One of several teams from the Gay UK Sailing Team (GUST) has won silver in the keelboat racing at the International Gay Games. The games, held in Cologne, Germany, but with the sailing taking place just over the border on a lake at Roermond in Holland, saw nearly 30 three-person keelboats raced by crews from Germany, Holland, Belgium, the US, Argentina and the UK.

Silver medallist 'Team Gusty Springfield' from GUST was skippered by Mark Munday and crewed by Reggie Blennerhassett and Jason Keedy, all of whom also sail with the Sailing and Cruising Association (S&CA), the 'home of gay sailing in the UK' which hosts GUST for competitive events. Another GUST team also reached the finals, and the bronze medal went to a German boat which included another S&CA member as a crewman.

Reggie Blennerhassett, who is also the commodore of the Sailing and Cruising Association, said "It was great fun to sail in the Gay Games, and we feel very privileged and honoured to have taken the silver medal. The officials at the Dutch sailing club who oversaw the racing confirmed our view that there was a genuinely high standard of sailing across the week, and it is very much to our club's credit that at least one other of our crews was also in the top rank."

The races were held over four days in August in six-metre 'Valk' class keelboats, using an Olympic-style course and the international racing rules, supervised by race officials of the Maas en Roer sailing club of Roermond. Team Newport, from Rhode Island, USA, took the gold medal.

The Sailing and Cruising Association (S&CA) promotes sailing and boating among gays and lesbians and their families and friends across the UK. It is affiliated to boating's lead body, the Royal Yachting Association, and this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Outside of racing under the GUST banner, S&CA members club together to charter boats between them for weekends and holidays, as well as sailing on boats owned by members.

Media enquiries for this  story: Kevin Thomas, GUST team member at Cologne/Roermond, 07896 745342

General media contact for S&CA: Andrew Gould, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 07960 936341

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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An entirely gay-skippered and crewed yacht has won its class in the Junior Offshore Group (JOG) series races that took place between April and September in the English Channel.

Night Owl, a Prima 38, is owned and skippered by Ed Hall, who recruited his crew from among fellow members of the Sailing and Cruising Association (S&CA), the UK's gay and lesbian sailing club.

Skipper Ed Hall said,

"We are all really pleased to have done so well in our first season in the JOG races. It's been a lot of hectic work, particularly the race where we sprung a leak en route, but in the end our combination of teamwork and recognising individuals' particular strengths has paid off. The other crews and organisers have been very welcoming and we are looking forward to sailing with JOG again next year."

And S&CA Commodore Reggie Blennerhassett added,

"We’re really proud of Night Owl’s achievement. Competitive sailing is becoming more of a feature of our club now that we have absorbed the former Gay UK Sailing Team, and Night Owl's victory will inspire more of us to start racing, especially with the Gay Games coming up in Cologne next year."

Racing against similarly-sized boats, the 38-foot boat and her usual complement of 10 crew came first in class overall after the season's 15 offshore races, seeing her win the Bathsheba Trophy. Night Owl also won trophies for coming first in class in races to St Malo and St Peter Port.

The Sailing and Cruising Association (www.gaysailing.org.uk) has nearly 400 members involved variously in sailing and power boating, and is affiliated to leisure boating's governing body, the Royal Yachting Association.  As well as rallies and cruises, the club has monthly social meetings in London and Ipswich.

Media enquiries re. Night Owl: Ed Hall (via Susie Birkett) 01494 878078

Media enquiries re. Sailing & Cruising Association: Kevin Thomas, 07896 745342