Taipa Sailing Club
Small boat instruction and recreational sailing at the Far North’s Taipa Sailing Club is so popular that it can’t keep up with demand.
August 2011
Members, mostly families, travel long distances to undertake this activity, so boat storage is a key service. But with no space left in its ageing boat shed, the club has not been able to offer storage to new members in the past six years.
This has limited growth for the Doubtless Bay sailing club, so this year members began work on a purpose-built 16m by 12m boat bay. The club is run entirely by volunteers and the community has been quick to rally around.
Volunteer labour is being used, a local landscaper is creating the gardens and a local architect drew up the plans for a planned shower and toilet block at no cost.
Meanwhile the Learn To Sail class remains fully subscribed.
“Our youngsters on the Learn to Sail programme are keen to join and sail with us over the winter months,” says club secretary Schelle Hatherley-Greene. “The club is going strong and everyone who sees our new boat bay says: ‘It’s every man’s dream to have a shed like this’.”
ASB Community Trust supports capital building projects where there is strong community involvement, or where it has regional significance. A $50,000 grant helped launch Taipa Sailing Club’s project.