Making Sailing Affordable and Available
Yacht Hire – Updated 8 August 2026
The Club yacht is available for hire by members and non-members alike, either through one of our Club Sailing Sessions with approved Skippers and Mates, or as a private hire with an approved Member Skipper.
⛵ Up to 5 Hours Sailing for Just £22
For just £22 per half-day session, plus £6 for non-members, you can enjoy an unforgettable sailing experience of up to 5 hours.
Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis, so early booking is strongly recommended.
📞 How to Book
To make a booking, please call:
01323 470888
💧 Drinking Water
Please remember that the yacht does not carry drinking water for general use.
All crew are advised to bring at least 1 litre of drinking water per person, particularly during periods of hot weather or when extreme temperatures are forecast.
We look forward to welcoming you aboard and hope you enjoy a fantastic day on the water.
Introduction:
The Sovereign Harbour Yacht Club’s yacht is called ‘Jebbs’ and is shown in the above photograph.
It was purchased in 2024 and the first Club Sessions were introduced in the Spring of 2025.
‘Jebbs’ purpose with the Club is for Club members and non-members to go sailing at affordable prices. No previous experience is required.
The sailing sessions are open to both adults and children 12 or older (although the latter must be accompanied by their parent or guardian).
Our experienced skippers and mates will look after you and take out groups of between two to four people at a time on bespoke sessions, or you can join one of our Club sessions on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
The times for these sailing sessions are seasonal (High and Low) and more details may be found in our Times and Fees page.
The yacht is also available for hire by Member Skippers to take their family and friends outside of the Club Sessions.
In addition to our ‘on the water’ activities, we run a range of shore-based sessions, details of which are to found in our shore-based section below.
"Jebbs" – Low (GMT) season shore-based sessions
During the 'low' season, we held a series of shore-based sessions on the last Tuesday of each month, ending on the 31st March 2026.
Six sessions on topics included Rope work, Navigation, Basic Meteorology (31), Tides (30), Man Overboard (19), and Rules of the Road (19).
The () indicate the number of attendees at each session.
Some of the sessions have had their content uploaded to this web site and can be accessed by clicking the relevant link.
Jebbs - High season (British Summer Time) shore-based sessions
During the high season we shall continue with shore-based sessions.
Again, these will be on the last Tuesday in the month and most will have the following content:
Overview on Discovering the Joys of Sailing:
Join Our Introductory Shore-based Session for Sailing on Our Club Yacht, Jebbs.
Are you looking forward to starting to sail on Jebbs?
Then come along to our free shore-based introductory session!
Each session is one of a series that will take place in the Royal Sovereign Suite. The dates are 28th April, 26th May, 30th June, 28th July, 25th August and the 28th September 2026 NB these two sessions are subject to change and cancellation.
Each session is designed to give you basic information about what to expect when you first set sail on Jebbs.
Among the topics included will be clothing, safety procedures and parts of a boat, you will also have an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.
The shore-based session will be led by our experienced club skippers ensuring you gain the confidence and knowledge needed to embark on your sailing journey.
These sessions are open to Club members and non-members.
YACHT USAGE AND SESSIONS
Our Club yacht was well used during the 2025/26 season with many members and non-members being taken out.
The feedback we received was excellent.
In general, the sailing sessions are open to both adults and children 12 or older (although the latter must be accompanied by a parent or guardian).
The yacht may be used by Members and non-members, but there are distinct types of sessions; Club Sessions and Member Skipper Sessions.
Club Sessions are ALWAYS open to members and non-members alike, and a skipper and a mate, who are both approved by the Yacht Committee, will be provided.
A Member Skipper Session is a 'closed' session where an approved Member Skipper may hire the yacht, select their own crew and take out the yacht.
For all types of session, non-members must pay a non-member fee at least 48 hours before their intended sail in order to meet Maritime and Coastguard Agency requirements, and ensure adequate insurance cover.
Crew must provide all their own clothing.
For sailing, clothing and associated kit should include; multiple layers for the upper body, trousers, hat, gloves, sunglasses, waterproof top, waterproof over-trousers, deck shoes, sunscreen, lip balm, water.
Life jackets will be provided and must be worn at all times whilst on deck.
Detailed information can be found in the Club Yacht Handbook.
Jebbs will sail all year round subject to weather conditions.
CLUB YACHT BOOKINGS
To make a booking to sail on Jebbs, simply e-mail jebbseventsmanager@shyc.co.uk and you'll be guided through the booking process.
If you would like to go out at times outside of our normal Club Sessions we will always try to find a skipper and mate to accommodate you and, on this kind of trip we can take out others with you even if they are not members, subject to the non-member fee.
SESSION FEES
Booking fees are seasonal and we are now in the 'High' season where the yacht sails more frequently.
The times and fees may be found on our Times and Fees page.
The fees for bespoke trips would be discussed once the requirement is known.
SKIPPER APPLICATION
SKIPPERS
We still need more skippers to come forward and help take others out. Please come forward or complete an application if you feel you are able as familiarisation with everything will be given.
There are two categories of skipper:
- Member Skippers who will be able to take the yacht out with family and friends
- Club Skippers who will take the yacht out on behalf of the Club so many members and others can have the opportunity to experience sailing.
