Euro Gay Cup

The Euro Gay Cup will be returning to Blighty next year after a British team sailed to victory in Brighton last weekend. BRM came first in the Spinnaker Class and were awarded the cup. And a mixed German and British team, Pink Poseidon, also came first in the Non-Spinnaker Class. The cup had come to England after the same mixed British and German team won last year. All sailors were match-racing, sailing in the same type of eightmetre long Sigma 8 yachts. Despite forecasts of rain, the competition was blessed with bright sunshine and increasing winds.

Tragedy almost struck before the event when one of a flotilla of yachts sailing to Brighton from Portsmouth had an engine fire caused by an electrical fault. Luckily the crew dealt with the incident without the need to call the RNLI and no-one was injured.

Colin Weston, commadore of the gay Sailing and Cruising Association, which ran the event, said the weekend had been a success. “Next year we want to build on this and take it forward, hopefully involving more teams and countries from Europe,” he added.

Gay Sailors move to a Monthly London Meeting Venue

Gay and lesbian sailing group the Sailing and Cruising Association is enjoying a new venue for its monthly London pub nights, now at Kudos Bar near Charing Cross station. The nation-wide club meets there on the second Tuesday of each month, from 8pm in the downstairs bar.

Club commodore, Colin Weston , said “We were pleased that around 60 members including lots of women came for the first night at Kudos, and I think it’s going to be a popular venue for us. The monthly pub nights are key for new members or those visiting London to meet people and make the connections that lead to time on the water together. I hope that those who are wondering about joining will take the chance to come along and meet us.”

Kudos is at 10 Adelaide Street, London WC2. The only expected exception to the new arrangement will be in July, when the monthly meet will be the annual founders’ dinner at St Katherine’s Dock, where the club began in 1980. East Coast members continue to meet at the Ship Launch Inn, Ipswich , on the first Thursday of each month.

The Sailing & Cruising Association promotes sailing and boating among gays and lesbians and their families and friends. It has over 300 members, some 100 of whom are boat owners, mostly of sail or power cruisers. Members crew for each other and also club together to charter boats at home and abroad. The association encourages members to train for safe boating, and is affiliated to boating’s governing body the Royal Yachting Association.