New club on target

Nigel Cherrie brings us updates us on the new 'super club' at Hayling Island

Right: The dining area...
Construction on the new club house started a month later but not before new sea defences were constructed, which included improved launching slips into
Chichester Harbour.

It may seem like an eternity to put these new facilities in place, but Hancock explained that there has been a lot of hurdles to overcome on the way.

"When the club recognised seven years ago that it had a problem with the old clubhouse, in that it was rotten and falling down, they started doing some work on design and designed the new building. It has changed a lot since then but the fundamental outside design hasn’t changed that much."

It took the club committee three attempts to push the right buttons with Lottery awards panel, but their bid was mounted during the early stages of Lottery funding for sport. It was a venture into the unknown for both parties. "We were very early into the Lottery process. They were learning on the job as well," he says.

RYA Secretary General Rod Carr, himself a member at Hayling, and Racing Manager John Derbyshire helped the club restructure its bid and proposal and secure the Sport England funding.

In return, Hayling will be one the key training camps for the RYA's youth and Olympic squads, starting this summer. Ben Ainslie and the Finn squad, Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell in the Star class and Shirley Robertson and her Yngling crew have already indicted they will train for their Athens campaigns from Hayling. The 49er and Europe classes are already sailing from the temporary facility.

The grant award to Hayling is not without considerable long-term commitment by the club and its members. It will provide levels of race management for national and international competition, coaching and training provision, race management, safety training and improvement of all standards of sailing skills at all levels within the club. The club will also promote personal development through participation in sailing activities, particularly for young people.

Judging by Hancock's closing words, Great Britain will at last have the facilities to match its world class sailors, "Everybody who looks at it says
'Wow'." And it's not even finished yet.

The main bar area...