As a minimum Skippers must:
- Be fully-paid-up Full Members of SHYC at the time of booking and at the time of sailing
- Have at least 3 years of experience as skipper on similar sailing yachts (this is an insurance requirement)
- Have completed RYA Day Skipper Theory and Practical courses or equivalent or demonstrate knowledge to this level
- Hold an MCA/RYA VHF radio Short Range Certificate
- Have a working understanding of basic First Aid (a current RYA First Aid certificate is not a requirement but is desirable)
Club Skippers should, in addition, have substantial sailing knowledge and experience over and above the minimum requirements, and must have the ability to teach others.
Once application is completed please hand in at the Club for it to be processed.
MATES APPLICATION
Every time the club yacht is taken to sea there must be on board a designated Mate who has the experience and ability to return the yacht safely to the marina in the event of the Skipper becoming incapacitated.
The Mate must, at the very least, be able to:
- - understand and implement the Man Overboard procedure
- - start and stop the engine
- - lower / furl the sails
- - undertake a Man Overboard procedure to return to and recover the casualty
- - use the VHF radio effectively including a Mayday call if needed (a radio licence is not necessary in such an emergency)
- - and manoeuvre the yacht in and out of the lock and to her berth.
THE STORY OF “JEBBS”
SAILING FOR ALL IN EASTBOURNE
Sovereign Harbour Yacht Club (SHYC), in Eastbourne, was formed in the 1990’s and has since 1997 had a large modern Clubhouse overlooking the north harbour in the marina.
Many boat owners and their crew have been members of the Club but for those without the means to own their own boat or the opportunity to go out on other people’s boats the opportunity to sail has not been available without committing substantial funds.
This has all changed as SHYC now has its own 34ft sailing boat that is available for both members and non-members to go out on at a very affordable cost.
In 2023 the Board of the Club decided that if there was enough support from volunteer members to run the project they would provide some funds towards a yacht.
The aim was to make sailing available to all, both members and non-members, at a very affordable cost.
A meeting was held in the November which was well supported resulting in a committee being set up to source a suitable yacht.
Much searching was done but it became impossible to find a suitable yacht within the limited budget so a rethink was necessary.
An application for a grant in the sum of £6,000 was submitted to Sport England which gained their support provided the £6,000 could be matched by a Crowdfunding campaign.
The challenge was taken on and the Crowdfunding target was exceeded with nearly all donations coming from the generous members of SHYC.
In addition to the grant and Crowdfunding monies the late Chris Jeffries, a former life member and Director of the Club, offered to donate a substantial sum if we named the boat after his late wife Julie, whom he affectionately referred to as “Jebbs”.
The offer was very gratefully received hence the Club yacht is called “Jebbs”.
The searching began again to find a suitable yacht with the increased budget but this was still proving difficult.
Sadly, another club member, Nigel Dumbell, passed away and his family wished to find a good home for his yacht which was just the sort of yacht SHYC were looking for. Nigel was very keen to encourage people to sail and his family offered the yacht to the Club below the market value wishing to see her put to good use for the benefit of many.
The purchase was completed in December 2024 and the job of the committee then changed from finding a yacht to managing one.
Several personnel additions were made to cope with the various tasks.
It was necessary to make sure that all safety and maintenance matters for the yacht and crew going out on “Jebbs” were in place.
A booking and payment system needed setting up.
Sufficient experienced skippers and mates to take people out had to be found.
A documented operating system had to be put together as well as a host of other things including marketing the opportunity to sail to non-members of the Club.
All of this took a lot of time and effort from all the volunteers involved.
On 6th April 2025 the yacht was ready and a naming ceremony took place outside the Yacht Club.
At last SHYC was able to offer sailing to all as “Jebbs” was ready to start taking people out.
In 2025 “Jebbs” went out over 60 times with over 200 crew members in addition to the Clubs experienced skippers and mates.
Nearly two thirds of the crew were non-members of SHYC prior to sailing and many had never sailed before.
Several of these have now joined the club as members and continue to sail on Jebbs.
JEBBS FUNDRAISER EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
What a fantastic evening on 10th April! The event was sold out well beforehand. The food was great. The staff took care of us very well. Most importantly we raised nearly £1,500 to help cover the expenses for maintaining Jebbs. A fantastic achievement by all of you who participated in one way or another and our thanks go to you all for supporting this event so well.
Special thanks go to Dawn, Gill and Steve for serving up the food, Helen and Anna for selling the raffle tickets, Andy & Jim for running the races, Sue for assisting me greatly with the tote and Gill again for organising and running the raffle. Nearly all the raffle prizes were donated to us and we thank all of those who donated. We still have several prizes left that we will be using for a future raffle.
We were very fortunate to have all 6 races sponsored. Please consider using our sponsors in return for their support whenever you find yourself in need of the services they offer. They are as follows:
Parker Building Supplies
Website: parkerbs.com
Tel: 01424 426634
Browns Clinic (Dermatology)
Website: brownsclinic.co.uk
Tel: 07835 357060
Honeybee Bookkeeping Services
Website: honeybee-bookkeeping.com
Tel: 07739 551566
Pirtek (Hydraulic Services)
Website: pirtek.co.uk
Contact email: info@pirtekashford.co.uk
Tel: 01233 502090
Sovereign Yacht Services (Boat cleaning and maintenance)
Tel: 07814 935154
Jeremy & Trish Kidson
Last but not least for their ongoing support of our project
Thank you all once again for making this a great success.
Dave Jarvis
Co-Chair Jebbs Yacht Committee
