ABOUT US
The University of Bristol Sailing Club is one of Bristol’s liveliest and most successful clubs. With over 150 members last year, we offer a wide range of opportunities to get on the water, as well as an active and welcoming social scene.
If you've been sailing for years and are looking to compete on the university circuit or have never been on a boat before, we would love to hear from you!
⚓️
SUMMER SAIL WEEK 2027! 🌞
Truly the Piece-de-resistance at UBSC, Summer Sail Week 2027 is back bigger and better than before!
We will be spending a week, floating off the coast of Greece on a 40ft yacht with you and your mates, after exams in June. With no experience needed beyond enjoying lying on the deck of a yacht, we provide the boat, the skippers and the parties, through the company Armarda.
By day (what you tell your granny) we sail, tan, swim, and explore the islands and; and by night we have boat parties, beach parties and go clubbing ashore under the wide Grecian night sky. Summer sail week is a must for all students to attend, and we join other universities on their Sail Weeks so the socials are second to none. Tickets usually go on sail from TB1, with our Launch Party explaining all the details and plan, so keep an eye out for this on the UBSC Instagram.
Get in touch with Casper, our Trip Sec, for more information!
Social Sailing
Want to give sailing a go? Try Social Sailing!
Social sailing offers a fun chance to get out on the water, in the heart of Bristol. Come and join us for give it a go sessions in September and January! With volunteer coaching from our qualified RYA Instructors, there's the opportunity to get some sailing qualifications, or just go out for a joyride. Remember- ALL abilities are welcome, and zero previous ecperience is required.
We sail at All Aboard in the picturesque Bristol Harbour at Baltic Warf Sailing Club on Wednesday Afternoons, finishing in time to get ready for the evening social!
We aim to give those involved the basic skills to sail a boat independently and get some RYA qualifications out the back of it! Once we've done a few of the basics, we hope to get down to Chew as much as we can.
You will be taught by our club members, who are RYA qualified instructors, in boats such as Hartley 10's, Zests and Fevas.
Later in the year, once we've covered some of the basics, we like to take social sailors down to Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club (where our team racers go to train!) to practice their skills in a larger sailing space and in a wider variety of boats.
Team racing
Team Racing is sailed in Fireflies, it consists of 3 boat teams pitted against each other on short 5-10 minute courses with the aim of having as many of your boats finish in front of the other teams boats as possible.
We encourage everyone with any dinghy sailing experience to sign up, we are not looking just for those with prior team racing experience and we value the commitment to training just as much as the skill of the sailor.
Development Squad
The goal of the development squad is to train team racing with the goal of moving into a performance squad the year after. The development squads will train on and off water (pub theory!) as frequently as possible and compete in the Bristol Brew and Bath Robe, with opportunities to fill in for Performance Squad teams throughout the year.
Performance Squad
The performance squads are the 4 main teams that the club will send to competitions. Only 3 teams can compete in BUCS events but all will go to most of the university sailing club run events during the year. Typically the 1st and 2nd teams train on Wednesdays, while the 3rd and 4th teams train on Saturdays.
However, this changes when teams are away competing at the weekends. There will be many away events for these teams.
Yachting
Cruising Weekends
Following a rough three-day plan of Solent ‘cruising’ a night out in the gorgeous town of Cowes, the home of yachting, crusing weekends offer the best of relaxed sailing. Over half our crews last year had no prior sailing experience, and when introduced to Bristol Yachting, they caught the bug, and just kept coming back!
BUCS
Serious yacht racers are often considered a smaller university demographic than the likes of Rugby, Hockey and Dinghy Sailing, they are by no means a less tenacious bunch than their sporting counterparts. The coveted BUCS Yachting Nationals will return in April 2027, raced on Oceanis 37 yachts with 8 crew, in 2025, we came 4th. We will be keen to assemble a well-oiled Bristol-Uni machine to take on universities from around the country in a week-long regatta, what's not to be excited about!
707s
For those keen to get involved in regular big boat sailing, there are opportunities every weekend to sail our Hunter 707 keelboat in Cardiff Bay. Noush, our Yachting captain, will be offering a range of sessions- from beginner training, to racing teams. Cardiff Bay Yacht Club have also offered us the chance to get involved in their round-the-cans races with club members, a brilliant way to get experience in the yacht racing world
Match Racing
Match Racing is one of UBSCs strongest disciplines in recent history, with the club taking 1st place at BUCS in 2022 and 2nd in 2023! If you have no idea what Match Racing is, watch the America’s Cup!
There are several events held throughout the year, and training held regularly in Hunter 707’s in Cardiff Bay. The season culminates with the BUCS Match Racing Nationals, held at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in Elliot 6ms.
Day Skipper
Every year we help to organise Day Skipper courses for UBSC members with Prometheus Sailing in Portsmouth. These courses teach you all the necessary skills to skipper a sailing yacht, and provide you with the certificate needed to charter a boat.
Socials
Held every Wednesday evening throughout term, the socials are a great opportunity for everyone to get together from all areas of the club! We pride ourselves in inclusivity and want everyone to feel welcome at our socials. Whether you grew up on a sail boat or you’ve have never stepped in one in your life, we would love to for you to come down and join us on a Wednesday evening.
Each week the social will be different, ranging from curry socials to pub quizzes to the annual Xmas dinner and Bristol Brew…, with the night always ending with a boogie.
Your social secs (Maya and Finn) would love to hear from you, especially if there is anything you are unsure about. Follow our instagram @bristolsailing for information on the first few socials, but weekly event details will go up on our Facebook - so give that a follow too!
Sustainability
This year we are taking part in the Green Blue University Sustainability Challenge again after claiming the 2026 winning title! The challenge aims to stimulate new attitudes as to how our club operates and improves our sailing-nature relationship. The Green Blue is an environmental programme from the RYA and British Marine, created to promote the sustainable use of coastal and inland waters by recreational boating. Our aim is to develop environmental best practices into all aspects of our sailing and help demonstrate this to the wider community, so that all sailing clubs can aspire to a more sustainable future. We really believe this is important as there are so many things we can do, no matter how small, to make a difference to the environment and there is always room to improve operations to become more sustainable.
CONTACT US
For any queries at all, including business and sponsorship, please don't hesitate to contact us on any of the following:
Postal Address:
University of Bristol Sailing Club
Richmond Building,
105 Queens Rd,
Bristol
BS8 1LN
Tel: 0117 331 8600