Huge cranes towered over Burnham-On-Sea’s Sailing Club on Wednesday evening (May 12th) when scores of yachts were lifted into the River Brue during the town’s traditional ‘crane-in’.
The tradition is organised each year by the Sailing Club when yachts are hoisted out of the boat yard and moved into the river for the start of the sailing season.
The event was postponed in 2020 due to the Coronavirus lockdown but the 2021 event went ahead this week with extra safety measures in place – and the added challenge of wet weather.
The club’s Sailing Master David Barrett told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “This was later than we would have liked, but we needed it to go ahead during step two of the government’s lockdown easing plan and to give our members time to prepare their boats.”
“As we are still under Covid restrictions, we planned a low-key event using teams of six or less to remain compliant with current government guidelines. We kept numbers as low as possible and ran the event with our membership on an ‘invitation only basis’ and, on this occasion, asked them not to invite friends and family to come down and watch.”
“For 2021 we have organised a watersports programme with our usual racing, Bristol Channel cruises, and Gig rowing events throughout the summer.”
“After 18 months stuck in the boatyard, many of our members are itching to get safely back on the water!”
