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24 February 2026

Bridging the gap between Sailability and club racing

How race coaching became a game changer at Carsington

Carsington Sailing Club is on the southern edge of the Derbyshire Peak District and is an RYA Recognised Training Centre, open Wednesdays to Sundays for recreational sailing, racing, adult and youth training, windsurfing, winging and foiling, plus OnBoard sessions for children.

Carsington Sailability has been part of the club for over 20 years and facilities include full disabled access, hoists and a well-maintained fleet of adapted/accessible boats, including single and doublehanded Hansa dinghies and two RS Venture keelboats. 

Identifying the gap

Carsington Sailability identified a gap in 2023 between its active members and those taking part in club racing.

Carsington Sailability membership provides access to supported sessions on Saturday and Wednesday mornings. Although the group had three helms racing Hansa dinghies on Saturdays, as well as competing at open meetings, there was no visibility of Carsington Sailability in the main club racing that take places on Wednesday afternoons.

Implementing a solution 

Race coaching was introduced to help integrate members of Carsington Sailability into regular club activity and encourage greater participation in racing.

The coaching initially offered to Sailability members was met with limited acceptance. Changing the name to ‘skills sessions’ - including games such as Hansa frisbee - then led a solid enthusiasm for the idea, albeit with no further engagement in racing.

The seed had been sown and in Spring 2024 members asked for coaching. With the support of an RYA Race Coach Level 2, group members tackled the basics of starting, lane holding and mark roundings and were inspired to join a club general handicap race.

Club racing takes place on Wednesdays in the afternoons/evening and on Sundays, with the former attracting the most participants and more than 35 boats, having remained hugely popular following its introduction during the Covid pandemic.

Embraced by the club racers, Sailability members attending their usual Wednesday morning sessions were invited to continue joining in with the afternoon/evening club racing.

Alongside further race coaching and supported by ‘Hansa Buddies’ who volunteered from the club racers, the group also competed in a Hansa Traveller Series open at the club.

Expanding the idea

The club now has regular Wednesday and Saturday afternoon race training sessions delivered by a team of RYA qualified coaches. These are free and designed to encourage both Sailability and Carsington SC club members to try racing or hone their skills. 

As an RYA Recognised Training Centre, the club is able to support its members to gain RYA instructor and coaching certificates for the benefit of activities at the club, and has a growing number of qualified volunteers to support its skills sessions for members.

The club is able to offer discounted rates for members wanting to complete RYA qualifications and endorsements, and also paid work opportunities for instructors.

An informal mentoring programme enables members to shadow a coach or instructor to find out more about what is involved to see if they would like to qualify.

WhatsApp groups enable Sailability and club members to keep in touch with each other and get the latest updates, supporting both communications and a community spirit.

Assessing the impact

Race coaching sessions have benefitted both Sailability and the club as a whole by supporting new and regular racers across all levels of experience to develop their skills.

Sailability racing is growing and includes three seasonal series for Spring, Summer and Autumn on Saturdays. A morning and afternoon series allows an option to do one or both, depending on how tired or mobile the participants feel.

There are generally between three to five Hansas on the startline on Saturdays, and the group has continued to join in with the main club racing on Wednesdays. Around 6-8 Sailability sailors now take part in club racing compared to just a couple previously. 

Club members are likewise enthused by the race coaching, including half a dozen female sailors who have gained the confidence to also join in with club racing.

It is now a given that Carsington Sailability joins in with club skills coaching and racing on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Its sailors have been welcomed by the membership at large, enjoy training and racing as equals, and no longer feel part of a ‘Cinderella’ organisation.

Carsington Sailability has a different fee structure for its activities but inspired by their experiences and by club racing, some of the group have become full members of the club.

Club members meanwhile find it rewarding to volunteer as Sailability ‘buddy’ sailors and to experience a different perspective on the water – including heightened senses such as a feel for the wind or vibrations - and enjoy having more boats on a startline.

Insights and tips

Carsington Sailability has traditionally been a separate entity rather than integral to the club, having been set up and funded constitutionally as an independent group.

Commodore Stephen Blake reflects that clubs thinking about launching their own Sailability group may want to consider incorporating participants as full members from the start, alongside a central place for funding and development of benefit to the club as a whole.

With an ageing demographic, fully integrated Sailability has the potential to help all club members stay on the water for longer as they get older. It also makes for more vibrant club activities and may strengthen grant applications for projects such as volunteer development to boost participation - not only for Sailability but also for under-represented groups, including female sailors and those from backgrounds who do not traditionally access sailing.

The assimilation of Sailability with activities at Carsington SC has been made easier thanks to its twice weekly sessions coinciding with club racing and coaching sessions.

As Tim Trent of Carsington Sailability explains: “We’re lucky in that we have Wednesday club racing on a Sailability day, while our Saturday session coincides with cruiser fleet racing and club race training. The trick is to try and do things on the same day to facilitate inclusion.

“Integrating activities should be the norm and our Sailability members are loving it. They are enjoying sailing on level terms with everyone in the club, and finding in handicap racing that like anyone else they can be at the back of the fleet, in the middle of it or winning.

“The racing and coaching also encourages Sailability sailors to go beyond what they thought they could do - and beyond what other people expected and believed was possible for them to do. Our ethos at Carsington Sailability is all about what people can do.”

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