Walcon Marine has delivered a new berthing facility to Weymouth Sailing Club with a capacity between 20 and 25 boats. Located within Weymouth Harbour, it is known as Cove Pontoon. Its installation is part of a wider programme to revitalise the harbour, which is home to a large fleet of leisure craft and is a popular destination for visiting boaters. Dominating the centre of the town, the harbour is also a major attraction for the wider tourism industry.
The new facility has been fitted along the quay wall with a 33-metre back walkway leading to a perpendicular pier at each end, 23 and 28 metres respectively. From those extend a total of 11 finger pontoons fitted at a variety of angles to the piers so as to maximise manoeuvring space for larger boats in the limited area. All the pontoons are Walcon System 21 and are fitted with commercial-grade GRP mesh decking. The Walcon Wizard piling barge was deployed for the two-week installation, first extracting the rotten greenheart piles that were there previously providing pile moorings, and then driving in the new steel piles.
Weymouth Sailing Club has substantial premises at its prime location close to the harbour entrance, along with moorings for about 120 boats, a dinghy park and a slipway. It is primarily a racing club and runs a full race programme from April to December, but there are also many members whose main interest is cruising. The new Cove Pontoon provides greater ease of access for berth holders and the pontoons with their GRP mesh grating require only minimal maintenance. The configuration also allows slightly bigger boats to be moored – up to ten metres - than could be otherwise.
Steve Pitman, mooring secretary at the club, commented: “Walcon was able to complete the project by the end of April despite their barge having been weather-bound for two weeks in Brighton and they successfully managed the restrictions on working hours based on tidal flow, imposed by the MMO. Precise positioning of the piles was vital in what is a very congested area and the custom-built access steps designed by Walcon have also proved successful. Overall we are very satisfied with the project.”