Attending a Fleet Dinghy Cruise

If a calling notice has gone out advertising a daysail, there is some information that the Daysail Leader needs in order to plan the day.

You will be asked on every occasion to let the Daysail Leader know the following information.

1.Name(s) of attendees.

2. Contact numbers – including a telephone number for the evening before and early on the morning of the planned sail (if plans need to change or adverse weather forecast – Force 6 or more on the Inshore Forecast).

3. Contact details for a someone for us to reach out to in case of incident (only to be used if you are incapacitated).

4. Level(s) of sailing experience/qualification?

5. Number of club dinghy spaces?

6. Will you bring your own dinghy – if so do you require a crew?

7. Do you have a tow bar/can you tow a club dinghy?

Note that we do not ask you to provide medical information which your skipper may need by electronic methods. If you have a medical condition, please brief your skipper and OOD discreetly and verbally in advance.

We want to know this information for different reasons.

Requested Information Reason for asking for it
Name(s) of attendees. We need to know who is coming, if it’s more than one person please list all the people in your party
Contact numbers The planning of a dinghy daysail is sometimes very straightforward – if the weather has a stable pattern and the is a high likelihood of the cruise going ahead, then there’s no need to contact you at the last minute. However, sometimes the weather is changing every 6 hours, so we may need to contact you either late the night before or first thing in the morning. The Inshore Weather Forecast is published about 6am, and that’s the very last chance for the weather to be acceptable or unacceptable. We may need to contact you at the last moment and by phone or text. If we text you please text back to say you have received the last minute message.
Medical information If you have an ongoing medical concern and you may require those around you to take action to help you, both the OOD and your helm may need to know. Sailing is a physical activity, and you will be away from land for some hours, so we need to know of things that we need to look out for in order to maximise the chances of everyone being OK. There are limits to how a given event may support a member, and it may not be possible to accommodate all medical conditions.
Contact details for a contact in case of incident In the unlikely chance of some kind of incident happening, we will want to be able to contact someone and let them know. Since your emergency contact may change from week to week, we ask this every time.
Level(s) of sailing experience/qualification? So that we can plan a balanced crew in our fleet.
Will you require a club dinghy space(s)? If you are a Dinghy Section member, we need to know that you want a space in a club boat. It might be that you crew a privately owned dinghy even if you have signed up to crew a club boat – this is a good thing as it gives you the chance to sail in different types of dinghy.
Do you have a tow bar/can you tow a club dinghy? So that we can plan the logistics to get the boats to the launch point.

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Cody ‘Cycle Club’ February ride

It poured, it rained, it deluged, it dripped, it flooded. The rain in January and February 2026 was relentless. Simon and Stephen were chatting and they agreed that a Cody cycle ride was required to raise morale. A date was put in the diary and then every day it rained and deluged. It was hopeless. But then something strange happened. The chosen Saturday for the ride was a dry, bright and sunny day, all day!

We rode in brilliant sun with a cold northerly wind making us aware that it was still winter. The route was one of our favourites, from West Dean to West Wittering beach. This is a mainly off-road route that is purpose made for walkers and cyclists. The views from the path were so beautiful and we all glad to be alive and to be out in the fresh air. 

Cyclists pretending their bikes are a boat.

At the beach it was quite busy. We guessed that lots of people had seized the chance to get out after all the rain. We had lunch and then a gentle potter on the beach before heading home.

Stephen, Simon, Andy and Vanessa were from Cody on the ride and we were joined by three cycling friends. 

The photograph shows the cycle path with one of the great big puddles on it. In truth, much of it was dry, but this seemed like too good a photo opportunity to miss!

All in all, this was a wonderfully enjoyable day out in the depths of a very wet winter. Seize the day!  

Stephen Deakin