• La Gomera beach

  • Liz trimming

  • Isle de Houat lunchtime anchorage

  • Early morning hoist

  • Dolphins alongside BB

  • All sails up

  • Sailing around La Gomera

  • Navigating in Amsterdam

Copyright 2020 - Design by Ctoption Review - BBSC

This year's adventures...

Brighton Belle is nearly home!

 

After five months in lockdown in Tenerife, Brighton Belle is safely tucked up in Gosport - having completed a passage of nearly 2,000 miles from Tenerife via Gran Canaria, Madeira and Plymouth.

Organising the return passage was no mean feat - requiring a tightrope walk of Covid-19 developments and regulations, ordering parts, organising work, hiring a satellite phone for weather reports and ... last but by no means least ... passage planning. Led by Stewart Henton, we had a return crew of six and completed the bulk of the trip (Gran Canaria to Plymouth) in just under two weeks.

We had flat seas, lots of sunshine, amazing starry nights, and we loved meeting several pods of dolphins as we travelled. Have a look at this wonderful video of speckled dolphins saying hello to us 500 miles west of the Portuguese coast.

We would have liked more wind for crossing the Bay of Biscay - ended up doing a lot of motoring - but were grateful to arrive in Plymouth just a few hours before storm Ellen set in.

You can also read about the trip in an article in Sussex Bylines: My 2000-mile lockdown recue mission. And for a day-by-day account of the passage, see our Return from lockdown blog. 

 

What next?

 

Over the next few weeks we'll be completing some maintenance jobs in the Solent, keeping a close eye on the RYA's Covid-19 guidance, and hope to offer a cruising programme soon. In the meantime, we are keen to get out on the water and will be organising some taster sails. Keep an eye on our events calendar to join in.  

Brighton Belle Sailing Club is a fantastic opportunity to sail a well-equipped Oyster 55 ketch, perfectly suited for blue water cruising around the UK and beyond. The world truly is our oyster! We plan an exciting sailing progamme each year, for members to join for one, two or more weeks at a time or for whatever 'hops' they fancy. To find out more, have a look at our video.

Members get first dibs at booking the cruises, so do think about joining us. We welcome new members, and we have a provisional membership scheme which enables guests to sail with us for a limited period. Please explore our website or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who are we?

The members of Brighton Belle Sailing Club (featured in this article in the January 2016 edition of Yachting Monthly) share ownership of a beautiful blue water cruising yacht and sail her to wonderful destinations, both near and far. 

We are all hobbyists who love messing about in boats. We arrange extended yearly cruises together, giving us the opportunity of sailing in company and exploring more distant sailing areas. 

The good news is you can sail with us as an owner/member or as a provisional member of Brighton Belle Sailing Club. 

Brighton Belle is our 55 foot ketch-rigged yacht. She is a very seaworthy, well maintained Oyster 55, with luxury accommodation for up to 8 people and a fantastic range of equipment to make cruising and living on board a delight. See more about Brighton Belle.

We all pay sailing fees only when we are on board. These are not for profit but set to cover all of the ongoing costs of boat ownership and maintenance. In this way, we get to sail Brighton Belle together for a very small fraction of the cost of normal yacht ownership. This is a yacht share with a big difference.

Every year we take her on a long cruise to destinations such as the Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly, Ireland, Western Isles of Scotland, France, Spain, the Canary Isles, etc. Read about some of the previous cruises of Brighton Belle here.  Future plans include cruising to the Faroe Islands and Norway, the Baltic, the Mediterranean, the Azores and....well that's where you come in. Join us and choose where you want to sail. 

If you would like to come for a sail with us as a guest or would like to know more, contact our This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Extensive sailing experience is not required, just a passion for sailing in beautiful places with friends. 

Brighton Belle is jointly owned by all of our members and membership shares are still available. To join and own an equal share requires a once-only payment of £4000 and, as a member, you will be able to sail with Brighton Belle on as many of our arranged cruises as you have time for, all at very low cost.  For the small print see how to join Brighton Belle Sailing Club.

As a member you will be encouraged to develop your sailing skills with the support of our experienced skippers or mates, and if you feel this is for you, you could be one of the skippers yourself when you are ready.

Why not come and meet us for a day sail on Brighton Belle, to see if it's for you? See our events list for details of the planned day sails coming up and let the skipper know you would like to join in. 

Thanks to one of our guests, Shawn Vader, for this video taken during the 2016 Royal Escape Race.

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