Papercourt SC

An RYA Champion Club, Papercourt Sailing Club was established in 1961 when sailors reached an agreement with the local gravel extraction company to sail on its water.  With many alterations to the geography of the lake in the early years, our lake currently stands at around 44 acres of water on 50 acres of land.  Papercourt is situated close to Junction 10 of the M25 and just outside Ripley village.

Papercourt offers an extremely friendly, inclusive, family atmosphere with no paid staff; a club run for and by the members with the aim of providing a safe and fun environment in which to develop our sailing skills.  You can join the club as a non sailing individual or family, without owning a boat, learn to sail at very reasonable cost, make loads of friends and then after some training you can get friendly advice about which boat to buy.  Many members have done just that, and then become part of the team training the next generation!

The Clubhouse offers a large clubroom with bar, kitchen, two training rooms and free Wifi. We have modern, spacious changing rooms with decent showers and facilities for the disabled.  The bar is open to members during club hours and Wednesday evenings.  There is a communal brick barbecue which members can use and often on summer Wednesday evenings and weekends after sailing someone will throw some coal on and have an impromptu barbecue for anyone who wants to join in.

There is a small area of the lake within close proximity to the clubhouse where beginners and others who don’t want to race can practice their skills and enjoy time on the water during club racing.

As well as open meetings for our main classes, we hold club mini-series or one day regattas over the bank holiday weekends, a club 6 hour race in small teams and a club “Champion of Champions” alongside a separate regatta for those who have yet to win a trophy.  2008 saw our very successful inaugural club team racing championships and we regularly send teams to the Wilson Trophy.  Our “Peppercorn” team are the 2009 National Women’s Team Racing Champion and Papercourt has entered a team for the Southport 24 Hour Race for 41 out of the 42 years the event has been running!  We often host the Surrey Schools Regatta and have an annual fun day in the summer with games on and off the water.

Our socials are legendary and almost always sell out. We keep them affordable for the whole family as a result of an active and energetic social committee.  Typically the season starts with a themed setting up supper, then a Summer Hog Roast and barn dance, bonfire night party and silly games, an annual “posh frock” prize giving and then we round up the year with a Christmas fish and chip supper with a quiz.  Even our twice yearly work party becomes a social event with a 2 course home cooked lunch set out on long tables in the clubhouse.

We have an extremely active membership with no paid staff and a club which is run for and by the members.  Safety boat, Assistant, Officer of the Day, Principal Race Officer and Assistant Race Officer are staffed on a rota basis by members, with training available for all roles.  Committees are in place for Sailability, Sailing, Training, House, Bar and Social – all made up of club members.

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