Sailing Programme 2023

Dear CNCE Sailors,

The days are lengthening, the skies are brightening and our thoughts are turning to fair winds and open waters. We are pleased to present the CNCE sailing programme for this season. As usual, it includes a wide mix of activities. We will host again a course for beginners, made up of four lectures about the basics of sailing and a day each of sailing on cruisers and Valks in the Dutch inland waters. Do please encourage your friends and family to try this out. The Laser dinghies at Hombeek will be available again, and we have a full programme of weekend sailings on the BlueOne over the summer. We also have some sailing cruises in more distant waters (in the Canary Islands in the Autumn) and will sail competitively in several regattas. There will be a regatta training in May followed by the Deltaweekend in June and the Antwerp Race in October. More activities are in preparation, but are not yet confirmed, such as the EU Agencies Regatta.

A new CNCE board was elected on 28th February and owes great thanks to the previous board and particularly to Stamatis Varsamos who in the course of his Presidency of this club successfully launched the ambitious venture of buying the BlueOne and instituting its successful operation. We also thank Jurgita, Alessandra and Nathalie for modernising our IT systems and Cetin for his indefatigable administration support. We also owe huge thanks to the BlueOne Management Committee, in particular Massimo, Timo, Dimitri and Josef, for enormous investments of time in keeping the vessel in first class condition.

We would like to encourage as many of you as possible to work up your experience levels to become skippers so that you may sail independently and lead new projects for the CNCE. To that end, the CNCE intends to start proposing a number of lectures and sail training activities to help boost skills and confidence, and we are working on a way to obtain formal qualifications. We welcome aspiring skippers to take contact with us.

After the enforced break due to the covid pandemic, CNCE is restarting the tradition of informal lunches held once a month in a restaurant in the European quarter. These will normally be held on the first Tuesday of each month. If you would like to join and to obtain details of each venue, please send an email to Kenneth Patterson before the preceding Friday.

We invite you to peruse our sailing programme and I hope you find activities that stimulate your enthusiasm. As ever, we welcome new suggestions and new initiatives from you all. We aim to add more activities to the programme in the coming weeks, so please stay in contact.

We wish you safe sailing, fair winds and joyful passages,

Kenneth Patterson
President (Commodore)

Nicolas Jonckers
Vice President (Vice-Commodore)

Cetin Tarlan
Treasurer

Alfonso Arpaia, Heinrich Bultmann, Volker Gundermann,
Carlos Morais, Nathalie Zweig

Cruising & Sailing training

Weekend sailing on BlueOne

Thanks to the invaluable commitment of our volunteers, BlueOne has been prepared for the season and is waiting for you with a new autopilot! We will add more sailing dates throughout the season.

Even if you do not join the Beginners Course, people with no experience or limited experience are still welcome on most CNCE activities at the discretion of the skipper and according to the conditions of the event. So if something catches your eye do get in touch!

Check your calendars and choose your preferred dates! (Please note that the sailing event 29 Apr - 1 May will only be confirmed if a sufficient number of bookings is reached by 26 April.)

Sailing training

This summer, skipper Kenneth is organising dedicated sailing training weekends. A unique opportunity to take part in safety and mooring exercises rarely offered elsewhere. These sessions are particularly recommended for aspiring skippers but all keen sailors are welcome! Dates: the weekends of 21-23 July, 29-30 July and 16-17 September.
Book your spot!

Zaria sailing - Canary Islands

Join CNCE skipper Kenneth on SY Zaria (an OVNI 395) during two one-week sailing trips: one from Arrecife to La Palma from 21-28 October, and another for the return trip from La Palma to Arrecife from 28 October to 4 November.

Check out all the details and express your interest to be part of this sailing adventure!

Beginners' Course 2023

Discover sailing!

Have you been dreaming of an opportunity to explore sailing? Then the BC2023 is for you! Give it a try! You will sail in Zeeland (NL) on our yacht BlueOne and on smaller boats called valks. Before setting sail for the first time, we will give you an introduction to the basics of sailing on 4 evenings in Brussels.
In the previous seasons, some sailors saw their sailing dates cancelled due to the pandemic. Therefore, we have reserved a number of places for them, leaving fewer places than usual for new inscriptions. So don't hesitate!
You must have a valid membership to be able to sign up. So you may need to get/renew your membership first! In case you are new to the Club, this may take a couple of days.

