Current Newsletter – April 2026
CUCrC has continued its success through Lent and Easter terms, from attending BUSA finals to winning Varsity in both open and women’s divisions! There has been more uptake of the development squad which we will hopefully continue into the next academic year, and the windsurfing equipment has had some good use in the breezy exam term! Cuppers in May week saw many colleges coming together to battle it out, and congratulations to Selwyn first team in raising the trophy.
Team Racing
Packed in with sailing, Lent term began with preseason training, then further training to prep both Blue and Crimson teams for the busy term ahead. Both teams competed in the BUSA midland qualifiers over at Burton sailing club. The weekend bustled with lots of tight racing and brought success for both teams with Blue qualifying straight through to BUSA finals and Crimson through to Playoffs. The following weekend the Imperial Icicle lived up to its name, bringing bitter temperatures across the weekend. Cambridge’s mixed team took a while to warm up and get into the swing of things, despite, by the end of the event they reminded us they are very capable of team racing. Next on the calendar for Crimson was the BUSA playoffs at Spinnaker sailing club, a tough event all round with very light winds making racing very tricky. Crimson sailed valiantly but sadly not enough to put them through to BUSA finals. Meanwhile in Cambridge, the CamCup was being hosted – overall a great event full of competitive, tactical light wind racing and a brilliant dinner and social!
During the vacation, Blue raced in BUSA finals which ended up being a slow-paced event, stuttered by postponement due to very soft breeze for a lot of the event. Despite this, racing was top level against the toughest teams and Blue placed very respectably reflecting this.
Fun at the BUSA Finals
The Victorious Varsity Teams
Casual Sailing
Easter mostly consisted of casual sailing whenever people could get a break from the relentless schedule of revision. But post exams, a very sunny and competitive cuppers brought some great two boat team racing to wrap up the term. Selwyn took the victory this year in the Gold fleet, and a mixed college Clare team took the win in the silver fleet.
The Cuppers Winners
Board Sailing
Easter term kicked off with some incredible breeze and sunshine providing plenty of opportunity to get out on the water. Again with the busy nature of the exam term, sessions were limited, but despite this lots of members got out on the water between revision sessions – with some even trying out wing foiling for the first time, progressing from first flights towards mastering foiling! Post-exams provided an ideal week to enjoy the heatwave at Grafham, with some taster blasts alongside the Cuppers event, and lots of windsurfing sessions showing great progression from all.
Wingfoiling at Grafham Water
Alumni Newsletter Archive
April 2024
In this newsletter – victory at BUSA, a taste of wing foiling, and some sad news.
Cambridge win Team Racing Finals!
From 2nd-4th April, the BUCS-BUSA 2024 finals were once again hosted at our very own Grafham Water. Many thanks to the volunteers who made this possible, especially recent alumni Callum Farnden and Jamie Webb!
With Grafham providing its usual sun and wind, racing got started with 28 teams in 5 of the best flights in the country. As determined by the draw, and keeping to tradition, Blue and Purple’s first race was each other, with Blue victorious in the end. The Swiss league led to engaging racing for all, racing more difficult teams if you win, and lower-ranked teams if you lose.
Racing progressed rapidly, with 166 races before heavy winds ended day 2 early. Going into the final day, Blue were ranked 1st overall, and Purple were in contention for the tie-break into the top 8. Purple sailed well, but facing challenging opponents and some unfortunate umpire calls they ranked 20th overall. They ranked above several impressive teams, with their victory over Oxford Blue bringing them significant joy and a promising sign ahead of Varsity.
Entering knockouts, Blue won the tie-break for 1st and defeated Imperial Blue 2-0 in their quarter final. The semi-final brought challenge, facing Strathclyde Pink who beat Blue in the Swiss league. Strath claimed the first race, Blue the second. Blue won a tight third, setting up a final against Exeter, recent UKTRA champions.
The first race was incredibly close, with neither team sure of who won, but the finish boat confirmed Tim and Hannah had clinched position 3, winning the race with Robbie and Luke in 1. Training continued to pay off, with Blue winning the second race in a 2-3-5 and the third 1-3-4, finishing the finals 3-0 (overall results here). Celebrations notably included Gordon and Lizzie capsizing post-finish, and later Gordon discovering champagne for the first time.
Have you tried wing foiling?
We are pleased to announce the new wing foiling section of the club which we have begun to launch over the past term! We now have 2 full sets of kit and the students have been taking them out on weekends alongside the dinghy sailors. Once the weather warms up Robbie McDonald is excited to begin teaching beginners this emerging new sport, starting with how to use the wing on a windsurfing board and then progressing onto the foil.
