The Crumbles Story

25th March 2010, in the Royal Sovereign Suite.

Ann Botha on 'The Crumbles Story' - non-members welcome at £1 entry

Fire Safety

15th October 2009, in the Royal Sovereign Suite, 8pm.

What would you do? Pour on Water? Pour on Water?

Come along and find out what happened to John Maynard, a berth holder at Brighton Marina. His boat burnt to the waterline following an explosion whilst he was working in the bilges.

Andy Garland, manager of Premier Brighton will also give details of the plan he subsequently drew up to minimise the spread of fire should something similar ever happen again.

Canine Partners & Assistance Dogs

5th February 2009, in the Royal Sovereign Suite.

Some of you will know Claire, a wheelchair-disabled lady and her wonderdog Ulli. Ulli is a specially trained assistance dog who does the shopping, takes washing out of the machine, draws the curtains and helps Claire get undressed and into bed. Talk to Claire and she will tell you how Ulli has given her back her independence and transformed her life. Now members of Canine Partners, the charity which buys and trains assistance dogs, will be coming to the yacht club. As well as Ulli, they will bring with them dogs of various ages and stages of training to demonstrate just what they can do. And for anyone who, like me, gets soppy at the sight of a puppy, we are promised a really cute pup who, at just a few months old, will amaze us with its training. This TOLI talk should be a real treat so please come along. We want to help Canine Partners raise funds to purchase another puppy, so we will be making a token charge of £1 on the door, all money to go to the charity.

This was very well attended and we raised £202.59 towards the purchase and training of an assistance puppy. Well done us!

Nick & Rona Round the British Isles

12th March 2008, in the Royal Sovereign Suite.

In April 2007 Sovereign Harbour yacht club members Nick and Rona Jordan and their pet Labrador Poppy set off on a trip of a lifetime. Leaving their home in Pevensey Bay, they spent over four months circumnavigating the British Isles in their yacht ‘Stress Breaker’, a 42 foot Moody ketch. Braving the elements of our wet and wild summer, they endured storms and gales to visit amazing places and sample fantastic local fayre.

View their photo gallery

Birth of Sovereign Harbour & Premier Marinas

20th February 2008, in the Royal Sovereign Suite.

Royal Sovereign Light Tower

1st February 2007, in the Royal Sovereign Suite.

This lighthouse was completed in 1971, and replaced a light vessel which had marked the Royal Sovereign Shoal since 1875. It is of concrete construction and was built in two sections on the beach at Newhaven. The base and vertical pillar section were floated into position and sunk on to a levelled area of the sea bed and the upper cabin section and superstructure were then floated over the pillar section. The pillar had an inner telescopic section which, when attached to the cabin, was jacked up 13 metres and locked into position. The underside of the cabin is well above the maximum wave height and the navigation light is 28 metres above sea level.

The cabin section contained accommodation for the keepers who manned the lighthouse before its automation in 1994. The flat upper deck of the cabin section provides a helicopter landing platform. The lighthouse tower, with the control room, fog signal room and lantern is located at one corner of the main deck with direct access to the cabin section below.

Automation of the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse was completed in August 1994. Banks of solar modules were mounted on a steel frame at an angle of 65° facing due south, placed adjacent to the lantern tower. The optic was replaced by a biform synchronised set of lanterns, each containing a lampchanger with 6 lamps. The main light was reduced in range from 28 nautical miles to 12 nautical miles and the former air horn fog signal was replaced by an electric fog signal with a fog detector. The Royal Sovereign is monitored from Harwich via a vodaphone link.