Commodores Corner
Published 5:01pm on 31 Aug 2026
There are times when you take a moment to look around the club and realise just how much is happening and, more importantly, how many people are making it happen. August has certainly been one of those months.
We started with another successful RYA Level 1 course, with six members completing the course, and followed that with our RYA inspection, which Elton successfully passed. Our commitment to training continues to grow too, with five new Dinghy Instructors successfully completing their course during August.
That is something we should all be incredibly proud of. Developing sailors is important, but developing the people who will teach, encourage and inspire the next generation of Elton sailors is every bit as valuable.
Away from formal training, it has been fantastic to see the club so busy.
Our Saturday Social Sailing sessions have continued to be extremely well attended, while our Junior and Ladies Thursday evenings have gone from strength to strength. Whether someone is learning, building confidence, racing or simply enjoying being on the water, seeing members using and enjoying the club is what it is all about.
August also brought another brilliant family event with our Treasure Hunt Day on 19th August. A huge thank you to everyone involved in putting it together and to all the families who came along and made the day such a success. We are already looking forward to doing it again next year!
On the racing side, the Wednesday Autumn Pursuit Series has kept the midweek competition going, while the Late Summer Handicap Series finished with an incredible 27 boats taking part across the series.
We were also proud to welcome visitors for the Solo Open hosted at Elton, with four Elton boats representing the club, and further afield two of our boats competed in the Round the Island Puffin Race, returning with fantastic 1st and 7th place finishes.
Every one of those achievements tells part of the same story. Elton is busy progressing and is a club full of people who are prepared to get involved.
None of this simply happens, courses need instructors, racing needs race teams and safety crews. Social Sailing needs volunteers, events need organising. The clubhouse, grounds and equipment need looking after and behind virtually everything that happens at Elton there are members quietly giving their time to make it possible.
To every person who has volunteered, instructed, organised, raced, sailed, cooked, helped, supported or simply turned up and joined in during August, thank you.
The atmosphere around the club this summer has been fantastic, and everybody who contributes to it should feel proud of what we are building together.
And September is looking just as busy…
The lighter evenings may be beginning to disappear, but there is absolutely no sign of Elton slowing down.
Our final two Wednesday Autumn Pursuit evenings take place on 2nd and 9th September, with the series prizegiving following the final race. The new Autumn Handicap Series then gets underway on Sunday 13th September, continuing on 20th and 27th September during the month.
For those who prefer something a little shorter and faster, we have Sprint Racing on Sunday 6 September, with a series of fun racing formats open to members.
Social Sailing continues on Saturdays 5th, 12th and 19th September, giving members another chance to practise, build confidence or simply enjoy an afternoon afloat.
Training continues too. Our next RYA Level 1 and Level 2 courses run over 5th and 6th September, followed by the RYA Safety Boat course on 19th and 20th September. We also have our First Aid course across the evenings of 21st and 28th September.
And there is more competitive sailing to look forward to, as Elton hosts the final event of this year's North West Senior Travellers Series on Tuesday 22nd September, followed by our ILCA Open on Saturday 26th September.
Alongside all of that, we have some fantastic social and community events planned, including our September Burger Night, the Blind Association Taster Sailing Day and, of course, our Moon Festival on Friday 25th September.
There really is something for everybody.
So whether you race every week, have only recently learned to sail, prefer Social Sailing, enjoy the social side of the club or haven't been down for a little while, come and be part of it.
September is going to be another fantastic month at Elton.
See you at the club.
Last updated 5:01pm on 31 August 2026
