20th February 2004

Dear Friends and Customers

The last year has been full of excitement and challenges in particular trying to work out a coherent way forward for the sailing school. 2003 was a great summer with the sailing school as busy as ever, with many new children and adults being introduced to sailing and the beauty of the river Exe.

The main new area for the school was the introduction of teaching Kiteboarding. We quickly gained recognition as a BKSA and IKO recognised school one of only a handful in the country. This new venture has proved very popular and we feel is essential to teach this fantastic sport safely so that students can become safe kiteboarders. During the last year Steph has been competing on the national kiteboarding circuit and has achieved several top 3 results including a second place at the last round of the series at Camber sands in Kent. Steph is looking forward to the coming season where we are sure she will compete at the very highest level.

This year we are still tentatively maintaining our normal operating base however the land is now subject to planning permission from the developers. We hope that we will be able to stay throughout the summer however we have alternative plans locally should we have to move which should not impact too much on operations. At present we are seeking permission to site a floating pontoon up river to base the sailing activities from. If we are successful in this it will provide a perfect base to manage the sailing from. Onshore we continue to have constructive talks with East Devon District council and we feel closer to securing a purpose built onshore facility than ever before.

Our main news is that we are opening a new venture in early March. Edge Watersports will be found next to the indoor swimming pool in the old Railway Club looking out over the Exe towards Starcross. This new shop will stock a whole range of watersports equipment and clothing including, wetsuits, waterproofs, clothes, kitesurf and windsurf equipment, stunt kites etc. We have pulled together a wide range of suppliers to provide good value and quality combined with the background knowledge to ensure sound advice. The shop will also act as a booking office for all Spinnakers courses so you should always find someone about which has not been the case recently. We are really excited about this and it is great to have a bricks and mortar project off the ground at last. There is plenty of car parking so come and have a browse, coffee and chat about the right course for you. www.edgewatersports.com

Powerboat course bookings held up well last year with many people being introduced to safe powerboat techniques. As each year passes and the Exe gets ever busier with Ribs and Ski boats flying around all over the place it becomes even clearer that powerboat training becomes ever more important. We run the basic 2-day learn to powerboat course that is ideal for complete beginners to become confident. The main changes this year are too introduce use of the GPS as part of the basic navigation. There is also the introduction of a youth powerboat scheme, ideal for the under 16’s to learn the basics. For those that achieve the level 2 they can then get an ICC allowing powerboat use abroad.

As far as sailing courses this year the schemes remain unchanged with all the normal courses running. The Weekend children’s sailing sessions continue and early booking is essential. Children’s week courses will run during all school holidays and will be as fun and exciting as ever. Adult sailing courses start in early April with both week and weekend courses at all levels from Beginner to Instructor level.

We are in the process of building a quality instructional team and are very happy with the several new staff that are joining the team.

We are very much looking forward to the coming season with many new challenges in the pipeline. We are now very confident that we know the way forward and have a number of other exciting projects we are looking to get off the ground. We hope the summer is as good as last year and we look forward to meeting as many old customers as possible during the year.

All the Best
Steph and Eric Bridge

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