On Sunday, nearly 160 visitors braved the chilly conditions to try their hand at sailing at the St Edmundsbury Sailing & Canoeing Association’s (SESCA) Open Day at Lackford Lake, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

The event formed part of the Royal Yachting Association’s ‘Push The Boat Out’ initiative to encourage everyone to get out on the water and celebrate sailing and boating.  During May, sailing clubs and water sports centres across the country are opening their doors and inviting the public to come along and try sailing for free.

Mike Steele, SESCA’s event organiser, said: ‘Everybody seems to have thoroughly enjoyed themselves and spoke enthusiastically about their experience and impressions of the Club. It was great to see so many people out on the water enjoying themselves.  SESCA is located in a beautiful part of West Suffolk, on the edge of a wildlife reserve.

They had a total of 156 visitors and gave 144 sailing tasters. The kayaking also proved very popular. They received payment for one family membership on the day and four other families indicated that they intend to join. A further 30 visitors took away membership application forms, which bodes well.’

The Club is very grateful to Haart Bury St Edmunds, who kindly provided ‘For Sail’ signs to help promote the event; BBC Radio Suffolk, who invited SESCA to talk about the ‘Push The Boat Out’ in Suffolk on their Sunday morning programme; SESCA Group Members: WASH Sailability, who took out visitors in their disabled sailing Access dinghies and the Mildenhall and Newmarket Sea Cadets, who provided a colourful display of their water sports activities on the Lake.

SESCA is one of the most isolated sailing clubs in the country.  It is the only sailing club in West and Mid Suffolk and SW Norfolk. It prides itself on being accessible to all with very low membership fees and a fleet of Club boats available for members to hire at token cost. Anyone who missed the Open Day is most welcome to visit the Club to find out more about it’s activities.

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