We’re thrilled to share some brilliant news: Stewartby Sailing Section has been named a runnerup in Sunsail’s Funding the Future 2026 competition, winning a £2,000 grant to help even more women discover sailing at Stewartby.

The award was announced at the Southampton International Boat Show on 18 September 2026, where Sunsail revealed the winners of what has become one of the most competitive grants in grassroots sailing. This year the competition attracted a record 85 entries, up 35% on last year, from clubs across the country all making the case for why they deserve investment. Judges — including round-the-world sailor Dee Caffari MBE and editors from the sailing press — said they were “particularly impressed with the level of commitment clubs were showing when it came to attracting women and girls to the sport for the long term.”

Fellow Bedford club Priory Sailing Club also picked up a £2,000 runner-up award, meaning two of this year’s three national prizes are heading to sailing clubs right here on our doorstep. Bedfordshire’s inland sailing community clearly punches above its weight — congratulations to everyone at Priory, and to Paignton Sailing Club, whose “Mums on the Water” campaign took the £6,000 top prize.

Why we entered

Our entry, Visions for Women, grew directly out of something already happening on our own lake: Women on Water (WoW), the programme launched in 2025 by our Sailing Secretary, Sarah Binstead. What started as a single taster session has grown, organically and almost entirely through word of mouth, into one of the most energetic corners of club life — and by far our most effective route for bringing new female members through the clubhouse doors at open days and introductory visits.

In March this year we went a step further, hosting a regional RYA Women on Water Instructor Development Day at Stewartby — training the instructors who will go on to run sessions like these at clubs across the region. That day cemented something we already suspected: Stewartby isn’t just running a women’s sailing programme, we’re becoming a hub for it.

The judges’ feedback echoed what we believe at the heart of this club — that welcoming women into sailing isn’t a box-ticking exercise. It’s essential to the family friendly, inclusive club we want to be.

What the grant will fund

The £2,000 will let us turn a successful pilot into a proper pathway. Over the next three seasons we plan to:

Run a series of women-only RYA Level 1 courses, taught by our own qualified female instructors, at a heavily subsidised £30 per participant - removing cost as a reason not to try
Run targeted local marketing so that women who’ve never considered sailing or assumed it “wasn’t for them” — hear about us
The idea is simple and well tested: get people afloat, and give them a reason to stay involved long after the course finishes. Because once you’ve felt what it’s like to helm a boat arround our lake on a sunny evening, it’s hard to stay away.

Over three years, we’re aiming to train up to 12 women per year, converting at least 30% into active club members — with some of those going on to become the volunteers and instructors who run the next round of sessions.

It’s a pipeline, not a one-off event.

Why this matters to the club

It’s easy to think of a grant like this as being “for” the women who join the courses. It is — but it’s also for the club as a whole.

A club that genuinely welcomes everyone is simply a nicer place to be. Every woman who joins us brings her own energy, her own friends, and — very often at Stewartby — her whole family along with her. And as people settle in and fall for the place the way we all have, some choose to get more involved: helping out on race days, lending a hand at the clubhouse, even training as instructors themselves. Nobody joins Women on Water to end up on a rota — but a friendlier, more diverse club is a stronger one, and that happens naturally when people feel they belong.

That’s really the heart of it. Sailing at Stewartby has always been a family affair — parents crewing with children in our Squids & Sharks junior programme, couples racing together on a Sunday, whole families settling in at the clubhouse after a day on the water. Every woman who gains the confidence to take the helm doesn’t just become a sailor herself; she often brings her family into club life with her. Investment in women’s sailing is investment in family sailing.

What’s next

If you know a woman who’s ever thought about giving sailing a go — whether she’s a complete beginner or someone who used to sail years ago and fancies coming back to it — keep an eye on our events page for the next Women on Water taster session. There’s no better time to come and find out what all the fuss is about.

Congratulations again to Priory Sailing Club, and huge thanks to everyone who has made Women on Water what it is - especially Sarah Binstead, whose vision started all of this from a single session on the water.

Stewartby Sailing Section wins £2,000 in Sunsail’s Funding the Future Awards

Comments