclub.org.uk or by emailing us at cravensailing@gmail.com

Al Cass