Home and away success for Rutland youth sailors

Youth and junior sailors from Rutland Sailing Club are celebrating a successful season on the water thanks to a vibrant programme at home and a competitive edge at championships.

At the recent 2021 Eric Twiname Team Racing Championships at Oxford SC, Rutland claimed the youth title and had a second team finish fourth overall out of the 24 entries competing in Fireflies, while racing for the junior title in RS Fevas likewise saw the club performing well with a team making it to the semi-finals, and a member in the winning team too!

Rutland’s youth sailors also claimed team racing victories earlier in the year at the British Schools Dinghy Racing Association Championship and RYA Ladies Team Racing Nationals.

Winning ways in team racing by the club’s youth and junior sailors are mirrored by their fleet racing results on the national circuit, with many competing at the top of RYA pathway classes such as the ILCA singlehander and 29er skiff.

Youth fleet organiser  Fiona Tylecote believes the variety of sailing opportunities available at the club combined with a strong social element have been important factors.

The club aims to provide a pathway for youth and junior sailors at all levels via RYA courses and regular sessions, including: Cygnets for youngsters starting out; Junior Racing; Junior Pro for those competing at events and team racing; and a Race Training Winter Squad for competent racers aged 8-18 wanting to improve their boat speed, race tactics and strategy.

There is also Rutland Hydra youth group for ages 13-25 who are looking to take their racing to the next level. The HYDRA group led by Steve Tylecote and Tim Litt is designed to get the kids taking responsibility for their own sailing, and for those in the group. It aims to produce resilient lifelong sailors.

Club-owned boats now include five RS Fevas and eight Firefly dinghies which enable easy and affordable access to boats through the club’s Ready to Sail programme and are also available for regular training sessions for team racing.

As Fiona explains: “We have amazing depth within our youth and junior fleet and the social and coaching side of it have been really key to keeping them engaged at the club. They also all get to know each other, so if they do go away for events or squads they always want to come back to the club in between.

“We also find that they really enjoy the team racing and messing around with their friends in different combinations, helming and crewing. Team racing is good for boat handling and tactics and our youth and junior sailors get lots of transferable skills from it and get used to jumping into different boats, which helps them in whatever they go on to do next.

“Our older kids grew up team racing for experienced helms, and as they’ve come through and had the chance to helm and crew, they’re swapping and sharing these skills around. We place a big emphasis on the importance of good crews and encourage everyone to do both roles. There’s a lot of competition to get into the Rutland teams and the skills they learn from close-boat team racing and their awareness of what’s happening around the course makes them much better when they get back to their fleet racing and find they can get around a mark without losing places.”

Rutland SC’s youth sailors have earned some top results over summer, including at the RYA Youth Nationals, ILCA Nationals and RS Tera Nationals, which you can read more about here. While some have been selected for national squads or Regional Training Groups, for those not in RYA or class squads or who don’t want to travel, there are lots of opportunities at the club to continue developing their skills over winter, including local RS Tera and Feva coaching.

Volunteers play a vital role in ensuring the programme is supported and sustainable and the club has a ‘how can I help?’ guide for parents with ideas on how they can get involved – from wearing wellies on shore to learning how to drive a RIB - while a Ladies That Launch programme enables mums to borrow boats, get to know each other and enjoy sailing too.

As Fiona explains: “A big driver behind the youth and junior programme is that families want to spend a lot of time at the club because the parents are just as likely to be on the water as the kids!”

Find out more at Rutland Sailing Club - Youth & Junior Sailing or if you or someone you know would like to find out more about how children can start their own journey on the water, visit: www.rya.org.uk/start-boating/childrens-sailing