In 2005 I moved to Hayling because I have a keen interest in sailing dinghies and it is the ideal place to enjoy the sport.

It is impossible to launch a small sailing boat on the Island because there is nowhere to do so that is suitable or not prohibitively expensive!

I have enquired about joining HISC many times, but they are full and they do not appear to consider the needs of the local community.

Their membership charges are prohibitive to many people and they seem only interested in specific classes of boat which benefit them through sponsorship.

This is something very difficult to understand when the sailing club existed originally as a local facility.

It was only made possible to rebuild and expand the facility by using a National Lottery grant and with council permission.

The expansion of HISC using the Lottery grant has excluded local residents from the club, and prevents anyone from launching their sailing boats on the Sandy Point corner of the Island unless they are members.

I have complained about this to the National Lottery.

In 2007, I joined Hayling Ferry Sailing Club mainly because it appeared to be my only option.

This would have been a satisfactory solution except that this year it has become extremely difficult to launch a boat there because we have lost our slipway because of an increased incline of the beach drop-off.

It is not possible to launch and drag a boat up there without significant help or a powerful winch.

The council have stopped us from improving the slipway which means we cannot launch the boats without extreme difficulty. There is nowhere else to launch a boat!

The facilities at Hayling Ferry are completely used up by power boats and it would be madness to try and compete with them.

It is bad enough with them getting in the way of sailing boats on the open water, and it's impossible to launch in the same area.

There is nowhere on the seafront where there are not barriers stopping the launch of a boat. As a Hayling resident, I object to this situation.

Many other areas along the coast have suitable places where sailing dinghies can be launched without expensive membership and where there is adequate parking.

I was bought up in Essex on Mersea Island, similar to Hayling, where we were able to sail whenever we wanted without limitation or cost.

It was optional to keep a boat at a small annual cost in a boat park right near to a hard area leading into the sea.
Sailing was not seen as an expensive, exclusive sport which required membership of a club.

Such facilities would encourage a healthy interest in sailing and additional tourism. The council control much of the land that would allow access to the beach for launching.

I noticed there is an initative to encourage kite surfing and windsurfing. After all the sea is a free playground.

There is also plenty of parking encouraging motor vehicles on the Island – however it appears that dinghy sailing for local residents has been forgotten.

Stephen James
Sandy Beach Estate
Hayling