Sunsail launches £5,000 prize Funding the Future competition

In its third year, Sunsail's Funding the Future competition aims to help UK sailing clubs improve their facilities, buy needed equipment and promote sailing within their communities

Burwain Sailing Club wins Sunsail's Funding the Future competition

Sansail has launched their Funding the Future 2018-19 competition which all UK sailing clubs can enter for their chance to win £5000.

In its third year, Funding the Future aims to support grassroots sailing clubs in the UK. The prize money can be used by the winning club to improve its facilities and coaching capabilities, buy new equipment, increase membership, promote sailing or launch other initiatives to support the club.

As well as the top prize of £5,000, the winning sailing club will have the opportunity to attend a live Q&A with double Olympic medallist and Volvo Ocean Race winner, Ian Walker.
The two runners-up prizes are a £2,000 money prize and a separate prize of £1,000 dedicated solely to University sailing clubs.

Sailing clubs have until midnight 06 January 2019 to submit the winning 500-word entry, online or by post.

Last year’s winners were Burwain Sailing Club who scooped the top prize of £5,000 at the RYA Dinghy Show in March 2018.

Peter from Burwain Sailing Club comments: “Thanks to Sunsail’s Funding the Future campaign, in May our five additional Optimists joined the fleet and it has been brilliant. As well as being used by our club sailors, children from our local primary school have been learning to sail in the Optimists. We were thrilled to receive thank you letters from all the school children that had been out on the water and that the local community is really benefiting.”

With the prize money Burwain Sailing Club introduced sailing to around sixty local primary school children and recruited new members to join the club’s junior group: ‘Sailfish’. The club members have represented Burwain SC at several national and world championships in the UK, Europe and USA this summer and are all set to welcome double Olympic medallist, Volvo Ocean Race winner, RYA Director of Racing and Funding the Future judge Ian Walker MBE in Spring 2019 as part of their winning investment proposal.

Ian Walker comments: “For anyone thinking of entering Funding the Future, be sure to get your entry in on time – the closing date for entries is the 6 January 2019 and I would encourage any club to enter. As judges we want to see Sunsail’s investment go as far as it can to make the sport of sailing as accessible as possible through your club. We are dedicated to getting as many people sailing as possible. We love our sport and believe that everyone who wants to have a go should get the chance.”

Commenting on behalf of the judges, Josie Tucci, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Sunsail and panel judge adds: “We set up this funding opportunity to support UK sailing clubs. It has been really rewarding to see the direct result of how winning the Funding the Future campaign has helped sailors – from improving facilities to encouraging more people to get involved with the sport. The Funding the Future application process is really simple and on behalf of all the judges, we can’t wait to see this year’s entries.”

To enter the competition, clubs can go online here to download the application form and submit it online or by post to: Funding the Future c/o Sunsail, DST House, St Marks Hill, Surbiton, KT6 4BH