RDO Blog June 2022

Hi everyone,

I hope you all enjoyed the Jubilee celebrations and made the most of the additional Bank Holiday; I know that many of you ran additional events over the long weekend and hope that these were successful for you.

It has been great to see East Region clubs recently delivering Discover Sailing events, and whether these have been small scale or large open days, it’s been really pleasing to see clubs offering such experiences once more. These have varied from giving local residents an opportunity to have a go in a boat to concerted efforts to gain more members, and we have really enjoyed hearing about them and seeing the photographs. For those that have successfully recruited new members, I’m sure you will all be working hard to get them on the water over the coming weeks to develop skills, and getting them introduced to other club members to aid the new member journey. Whilst these new members are really keen and enthusiastic, we need to be thinking about how they will get value from their membership this season to encourage them to keep coming back. Hopefully you have plenty of plans over the coming months to assist with this. We’d love to hear about those plans, or if you’re short of ideas and would like to get in touch, please do so. It’s not too late to sign up to Discover Sailing this summer. You can register to get additional free promotion for your event and free resources - the next deadline is the Thursday 07 July for events in August.

We are also getting a steady stream of enquiries from clubs regarding funding and, as the season develops, it may well be that you are starting to identify your needs for the next season and beyond. To aid with this process we have a great new resource to help you find funding for your project. We’ve teamed up with Idox to provide a community funding support website and once you’ve registered on the site, you can search for funding – find out more here.

As you read this, we’ll be gearing up for the Regional Junior Championships. Over the weekend of Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 June sailors from across the region will come together to compete in fleets across a number of junior classes. There are Championship fleets for the experienced and there is additionally a Coached Regatta fleet for those looking to develop their racing skills, and you may have read about the OnBoard fleet, which is ideally aimed at those looking to attend an open meeting for the first time. The OnBoard fleet will be led by experienced Senior Instructors and will consist mainly of having fun on the water, developing confidence and skills through a variety of games and sessions throughout the weekend. We’ve even included free boat charter in the entry to make this as accessible as possible. More info and entry HERE 

Subsidised regional courses continue to be delivered throughout the region, please do check out the website for more information HERE 

I recently sent out an update to all RYA East Club contacts - I must apologise, I made a mistake with dates, the confirmed date for the Affiliated Club Conference is Saturday 26 November and the Cruising Conference is on Sunday 27 November, please do save these dates – more information to follow!

Hope to see you soon!

Robbie