Advice to clubs following Government Announcement

Following the Prime Minister's announcement the RYA team have been working hard to understand what this means for RYA Affiliated clubs.

England

The government have made it clear that sports like sailing, which have submitted their guidance to DCMS as part of the Return to Organised Team Sport Framework, can continue to operate in a Covid secure way. It is still appropriate to run club on-water activities including racing and events, and people from different households can continue to sail together as long as they observe the RYA guidance.

As before, it is our interpretation that groups of boats do not constitute a gathering so there are no restrictions to the number of boats that can participate together afloat. Crews do not have to be limited to 6 as they constitute a team sport activity but they must observe social distancing and use appropriate mitigation as per the RYA guidance. We continue to recommend limiting crew numbers where possible.

However, it is clear that clubs and members will have to take more precautions when onshore.

Members will need to ensure they only gather in groups of 6 or less and that these groups do not interact with each other (from Monday this will become law, whereas up until then we have been advised to do so in the form of Government guidance). As of 18th September clubs which serve food and drink must maintain records of staff/volunteers, customers/members and visitors to support NHS Test and Trace and follow the Government guidance in this area.

It is also clear, after viewing the statistics the Prime Minister presented yesterday afternoon, that Covid-19 rates in England are increasing fairly significantly. Therefore, we would recommend that clubs reinitiate Covid-19 task groups, refresh their Covid-19 plans and be prepared for any further restrictions which may follow. We would continue to urge all sailors to maintain good hygiene practices, observe social distancing and respect all relevant club and RYA guidance. Let's keep sailing Covid free so we can all carry on enjoying being on the water.

We have updated our English Club Guidance which can be found on the RYA Return to Boating hub.

For those who missed the ClubZone webinar on this subject you can watch it back here

Scotland

RYA Scotland have updated their guidance which tailored towards Scottish based RYA affiliated clubs and recognised training centres and is designed to aid your decision making process and planning. Guidance information can be found here.

Wales

Following theannouncements on the 11th September a number of changes have come into effect. Further details on these updates and what these mean for clubs and centres in Wales can be found in the RYA Cymru Wales Return to Boating webpage.

Northern Ireland

There has been no further change for Sport in Northern Ireland and the latest Club Guidance can be found under the RYANI Return to Boating webpage

If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via sport.development@rya