RYA Connected Conference – South West
Book now to join the RYA Connected Conference in the South West
Now's your chance to come together with your local sailing community to learn, grow and connect. This exciting event is free to attend and you can send as many members of your team along as you’d like while there are spaces available.
This year, we'll be welcoming speakers from Poole Sailability, Beer Sailing Club, Lyme Regis Sea School, Weymouth Sailing Club, Axe Yacht Club and Durleigh Sailing Club to cover a wide range of topics including as engaging the next generation of sailors and working with fellow sailing clubs to create new opportunities and increase participation.
Here's what your day will look like
Date
28 November 2026
Time
09.15 - 16.30
Location
The Castle School,
Taunton,
TA1 5AU
Here's what we’ll be talking about
Your day will start with an opportunity to network, followed by an opening plenary with our guest speaker Giles Graham. Across the rest of the day, you'll have further chances to network with other clubs and will have a choice of forums, presentations and workshops to attend before the closing plenary.
Forums are a chance to share your views on a given topic and hear the insight of others. Workshops are facilitator led, with a combination of presentation, activities and discussion. Presentations are a chance to listen to an expert or another clubs story.
You will have a choice of each of the sessions to attend. To help you plan ahead with your team, this is what we’ll be focusing on this year:
Forums
- Growing opportunities for disabled sailors
- Delivering better racing
- Getting more young people sailing
- Overcoming challenges in training
- How to deliver yacht and keelboat activity
- Engaging and welcoming more women and girls into our sport
- Creating better blue spaces and reducing environmental impact
- Welfare Officers session with your local Sport Welfare officer
- Using digital tools to improve the running of your organisation
Presentations
- Safe recruitment: who is eligible for DBS checks
- Get Wing Foiling
- Accidents & Incidents
- IQ Foils World Championships
- Working Together to Secure the Future: Poole Sailability
- Partnership in Practice: Beer Sailing Club and Lyme Regis Sea School
- Supporting your race team
- Using AI
- Harnessing the power of content
- Engaging the Next Generation at Weymouth Sailing Club
- Creating Change for Growth at Durleigh
- Strengthening Safety Boat Teams
- Powering a More Sustainable Future at Axe Yacht Club
Workshops
- Handling complaints and safeguarding concerns with confidence
- Growing instructor and race coach teams
- Growing racing activity and race teams
- Getting it right for women and girls
- Funding Future Growth while keeping your club accessible and affordable
- Building programmes that get more young people out on the water
- Understanding and meeting members needs
Sessions led by your local clubs and centres
- Working Together to Secure the Future: Poole Sailability
Hear how Poole Sailability responded to uncertainty around its venue by planning ahead, finding a new home within a local sailing club, and building the governance and agreements needed to secure the future of both organisations.
- Partnership in Practice: Beer Sailing Club and Lyme Regis Sea School
Hear how Beer Sailing Club worked with Lyme Regis Sea School have worked together to expand its training offer, create new opportunities for members and reduce pressure on volunteers.
- Engaging the Next Generation at Weymouth Sailing Club
Hear how Weymouth Sailing Club is rethinking how it engages local young people, developing opportunities for both young sailors and those new to boating. Discover how its ethos and small practical changes are helping more young people get on the water.
- Creating Change for Growth at Durleigh
Hear how Durleigh brought two organisations together, diversified its club offer and created new opportunities to grow membership and strengthen its role in the local community.
- Powering a More Sustainable Future at Axe Yacht Club
Hear how Axe Yacht Club has invested in solar panels to reduce running costs and support a more sustainable future. Discover how the club funded the project, what has changed day to day and how the finances have worked out.
For more detailed information on all the above sessions, download the full agenda.
Book now
All Connected events are FREE to attend for RYA Affiliates.
Many of our affiliates find they get most benefit from RYA Connected Conferences by sending multiple members of the team along to learn as much as possible and spur each other into taking action back at your venue. Attendees may already be on your board or involved in your operations, or they may be interested in doing so in future – an RYA Connected Conference is an excellent way to get them started.
There’s no limit to the number of people you can send, but please be aware that we expect this event to be fully booked so book now to avoid disappointment!
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