2012 - Time to celebrate boats

Under sail

It’s hard to believe that it’s 30 years ago this year that we were transfixed by television pictures of the Tudor warship being brought to the surface from beneath the Solent. Painstaking restoration means the hull and most of the 19,000 artefacts that were raised with the Mary Rose will be on display when the new museum opens in the autumn.

Millions afloat

Up to three million people in the UK enjoy water sports from windsurfing to kayaking and sailing is one of the UK's most popular sports, with around 600,000 people participating every year. The British Marine Federation reckons there are almost half a million boats on this small island, from small dinghies to sea going motor cruisers and racing yachts. Whatever your vessel, and whether you enjoy pottering in the boatyard, racing at full tilt or taking a gentle river cruise,  2012 has much to offer including;

Sunday 3^rd June – up to a thousand boats will form a flotilla on the Thames to accompany the Royal Barge in the Diamond Jubilee Pageant

'Push the Boat Out' day 21 July 2012 – organised by the RYA to showcase sailing and support for Olympic and Paralympic sailors

29^th July – 10^th August -  Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour host the Olympic sailing  events  ( by the way, did you know that sailing first appeared in the Olympics in 1900  when Great Britain took five gold medals ?)

And a welcome return to Greenwich this spring of The Cutty Sark, fully restored to all her glory after the fire of 2007    

Sail away

And if those don’t float your boat, what better way to escape than by slipping the anchor and heading off. With some 6,000 miles to explore, the coastline of the British Isles offers estuaries, creeks, marinas and quiet moorings, regattas and races and a wealth of history.  

Useful links;