RDO Blog - May

Get set for the Honda RYA Youth RIB Championship

The Honda RYA Youth RIB Championship is back and now is the time to start thinking about preparing your youth and junior sailors for this year's area finals.

Sponsored by Honda and Highfield, the winner in each age group (8-12 and 13-16 years) will then take part in a national final at the Southampton Boat Show in September, with the chance of winning a Highfield 460 or a Honwave T40 for their club.

The competition takes the form of a time trial around a set of marks - the fastest time wins and there's a great video.

It's a great opportunity to enthuse your younger members - our next generation of powerboat drivers, safety boat drivers, instructors and coaches - and potentially win a fabulous prize for your club!

The regional final is currently being planned and details will be released as soon as they are available. In the meantime you can find out more here.

Any work mates want to go sailing?!

Tees & Hartlepool Yacht Club is among the venues hosting the Workplace Sailing Challenge, which is inviting local businesses and companies to get together teams of three for an enjoyable six week �learn to sail� course on Wednesday evenings, starting on June 6.

The training will include some basic racing skills, and teams will then have the chance to take on other companies in a fun finale to compete for the title of Workplace Sailing Challenge Champions.�

Previous experience has shown workers benefit from improved communication and gain in confidence, morale and well-being - all at an accessible cost compared to traditional corporate team building activities, at just �99 per person.

We�re hoping to show people how easy and fun it is to go sailing locally after a busy day at work, so if you know of a business or company - big or small - which would be interested in taking part, please do share the details or encourage them to book direct for a whole new adventure.

Calling all junior and youth sailors - and parents!

The North East Youth Travellers Series continues through the summer term so do please encourage your youth and junior sailors to take part.

It's a fantastic series for young sailors to develop their racing skills while having fun, with on the water support for those who need it, while more advanced sailors can hone their skills.

There are prizes for the overall series and also for taking part in either the north or south zones. Next up is Ripon SC, 19 May, followed by five more dates at six clubs throughout June and July. All the details are on our RYA North East youth pages.

Instructor training days

Our RYA NE Instructors and Coaches group�on Facebook is growing fast and set to be an ideal platform for instructors and training providers to keep up to date and in touch with what's happening, with more than 80 group members signed up so far!

We have an instructor development day coming up, including SI course preparation, at South Shields Sailing Club, 23 June. There is also a five-day RYA Start Windsurfing Instructor Course, 27-31 August, at Leeds Sailing & Activity Centre, and an RYA Dinghy Senior Instructor Course, 15-16 & 22-23 September, at Tees &Hartlepool Yacht Club. For details and booking visit Regional Courses and Training for Instructors.

The regional team continues to be busy with training centre inspections in line with RYA accreditation for dinghy, windsurf and powerboat provision. If you're a training centre principal and have any questions, please do feel free to get in touch with me.�

Push the Boat Out!

It's been great to see so many clubs getting people of all ages out on the water with Push the Boat Out.�A huge thank you again to all the clubs who've take part so far and good luck to those yet to have their open days. I am sure all your hard work will result in full training courses and lots of new members. Please do keep reminding all your non-sailing friends, family, colleagues and neighbours that May is a great time to try sailing!

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Happy sailing!

Sam