RDO Blog July 2022

Hi everyone,

Enjoying the summer on the water 

As we enjoy the current glorious weather, it’s a great opportunity to get on the water, and it’s fantastic to see so much activity at clubs, from open days to regattas, racing and so much more. I’m very keen to get out and see as much activity as possible in the region, so if your club would like a visit – just to say hello or to talk through a few ideas - please let me know and I’d be happy to come and see you – Robbie.Bell@rya.org.uk

Win a visit from the SailGP Team

As the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix (SailGP) prepares to return to Plymouth on 30-31 July for the second year, your club can win a visit from the SailGP team! To celebrate, we are encouraging clubs to get together and organise a watch party. Get the bunting up, dress your club in your favourite team colours, turn the TV on and watch the adrenaline-fuelled racing with your mates, live or on catch-up after your club racing.

Share your pictures with us using #SailGP and #RYA on Facebook and the best watch party photo from the weekend will win an exclusive club visit from a member of the Great Britain SailGP Team. Second and third placed clubs will win a piece of signed merchandise plus five pairs of tickets to next year's event in Plymouth in 2023.

Find out more here.

RYA Club Membership Census 

As you will hopefully be aware, the Club Membership Census is now live, and we are very grateful to you for providing us with this information. This really does provide a valuable insight into what is happening in clubs and enables us to shape support over the winter. Where possible, please complete the Census at the same time as last year, or before 14 August latest. We will feed back the insight gained on an individual club basis and at the Affiliated Club Conference in the Autumn. If you need any support with the census please let me know. 

Cruising activities and support in the East

The East Region sees a good amount of cruising activity – with great waterways to explore not only here, but further afield too – and I wanted to ensure that you were aware of the Cruising Abroad guidance that is available via the RYA website – you can find this here. 

We also have the RYA East Cruising Conference on Sunday 27 November at the Royal Hospital School – please save the date, with more information to follow. 

The RYA East Regional Junior Championships

It was brilliant to see so many young sailors on the water for the British Youth Sailing Regional Junior Championships held on Grafham Water last month, with a wide range of experience and abilities from the Championship fleets to the Regatta and OnBoard fleets. In the OnBoard fleet in particular, it was encouraging to see young sailors enjoying sailing away from their home fleet for the first time – and we hope that many more young sailors will join in next year. The 2023 event is planned for the weekend of 17/18 June, so save the date now!

Looking ahead to the next few weeks 

Over the next few weeks we have plenty to look forward to in the region. Clubs are gearing up for Regatta Weeks, centres are looking forward to the busy summer holidays, we have the NSSA National Regatta in the region later this month - 25-29 July on Grafham Water – and don’t forget to check out the instructor opportunities on the RYA East website.

Keep in touch

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram - and keep sending us your stories of activity this season.

Hope you have a great summer!

Robbie