Academy News
We are delighted that good progress is being made following the recent appointment of the architects: EWA partnership. We have held three presentations at the club over the last two weeks to provide an update on the design of the new building. The response from these meetings has been extremely encouraging and we received very useful suggestions which have now been forwarded to the architects for possible inclusion in the early design stage.

During these presentations we took the opportunity of providing an overview of the whole project and the following is a summary:

The management committee and members of Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli Sailing Club CHPSC realised that the club’s activities had out grown the present club building and thought that the building should be extended to meet the growth in the sailing events being hosted in Pwllheli as well as continuing to providing suitable accommodation for members and guests.

There was a realisation of the importance of sailing events to the economy of Pwllheli and the area. The ongoing investments at other competing venues meant that we were being left behind with sub standard on shore facilities which did not allow us to take the best advantage of our natural resource.

There was also recognition of the importance and the further educational potential of the wider work of the club in providing for youth sailing, providing on water opportunities through the schools and college and in providing a training facility for sailors of all levels of ability from novices to the elite.

Gwynedd Council were extremely supportive of the initiative and a technical team was established with representation from many stakeholder groups. Consultants were appointed in 2007 and they concluded that, for many reasons, a new building would be a better solution than an extension. In their opinion a new building would better provide for the existing and anticipated increase in demands on the facilities.

These concept ideas were shared with you at a members meeting and through newsletters, e-mails and web site articles. There was also a public consultation in Neuadd Dwyfor, Pwllheli.

The Welsh National Sailing Academy and Events Centre project has been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government. This was announced during a public meeting at the club in December 2010.

We held a members meeting in February 2011 which gave overwhelming support from the membership subject to our management committee being satisfied with the design, governance and sustainability of the new facility.

Gwynedd Council is the project sponsor and they have appointed Gwynedd Consultancy to manage the project. CHPSC, as an intended primary user of the completed facility, is represented on the project group.

Architects and a comprehensive team have now been appointed and their initial design ideas are extremely exciting and these have been shown during the recent presentations.

We intend to hold a series of consultation sessions to develop the initial concept into an iconic building which will be functional and provide for the needs of members and all of our user groups.

The work will start in January 2012 by moving the road to the west of its current position. This will provide a large usable space on the seaward side of the peninsula. The work on the building will start in September 2012 and should be completed by autumn 2013.

The marine works will include 75 new visitor berths located to the north of the marina and will be accessed by a new quay and bridgehead. It is anticipated that this work will also start in September 2012 and will be completed by spring 2013.

We have also been working on the governance aspect of the facility and the intention is for CHPSC, a members club limited by guarantee, to remain as a community amateur sports club and will continue with  its function focused on the amateur club sailing and cruising, motor boating, youth sailing and the social  aspect of the club. The commercial aspect of the facility will be undertaken by a not for profit company, limited by guarantee, which will employ a Centre Manager. It is the Centre Manager who will professionally manage and run all of the commercial aspects of the facility.

We hope that this update is helpful, if you require further information please refer to the project prospectus or contact us by e-mail:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We will also share with you the design detail as and when these are developed. We have already received some excellent design ideas during the last meetings and these have already been forwarded to the architects. So please continue to provide us with your suggestions, major or trivial. We welcome the questioning and testing process of the consultations and we wish this to continue throughout the design stage.