5th July: A Spectacular Start to Our 50th Anniversary Celebrations

Published 10:01 on 9 Jul 2025

Wow what a fantastic 50th Anniversary Celebration, filled with fun, adventure, and plenty of laughter—both on and off the water!

Despite a breezy forecast of 13 knots with gusts reaching up to 20 (which felt somewhat understated), our enthusiastic community of sailors and paddle boarders embraced the elements and made the most of every moment on the water.

Highlights from Day 1 on the water included:

• Junior Festival of Sailing
  Our young sailors impressed with their spirit, skill, and enthusiasm, making the festival a standout success.
• Treasure Hunt on the Water
  A creative challenge had participants searching for clues leading to a tricky anagram. Congratulations to Sam, our clever winner!
• Regatta Racing Challenging and Competitive
  Out of 24 boats that braved the conditions, nine did not finish—proof of just how tough it was on the water.
  Congratulations to our prize winners:
  • 1st Place: Tim & Nico (Mirror)
  • 2nd Place: Jamie & Hannah (RS200)
  • 3rd Place: Nick (ILCA 6)
• Additional prizes were awarded in true regatta spirit:

          - Runners-Up: Nigel & Amy (RS200)
          - First International Visitors (from Wales): Moley & Mandy (Scorpion)
          - First Youth: Elliot (Topper)
          - First Novices: Nick & Zoe (Vision)

• Paddle Boarding Challenge

         Our determined paddle boarders completed a full lap of the reservoir, demonstrating balance and resilience in tough wind conditions

What an incredible start to our 50th Anniversary weekend! Once 3:45 p.m. was upon us the water closed and as 4:00 p.m. rolled round, our off the water party atmosphere took over and our ticketed BIGGEST EVER 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION began, and what a celebration it was!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who made it so special:

Nottingham Concert Band  for kicking off our afternoon with toe-tapping movie scores and uplifting classics!
Elizabeth Simons, our amazing Commodore for the heartfelt words that launched the event. (If you missed Lizs "50 Years of Staunton" video in the bar, dont worry well be providing links to it, and plan to show it again later this anniversary year)
Stuart Childerley  our very own Olympian and World Champion sailor, who began his journey right here at Staunton as a boy sailing Mirrors and Fireballs, for sharing his memories of Staunton and his sailing career to date
Amy and Ben's Kitchen  for keeping everyone happily fed with delicious Caribbean Street Food!
HarriPain  for the magical acoustic set filled with all-time favourites.
The Whiskey Chasers  for getting everyone up and dancing well into the night!
Charnwood Brewery  for their generous keg donation, colourful banner flags, and fantastic support!
Our wonderful bar volunteers  we couldnt have done it without you!
Wendy Jones and her team  for transforming our venue with incredible decorations!
Amy Pepperdine, Charlotte Graham, Grahame Newton and team  for organising our BIGGEST EVER SUMMER PARTY with all the bells, whistles and more to ensure we all had the BEST TIME!

And most importantly thank YOU to everyone who came and brought the energy, the smiles, and the spirit.

Heres to the rest of our 50th Anniversary year and many more celebrations to come!

Last updated 11:57 on 9 July 2025