MP Pushes the Boat Out at Orford SC 

Therese Coffey MP officially opened the Orford SC’s extended dinghy park and new changing facilities, built with the aid of a £50,000 grant from Sport England, as part of Push the Boat Out.

Orford Sailing Club opened its doors and invited people to come along and have a go at sailing as part of RYA Push the Boat Out weekend (17-18 May 2014).   

The event, part of National Watersports Month, saw 260 open days and sailing taster sessions take place across the country, drawing some 24000 visitors and inspiring over 17,000 people of all ages and abilities to take to the water.   

As part of the occasion at Orford Therese Coffey MP officially opened the club’s extended dinghy park and new changing facilities, built with the aid of £50,000 grants from Sport England, part of the £135 million Places People Play legacy celebrating the link to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.   

Perfect weather attracted a good crowd of visitors both young and old who showed great interest in membership as well as the taster and OnBoard sessions as an introduction to the sport. By the end of the afternoon all available places on the sessions had been taken.   

Many visitors including Dr. Coffey enjoyed boat trips on the River Ore. The club put on a show with displays on shore of boats old and new, and on the water demonstration dinghy races by younger members. Refreshments were on offer throughout.   

Club Commodore, Chris Gill said: “We are proud to have a family orientated club which already attracts many young families. We provide something for everyone including racing and cruising, in dinghies and yachts or just pottering about on the river. “        

RYA Sport Development Manager, Duncan Truswell added: “We’re grateful to the many clubs, centres and volunteers who supported Push the Boat Out. This year 140% more clubs took part and as a result we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of people attending the events and those experiencing sailing.   

“Push the Boat Out is all about people connecting with their local sailing club or provider and discovering how easy it is to get involved in the sport. So far we know that clubs gained more than 1,000 personal memberships and over 500 families became members of the clubs they visited. For our clubs and the sport this is a huge success.  We’re now analysing the great feedback we received from the clubs and using it to inform the planning of next year’s event in order to deliver a bigger and better opportunity for clubs to promote themselves in 2015.”   

Orford Sailing Club, situated on the foreshore of the River Ore close to Orford Quay, is a friendly, open club. The Rivers Alde and Ore provide some 16 miles of river sailing at all states of the tide, from the picturesque Snape Maltings, to Shingle Street at the mouth of the river. For more information visit www.orfordsail.org.uk