Sad news
The club was sad to receive news of the passing of two alumni in recent months – Roger Palmer and Richard Thompson. Brief notices are on the News section of the CUCrC website.
Would you like to support the club?
The club’s continued success – particularly high quality training and introducing new sailors to the sport – depends on the generous support of alumni. If you are in a position to make a personal donation, please visit our page on the CU Philanthropy website to make a single or annual gift.
Keep in touch
Follow news about Cambridge sailors and windsurfers on the website and Instagram.
December 2023
Once again, Michaelmas 2023 built strong foundations for the year ahead. It kicked off with a sunny weekend of taster sails enjoyed by all. Team racing trials was filled with high calibre racing, and the teams are already tasting success at various events across the country.
Successful start to the year!
As usual, the academic year started with Generations, the alumni event organised by OCSS. This was great fun as always, despite the little wind to begin with, although it was dissapointing to see the trophy go to an Oxford team this year. The sailing was followed by a curry, in an unusual break from tradition from the standard black tie dinner.
Following the excitement of Freshers’ Fairs and Taster Weekend, it was then time for Trials. It was a very competitive year, with over 40 people signing up for the 24 spaces on the squad. With many new fast freshers, and plenty of training, it has been a great term for the club.
The Second Team (Purple), and the Third Team (Pink) went up to Birmingham for their first event, where Purple took the win, and Pink came an extremely respectable 5th, especially considering it was many of their first team racing event. This marks the third year in a row that the Brummy Boom has been won by Cambridge!
The second event for the squad this term was the Oxford Magnum, another event sadly plagued by lack of wind, and sadly no racing was able to go ahead on the Sunday. Blue and Purple had a lot of tough races on the Saturday, and would have enjoyed a day of fun races in Bronze fleet on Sunday, but possibly enjoyed the early home-time more.
The teams are looking forward to BUSA, Uni, and National events in the Lent term. Reports for each event appear on the website as news items.
Is your company interested in graduate recruitment?
The club is incredibly lucky to benefit from the support of many generous alumni. We’re also exploring ways to engage with corporate sponsors. Sponsorship can be a great way for employers to connect with undergraduates for recruitment. Sponsoring the Cambridge Cup is an opportunity to meet over 150 students from over 15 different universities. If you or your employer might be interested, please get in touch with our new Sponsorship Officer, Lisanne.
Or if you are in a position to make a personal donation, please visit our page on the CU Philanthropy website to make a single or annual gift.
April 2023
The Club’s new flight of Fireflies arrive, and success at BUCS Match Racing and team Racing championships!
New boats!
Thanks to the ongoing support of alumni, the club was able to support the purchase of a brand new flight of six Fireflies this year.
The new boats were put straight to use at the annual university team racing championships.
As costs increase, the club relies ever more on the generosity of alumni. To ensure we can continue to provide the best resources for the next generation of sailors at all levels, if you are in a position to make a donation, please visit our page on the CU Philanthropy website to make a single or annual gift. CUDAR provide this service entirely free – all your gift comes to the Club. CUDAR pays the gifts and Gift Aid they collect into our bank account on a monthly basis.
Cambridge Blue win BUCS Gold!
Between 10-12 April Cambridge University hosted the annual university team racing championships.
Two Cambridge teams competed, with red and blue both making it to the top eight. Red had had a great few days – beating most of the top teams and comfortably ranking the highest UK second team. A tough quarters against Oxford saw red place 5th overall, but their achievement is huge and well deserved as an amazing team (big things to come next year!)
Blue, despite having a very strong season this year, had a rocky league stage. However the previous days nerves were quelled with a feisty quarters against last years champions Exeter. In the semis, Blue faced Oxford – three tight races coming right down to the line, decided by who could serve their penalty turns first. This meant the final would be between Cambridge blue and the guest Irish team from University College Dublin – a familiar rematch from the Top Gun finals in February.
Five close races saw UCD take the win, however, coming second, Cambridge Blue was overall highest ranking British team – winning BUCS gold! (For the first time since 2016!)
The team thank all the current students and alumni who helped make the event a success.
BUCS Match Racing
Meanwhile, congratulations to the team of Ollie Dennis, Juliette Kennedy, Luke Bligh and Mattis Prince on getting bronze at the match racing championships the previous weekend. After two days of champagne sailing, the team were sitting on 7/10 wins at the end of the round robin. The team was ranked fourth going into the semis. However, it wasn’t meant to be as the team lost their sudden death semi against the formidable Southampton 1s. The petit final was cancelled due to deteriorating conditions, so the teams finished joint third. Great practice for the Varsity Match, which will also be in Sonars at Island SC later in the year.