Where to sail when in London?

mee168

New Member
Hi.. it is me again with another question... I have so many questions in my head and I am glad to have joined this forum... :D

Where can we sail if we are in London? Be it dinghy or any other sailing related activity..
I know that London is a city so sailing in this city does not seem possible. :confused:

Where is the nearest place to sail? :eek:

Where to sail,,, where to sail? Is it gotta be expensive?
 
Thanks LPW.... I hope this place is somewhere accessible from London central. I did a search of 'sailing in london' using yahoo and found 'London Corinthian Sailing Club' which is along River Thames...

Any idea if this club offers dinghy rental to visitors of London? Is it good?
 
mee168 said:
Thanks LPW.... I hope this place is somewhere accessible from London central. I did a search of 'sailing in london' using yahoo and found 'London Corinthian Sailing Club' which is along River Thames...

Any idea if this club offers dinghy rental to visitors of London? Is it good?

Googled it: http://www.lcsc.org.uk/ The site says:

"Club racing for Enterprise and Laser fleets on the river. Most weekends, two hours before high tide. Excursions and competitive LCSC teams. Boats can be hired, or covered boat storage for your own. "

I saw the club from the river when we visited England this past year and took a short ferry ride to Greenwich. It looked very enticing. I envy you! The current is pretty strong in the Thames, so potentially you could have a great wild ride.
 
Merrily said:
Googled it: http://www.lcsc.org.uk/ The site says:
"Club racing for Enterprise and Laser fleets on the river. Most weekends, two hours before high tide. Excursions and competitive LCSC teams. Boats can be hired, or covered boat storage for your own. "

I read that too. Not exactly confirmed whether I may be going London as of now. But there is a chance for me to visit London for a month or so.. So, I thought since going to stay there for a while and will miss my sailing here... might as well start looking for sailing opportunity... hee hee :p

I read about the current awareness stuffs for sailing in river... the current could be stronger than in sea which is more open... so tends to worry...

The other times I went Philippines (Manila) for 10 days, I also tried to look for sailing activity... but I was too busy with work and the activity area is not accessible from the city.. so idea dropped. :rolleyes:
 
mee168 said:
I. But there is a chance for me to visit London for a month or so.
I read about the current awareness stuffs for sailing in river... the current could be stronger than in sea which is more open... so tends to worry...

If you get to sail there, you must write and tell us about it!

As far as current goes, get a tide chart and go when the club advises, and when there is some wind to work with. Wind shouldn't be a problem. England is breezy. You'll be OK. Also, maybe you could find a sailing buddy there who can show you the ropes.

Anybody from Corinthian Sailing Club a member here at the forum? Anybody?
 
mee168 said:
Thanks LPW.... I hope this place is somewhere accessible from London central.

The place i mentioned is easily accesible from the centre of London via the DLR from tower hill.

I think you have to be a member of London corinthian to hire their boats, not sure though!
 
I used to be a member at Datchet Water Sailing Club. www.dwsc.co.uk It is a massive reservoir which you most likely fly over when you land at Heathrow. Despite the planes it is pretty good considering you are only 15 miles or so west of Trafalgar Square. Datchet Watersports (sailing school at the reservoir) have Lasers and other boats which you can hire out. Alternatively if you speak nicely enough to a member they might take you as a crew.
 
Wow. Datchet Water Sailing Club seems to be quite far away from the city.. although it is active in racing activities...

If for convenience, London corinthian club is more preferred.. Any idea how many sailing clubs along river Thames?
 
I used to get the train to Datchet from London Waterloo. I would actually get off at Sunnymeads which is the stop before Datchet, then walk the last mile to the reservoir entrance. Then I would usually get a lift back into central London from someone.

I know it sounds a bit of an epic, and although the London Corinthian is great and they usually get a good few boats out, the tide running in the Thames is awesome, so stemming the tide is an art form! Datchet is a massive expanse of water which gives a great break out of the city.

However as I think mentioned above, Royal Victoria Docks hire out boats which might be of interest. In London you are rather restricted by the number of bridges hence there aren't many clubs along the Thames.

You could go east towards Essex - Thorpe Bay Yacht Club is at Southend which you can reach by train from Liverpool Street station in about 90 minutes.

Alternatively Island Barn Sailing Club is not far from Hampton Court which is half an hour from London Waterloo by train.

Hope this helps a little.
 
Wow.. thanks Sarah.. your inputs will do great help.. Letz see what can be done if I really get here... Will definitely share my experience with you all... if I ultimately make it to sail in London, even for just one time... :)
 

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