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Gay and lesbian sailing group, the Sailing and Cruising Association, is launching a year of events to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the club.
 Highlights of the 30th anniversary special events calendar include special charters in the Mediterranean and the Hebrides, participation in the Suffolk, London and Brighton Gay Prides, the south coast Summer Treasure Hunt, Cowes Week and Bank Holiday sailing rallies to Studland Bay (Dorset) and Honfleur (Normandy). On a competitive level, five teams from the club, The Gay UK Sailing Team (GUST), will be representing the UK at the international Gay Games in Cologne. The anniversary year will culminate in January 2011 with an S&CA contingent aboard Cunard's new Queen Elizabeth for her maiden trans-Atlantic voyage.
The club has proudly come a long way since its inception: Starting out as a social and networking organization for those interested in being on the water, it has now grown to over 400 members, around a quarter of whom are boat owners. The club has increasingly been celebrating high profile racing successes including silver and bronze medals in the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney, winner of the Euro Gay Sailing Cup in both 2007 and 2008, winner of the Junior Offshore Group (JOG) cross-channel series 2009 and has high hopes for their teams representing the UK at the August Cologne Gay Games.
The very first incognito meeting took place in the summer of 1980 at Dicken's Inn, St Katherine Docks. The club's founder had placed adverts in the gay papers, in search of other gay sailors, each arriving at the pub with a yachting magazine rolled up under their arm. Several of the original founders are still club members.
The London branch meets on the second Tuesday evening of each month in the basement bar of Kudos, 10 Adelaide Street, London WC2, with the exception of July when the club meets back at Dickins Inn. The East Coast members meet at The Brewery Tap, Cliff Lane, Ipswich on the first Thursday of each month. Pub nights in London and Ipswich continue all year, providing a great forum to make plans with boat-owning or chartering skippers, and potential new members are always welcome.
Club Commodore Reggie Blennerhassett said, "Whilst mostly a sailing and cruising association for gay men and women, the S&CA also has keen dinghy sailors and power boaters amongst our members. Our club represents gay sailing around the UK, with further members and boats based overseas, including the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Caribbean. The monthly pub nights are key for new members or those visiting London and Ipswich to meet people and make the connections that lead to time on the water together. I hope that those who are tempted to join the club will take the chance to come along and meet us."
The Sailing & Cruising Association promotes boating, including for novices, among gays and lesbians, their families and friends. Members often crew on each other's boats and also join together to charter boats at home and abroad. The Association encourages members to train for safe boating, and is affiliated to boating's governing body the Royal Yachting Association.
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