Chairman’s Report 2025

Chairman’s Report 2025 The Variety Sailing Trust provides sailing opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged children and young people in Jersey. Each year, hundreds of local people are able to enjoy and benefit from the experience of going afloat under sail, all free of charge. The Trust currently operates a 38 foot Broadblue 385 catamaran called "The Vernon Lilford Spirit of Variety" (SofV) which has been modified to allow disabled access. Built in Poland in 2006, the yacht provides a stable and safe platform for people to enjoy an experience at sea.

The SofV gives all children and young people, whatever their personal needs, the opportunity to gain independence, make friends, get out in the fresh air, communicate, learn, achieve and develop greater self-esteem. All our guests are encouraged to actively participate rather than simply be a passenger, with opportunities to steer the boat, help to hoist and trim the sails and learn some basic seamanship. Each trip is varied to meet the needs and aspirations of those taking part, one day it could be a gentle sail around the beautiful St Aubin's Bay, the next a lively sail to the Minques, or one of the other Channel Islands, and back. 

This last season was a challenge. Some of our wonderful skippers were away or unavailable so this put a strain on our ability to fulfil all the requests for trips. The weather also played a part in reducing the number of trips we could do on the days and times best suited to our guests.

On the plus side, we did complete lots of wonderful trips. Furthermore, the Jersey Sea Cadets continued to make great use of the SofV. Both their Wednesday Evening and their Sunday Morning meetings were packed with keen Cadets wanting to get out on the water! A big thank you to the JSC staff for their on-going support. 

As well as giving our children the opportunity to experience the joy of sailing, we also assist with other events too! This season, in conjunction with Wetwheels, we took the Sparky Parkies out into the bay again for their annual sing-song. The Sparky Parkies program is a Friday afternoon club for people living with Parkinsons. They run targeted music and speech therapy sessions, delivering a fun and stimulating program of singing, speech therapy and social bonding. 

In addition, we offered the vessel to both The Jersey Regatta and the Hobie Cat Championships as their “Committee Boat”. Bill Harris MBE said, “All went well with the Regatta and we are very grateful to you for organising the loan of the SofV and to Mark for skippering her. It is such a brilliant platform for our purposes.”  

All of the organisations that use the vessel for their events give us a donation, all of which contribute towards our running costs. 

The fact that we can offer all these trips free of charge is not only down to our fantastic skippers and crew, but also thanks to our generous sponsors. This year, our relationship with Praxis IFM sadly came to an end. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them, most sincerely, for sponsoring the project for the last four years, we are eternally grateful.

I am delighted to report however that, as a result of this, the Jersey Sea Cadets agreed to donate the sum of £5000.00 to cover the 2024/2025 season. I would like to thank them for this very generous donation. 

Going forward, we do need a new corporate partner. If you would like to consider supporting the project and sponsoring our operational costs, please do get in touch. We would be delighted to hear from you! 

We now have to start thinking about some much needed maintenance, including the vessel’s annual service, over the coming winter months. We also need a new bimini and sail cover which The Jersey Sea Cadets have kindly agreed to sponsor. 

I am hugely grateful to Arthur Manning and Phil James for their on-going and unwavering support in keeping the SofV in tip-top condition. Also, big thanks to Nigel and his colleagues from Go-Sail and to the Jersey Sea Cadets who assisted with the annual maintenance duties at the start of the season. 

A big thank you to my colleagues and Trustees, Secretary Sarah Cann, Treasurer Yveline Kearsey, Safeguarding Officer John Cornwall, Nigel Coxshall, Bernie Manning, Chris Rondel and our out-going Trustee, St Helier Yacht Club Commodore Jeffrey Speller. Also, thanks to St Helier Yacht Club for the use of their address for our correspondence and to Ports of Jersey for their on-going help and support with the SofV’s mooring. 

And finally, a big thank you once again to all the wonderful children and young people who use the SofV and their parents, carers and teachers for entrusting us with their young people