Dinghy & Valk sailing

Laser sailing in Hombeek

Dear dinghy sailing fans,

We remind you that CNCE operates its own small fleet of Lasers (single-handed + one bigger Laser 16) kept in the facilities of the WVD sports club at lake Hombeek, near Mechelen. The sailing season has started and those sailors able to handle a Laser dinghy are invited to book one through the Twizzit application (the PAF is just €15 for half-day during the WE). Weather permitting, free-of-charge sailing demonstrations aboard the Laser 16 will be announced shortly. The latter are particularly suited for sailing beginners, less experienced sailors and those aspiring to act as dinghy coaches. We hope that you will enjoy sailing on the lake!

Dimitri Chronopoulos
Dinghy coordinator & skipper

Valks in the Veerse Meer

These very popular activities are organised by long-time dinghy coach Andreas. They are intended for club members looking for a day or two of active dinghy sailing at Kamperland (NL) on weekends from spring to autumn. A local sailing school will provide the boats, and with experienced CNCE dinghy coaches, you'll be in good hands. You will sail with up to four people on the Veerse Meer in Zeeland, a protected stretch of water. Valks are very suitable for training, and fun to sail!

Find a gap in your agenda and join the other sailors on one of the available dates in April, June, July and August.

Yacht racing & race training

Deltaweekend, Antwerp Race ...

Racing is a fantastic way to improve your sailing skills, have loads of fun and become part of the racing community. As regatta sailing requires some experience and training in a team, it is preferable to join Timo’s race training before signing up for more challenging racing events like Deltaweekend. To those of you who are new to racing, we recommend the iconic Antwerp Race to get a taster of fun racing for everyone!

Harbour manoevres

Boat handling courses

Mooring, berthing, propwalk, propwash...? Here’s to those who love to take the helm and learn more about boat handling: as in previous years, together with the sailing school VVW Nieuwpoort, Jurgita has organised boat handling days for you. All sailors are welcome to join both the 1-day "General harbour manoeuvres" and the 1-day "Mediterranean harbour manoeuvres" trainings. Various dates in June, July and September are available to book.

... activities to come

Stay tuned: we will be announcing further activities: valk sailing, lectures, Nav'lunches/Nav'aperos and more cruising & sailing training dates! Since you have received and are reading this Nav'letter, you are already subscribed and will automatically receive future updates!

Your membership (renewal)

For all CNCE activities, please get your membership first!
Your membership payments serve to cover the costs of the club activities, all administrative expenses and the costs for running BlueOne. For those who are already 'on board', please don't forget to renew your membership before booking!

A big thank you for supporting us!

How to register for an activity

You must have paid your membership fee for the current season (1 April 2023 to 31 March) 2024) to be able to access the booking forms for an activity. In addition, you will need your Twizzit account. If you haven't created one yet or are not familiar with Twizzit, please read these instructions:
CNCE & Twizzit - how to get started

You can only register for an activity when logged on to your Twizzit account. This is how it works:

Log on to Twizzit.
On your PC: in the main menu, go to Planning.
On your phone: click on the agenda icon at the bottom of the start page.
In the agenda, click on the activity of your choice (e.g. "Zeeland sailing weekend...").
In the top menu of the activity, go to Info to see the event details.
Under Subscribe, you can register and pay online.

Your Twizzit account also allows you to check and update your personal data (in the main menu My Twizzit, go to your Contact details).
Do not hesitate to use the chat function to contact the organiser/skipper of the CNCE event or other crew members.

Any questions...?

On our Frequently Asked Questions webpage we have gathered some information on a variety of topics to clarify a few of the most commonly questions that we receive from CNCE members. So, check out the FAQ if you are looking for info related to your next sailing adventure!

Sailing club of the EU institutions in Brussels, accredited by the "Groupement des Cercles de Loisirs" of the European Commission. CNCE activities are open only to members of the club. For all activities requiring a financial commitment, registration is done on the basis of “first paid, first served”. After registration, reimbursement will only be possible if an adequate replacement is found.