ABOUT US
The University of Bristol Sailing Club is a well established club and is well known as one of Bristol University's liveliest and most successful clubs.
If you've been sailing for years and are looking to compete on the university circuit, have never been on a boat before, or anything in between, take a look at everything we do below and get in touch if you'd like to be involved!
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Social Sailing
Want to give sailing a go? Try Social Sailing!
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Our social sailing is a great way to get involved with the club and out on the water, whether you've had a go sailing before or never set foot in a boat.
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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.
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You will be taught by our club members, who are RYA qualified instructors, in boats such as Hartley 10's and 12's.
Later in the year, once we've covered some of the basics, we aim 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.
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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.
and 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.
The club also offers Strength and Conditioning training for those in the performance squads.
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 as frequently as possible and compete in the Bristol Brew.
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.
Yachting
Cruising Weekends
Many consider cruising weekends the pièce-de-resistance of UBSC yachting. These involve a weekend of sailing around the Solent in 40-foot yacht, generally including a curry social in Cowes on the Saturday night. If you’re keen to learn more about yacht sailing, cruising weekends are great experience, equally if you would rather lounge on deck while the skippers do the hard work then that is perfectly understandable.
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 2025, raced on Oceanis 37 yachts with 8 crew. 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.
707s
For those keen to get involved in regular big boat sailing, there are opportunities every weekend to sail 707 keelboats in Cardiff Bay. We encourage people of all abilities to get involved, as there is a range of sailing on offer, from round-the-cans races in the Bristol Channel, to Match Race training, as well as beginner sessions.
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 from the 28th to 30th of March 2025 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
It’s 60 years from now. You’re in your nursing home and Silas is raving about his football socials… Naff. He’s got no mates. You pull up on your electric scooter. The room falls silent. You whisper two words into your carer’s ear… “I sail” Everyone wants to know you. You’re painting with Prawn Vindaloo, chopping sherry with Margie and getting everyone into extravagant costumes every Wednesday. Don’t be like poor old Silas. Come to Sailing Socials.
Everyone is welcome at our socials whether you grew up sailing or have no idea what a boat is. Come and join the Wednesday night fun! Every Wednesday will be a different theme, from pub quizzes, to curry socials, to our annual Christmas dinner and notorious Bristol Brew social with the night always ending in our home, Lizard Lounge.
If Sports Night isn’t your scene, pop along to our monthly Sober Socials for coffee, pottery, walks and more!
We’d love to hear from you and we’ll be in touch soon with more info on the first social of 24/25, so make sure to join our Facebook group “University of Bristol Sailing Club, Freshers Facebook Group 24/25” and follow @bristolsailing on Instagram to keep up to date!​
Sustainability
​This year we are taking part in the Green Blue University Sustainability Challenge to stimulate new attitudes as to how our club operates. 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:
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University of Bristol Sailing Club
Richmond Building,
105 Queens Rd,
Bristol
BS8 1LN
Tel: 0117 331 8600