RDO Blog Update March

Hi everyone,

Given all the rough weather we have had with the �Beast from the East�, it�s hard to believe that we�ll be on the water again shortly. In the lead up to the main sailing season it has also been an extremely busy time in terms of planning this year�s activities, with workshops, the Instructor Training Day, inspection allocations and plenty more going on behind the scenes.

Firstly, some congratulations. The East was well represented at the RYA Dinghy Show, with Marconi Sailing Club being a deserving finalist in the RYA and Yachts & Yachting Club of the Year Awards. Although the overall title went to Nottinghamshire County Sailing Club in the Midlands, Marconi were very worthy winners of the Innovation Award - we look forward to hearing great things from Marconi in the future. 18-year-old Daisy Collingridge from Waldringfield Sailing Club was named RYA East Youth Champion after a fantastic year of achievements in the Laser Radial, and presented with her trophy by members of the British Sailing Team.

Over the next few weeks a number of events are taking place. This week sees both the Instructor Training Day and the inaugural Cruising Conference in Suffolk. Both have good numbers planned to attend and I look forward to letting you know how they go. In addition various Race Management workshops run by Peter Saxton are planned, along with Rules workshops run by Graham Louth � more information about these will be available on the East Region�s social media pages. Also, a couple of last minute places are available on the East Dinghy SI course (4.5 days over 23(evening)/24/25 March and 14/15 April) � please get in touch if you are interested.

Within the region it�s shaping up to be a great year, with lots of exciting projects in the pipeline. Some 50 venues in the East are already signed up to Push the Boat Out during May and we are looking forward to a whole month of activities, and following on from the success of previous years, a further number of Try Sailing events are planned. If your Club or Centre would like to get involved with running one of these events, it�s not too late to do so � please talk to me.�

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Many of you may have heard of, or been involved in, the Workplace Challenge � where we have run sailing activity in conjunction with the County Sports Partnerships and workplaces. 2018 sees the launch of a new and very exciting project, for which more information will shortly be available. The promotional filming for the project took place in the Eastern Region last month � watch this space for more information! We�ve also been working on increasing female participation in the region, with a number of different strands to this, from increasing diversity at club level through to running workshops at the Instructor Training day. If your Club has run innovative ladies only sessions that you�d like to tell everyone about, please do get in touch.

Finally, nominations for the RYA Volunteer Awards are currently open, and will close on 03 April. We all know that volunteers are the lifeblood of our sport, so if you know of a volunteer worthy of nomination, get your application in now

Robbie