Rona Sailing Project

04/09/2024

Not busy October half term?
Female aged 16 - 19?
Sense of adventure?

Come sailing! We still have places available so please contact us and come and have an amazing experience aboard Donald Searle.

Berths cost only £295 and the voyage is eligible for Gold DoE residential.

We would love to see you aboard 🤩⛵️⚓️

27/08/2024

Thank you to everyone who entered the prize draw to win a Gill sailing jacket at Car Fest.

The winners have now been notified by email. If you haven't been lucky this year then hopefully we will back next year with another exciting opportunity to win.

The flag words of the day were

Friday - teamwork
Saturday - adventure
Sunday - friendship

And those words all sum up the Rona Sailing Project!

Many thanks to Gill UK who kindly donated the prizes. Your flag was flown in honour of your generosity!

25/08/2024

And now sleep 💤

25/08/2024

It was a close one... today's runner-up with a time of 13.86 seconds! Great effort well done! 🎊🎉

📢 Prize thanks to made by our very own

🏆

25/08/2024

Congratulations to today's WINNER with a time of 13.06 seconds. Which was also our fastest for the whole weekend! 🎊🎊🎉

Thanks to for the prize.

Well done to everyone that stopped by and gave our race a try.

25/08/2024

📢📢 No sooner did we post, did we have a new record! Turns out it's all to play for in the final hour.

Who will be today's champion? 🏆

25/08/2024

With just over an hour to go at , will this time be our winner?🤔🤔

The wind has been a trickster for all racers today.

25/08/2024

Our fastest time so far today AND for the weekend overall!

Can you do better?

Come visit us at , find us in Adventurefest

25/08/2024

fancy a challenge? How fast can you complete our yacht race?

Come find us in Adventurefest by The Explor-More Stage with

24/08/2024

We're still having lots of fun at today.

Some might be swapping the water for land with PLUS Ann got to meet ! 🤩😍🫠

24/08/2024

Our WINNER from yesterday's boat race, with a time of 21.03 seconds! Congratulations 🎊 👏

The current fastest today is 21.31 seconds! Will you brave the rain to try your luck?

Thanks to for the prize.

24/08/2024

Congratulations to our runner-up from yesterday's boat race!

If you think you can be our fastest time today, come and give it a try!

24/08/2024

From pirate to glitter pirate 🏴‍☠️
Come and see us for fun and games (with amazing prizes to be won) at the adventure zone CarFest Rona Sailing Project

24/08/2024

23/08/2024

Day 1 ✔️
Bath, bed and let’s do it all again tomorrow (with some spicy weather 💦💨☀️☔️🌥️
Massive shoutout to all our fantastic volunteers today who engaged with so many people Andy Wright, Dan Tucker, Charlie McKissock, Pippa Jackson and her sidekick, Spit Jackson. You have been magnificent! We wore 2 out so fresh batch tomorrow to keep the flag flying for the Rona Sailing Project 🏴‍☠️

23/08/2024

New fastest time! All to play for in the last hour of our day!

Have we found our winner or can you top it?

23/08/2024

Competing in the Round the Isle of Wight race with EMCTrust CarFest
Great to be representing sail training festival style with our friends and neighbours!!

23/08/2024

Mixing with local wildlife CarFest Rona Sailing Project Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance

23/08/2024

⛵️Our fastest racer so far... can you beat the time??

Come find us within Adventurefest at . Free entry, and you'll at least walk away with a sweet 🍬

23/08/2024

We stayed in place and are ready for you!
Race the yachts to the lighthouse station and win a Gill duffel bag! Under 12’s and everyone gets a participation prize. One winner every day!
Learn your knots!
And for big kids win a Gill jacket (one winner each day of the festival)!
In the adventure zone so come and see us!
CarFest Rona Sailing Project

15/08/2024

Going to CarFest next weekend?? Thinking of going? Why not go?

Come and see us in the adventure zone for lots of fun, games and chat about the Rona Sailing Project and also the chance to win some amazing prizes! See you there!! 😀🚗🏎🚜⚓️⛵️

24/07/2024

Can anyone see Donald Searle??
Flying the flag at the Classsic Yacht Regatta in St Port ⛵️⛵️⛵️

15/07/2024

Footwear 🥾👞👟👠🩴
We always say don't go and buy anything special to come sailing with us. And are always asked what is the best footwear on board the boats.

1. You want something that will provide good traction and not slip on the wet deck.
2. You’ll want a shoe that is comfortable and won’t rub or pinch your feet while you’re walking around.
3. It’s important to find a shoe that won’t get waterlogged and heavy if it gets wet.

So what is suitable?

1. Boat Shoes
2. Canvas Sneakers
4. Waterproof Hiking Boots but not too heavy!
5. Sandals but the kind that have velcro fastenings at the ankle and across the foot and not strappy ladies ones!

And what isn't suitable?

1. Flip flops
2. Crocs

These don't provide support, traction and can slip off. You don't want to drop a winch on your foot wearing flip flops (although to be fair you never want to drop a winch on your foot!).

But please don't spend a fortune on sailing boots or deck shoes. These are available online very reasonably but it is likely that you will have something in your wardrobe that will be perfectly fine.

Just don't slip!

15/07/2024

And after a 10 month refit, Merrilyn has left the building ready for lots of people to go sailing.

Many thanks to everyone who has taken part in this massive undertaking.

She is new, improved and ready to go.

18/06/2024

And just like that….she is starting to look like a boat again

13/06/2024

She is rising like a phoenix from the ashes! Half the scaffolding down and a very smart engine ready to be fitted. Many thanks to our friends AkzoNobel

22/05/2024

Donald Searle leaving Dartmouth on a beautiful sunny day with Mounts Bay Academy students on board.
Quick stop at Weymouth Harbour en route back to the Solent

20/05/2024

We are delighted to have trainees from Yewstock School sailing with us this week aboard Rona II.

They are all ready for a fun time!

Keep an eye on our Instagram page for more photos as the week progress. Rona Sailing Project