Robbie's Blog December 2020

Hi everyone,

In this fast changing world it has been good to see activity taking place on the water again over the last few weeks.�Youwill no doubt have heard that as of Wednesday parts of the East region will bein Tier 3 and will face tougher lockdown measures. �As has been the casethroughout this pandemic, staying safe is a priority so please look afteryourselves in these challenging times. You can find out what this means foryour club and your boating activity here.

Affiliated Clubs Conference

Thank you to all those that came and participated in the Affiliated Clubs Conference in November, I hope you enjoyed it and found it worthwhile. The theme was �A different world with new opportunities� and it was fantastic to hear Chris Grant (Sport England board member) talk about the importance of development, and how clubs could create an overarching objective or �North star� to guide them, and how being mindful of heritage and baggage could support better decision making. Most clubs have had to adapt and change as a result of the pandemic and whilst this has been an incredibly challenging year, some clubs have benefited from the decisions they have made and my view is that we all have an opportunity over the coming weeks and months to bounce back stronger. That will not happen by accident so I would encourage you to think about your Club�s �North Star�, and start to plan for how you might achieve those objectives. If we can help you to achieve these aims, please get in touch.

Club Development Webinars

Following the Affiliated Clubs Conference, we started a series of webinars during the week commencing 23�November. I have been heavily involved in the Club Development Planning sessions and these can be viewed, along with others HERE.�You need to register for the event,once you have done this you will receive login information by email. Once youhave entered the event you can then search by date to Join the Webinars, thefirst in each series started week commencing 23 November.� You can also watch the Regional Update video here, with updates from the RDO DDO, RPM and Regional Committee.

Resources & Support

My colleagues and I are in the process of finalising a new RYA Club Development Guide, this will be available in the next two weeks, please do get in touch if you would like a PDF copy (Robbie.bell@rya.org.uk). I am also working with Sailing Development Officer Jen Miller to produce a series of subsidised instructor development opportunities which will commence in the New Year and span the following months into the spring. These opportunities will range from short online Introductions to Instructing, through to the Regional Senior Instructor Course, please keep an eye on social media channels for news on these.

PY Returns

Many of you will be familiar with the system of Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) returns � this is the handicap system run jointly by the RYA & Clubs, whereby clubs submit data from their racing throughout the year which the RYA collates. This year the cut-off date will be 20 December to submit data, and although we realise it�s been a difficult year for racing, it is important that we get as many returns as possible in order to generate the most accurate number for 2021. Club handicap or results officers can submit results to PY Online. If you encounter any problems please contact technical@rya.org.uk

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Save the Date!

The RYA Cruising Conference is taking place on Sunday 21 March.� This virtual event is free for RYA Members, and the Key Note Speaker will be Skip Novak.� There will be updates from our Cruising and Government Affairs Team on hot topics such as Brexit, and live sessions on a range of topics and much more.� More details to follow soon.

Keep in touch

Don�t forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram - and keep sending us your stories of what�s been working well, and your initiatives to keep members engaged over the winter.

Finally, I wish you well for the coming weeks and the festive period and I hope that you manage to take a break from all of the hard work you have been putting into your clubs.

Robbie