RYA North East blog - April 2024

There’s been a real buzz at our Regional Training Days in the North as we get set for the season ahead.

Overall, more than 110 instructor/coaches/volunteers and trainers attended the three events at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club, Welton Waters Adventure Centre and the Anderton Centre, which means we’re one of the best regions for participation this year.

Everyone that came along to the days really enjoyed the sessions ashore and afloat, and I’ve really appreciated the opportunity to catch up with everyone.

A big thank you to all three host venues and to everyone who made the most of these opportunities to advance their skills or try something new.

Youth & Juniors

We’re back at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club soon with entries now open for the BYS North Regional Junior Championships, 22-23 June 2024.

There’s camping available on site and three fleets for Rookie, Coached Regatta and Championship racing sailors, giving everyone an opportunity to shine as they progress and test their skills alongside old and new friends.

The North had one of the best attended events in the country last year and it would be great to see lots of entries at this year’s edition too!

Many of our aspiring young sailors meanwhile were battling it out at the RYA Youth Nationals over Easter at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy.

Congratulations to Matthew Rayner from Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club who with helm Arwen Fflur from Wales won gold in the 420 fleet at the RYA Youth Nationals and is now off to represent GBR at Lake Garda in Italy at the Youth Worlds!

Traveller Series

The North East & Yorkshire Youth Traveller Series has a brilliant line-up of inland and coastal venues for 2024 and kicks off with events this Saturday (20 April 2024) at West Riding SC and on Saturday 27 April 2024 at Ripon SC – enter now at www.yhysa.org.

In a new innovation for this year, the series is inviting young sailors from the North West to get on the sea at its Filey Sailing Club open meeting, while NE sailors will be able to join the NW circuit at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club in the Lake District.

The latter will also be good practise ahead of the NSSA (National School Sailing Association) National Youth Regatta, 21-27 July 2024, which is also at Bassenthwaite and will be a fantastic holiday week of racing and fun, with camping on site. Entries are now open for this event too.

Please share these opportunities with the youth and junior sailors and parents at your club or centre so everyone can plan for an exciting summer!

Senior Instructor course

For RYA Dinghy Instructors wanting to take their ticket to the next level, bookings are open for an RYA Senior Instructor course at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club in September 2024.

To keep an eye on all upcoming opportunities, I’d recommend bookmarking the RYA Events hub, which allows you to filter the content by activity and region.

It is useful to tick the check boxes for both the North East and North West, as there may be events or courses just over the border which may be closer or more convenient for you.

If there is a particular course you’d like to access or host, remember to fill out our RYA North Instructor Course/CPD Expression of Interest form and our Sailing Developer Paul Adams will be able to assist with organising that for you.

High tides & rainfall

I’ve been made aware that a number of places in the North have been affected by high tides and flooding. If you need my support please do reach out and contact me because unless I hear from you I may not know about your particular circumstances.

It’s probably been the quietest start to a season I’ve ever known because it’s been so wet and windy. That said, it has been good to see many of you getting going with the clocks changing and hopefully better conditions ahead, with many of you promoting RYA Discover Sailing sessions and mid-week evening racing underway.

I’m certainly looking forward to getting on the water more and out and about. I’m at Pennine Sailing Club soon and have 10 Training Centre inspections in the RYA North East region which will give me a chance to see many of you and hear your news!

Training Centre inspections

If you are an RYA Training Centre, look out for your inspector getting in touch soon to arrange a date to visit, and try to get something in the diary over the Spring and Summer period when you’re busy rather than leave it until winter.

These annual inspections are best carried out when activities are happening as it gives your inspector a chance to work with you and provide constructive advice – and for you to ask questions – to ensure you get the most out of these visits.

If your Training Principal has not received a notification please get in touch with me and I will be able to join the dots to put you in contact with your inspector.

OnBoard flags

OnBoard centres should have received their new branded flags and I’m looking forward to seeing these flying at clubs and centres around the region. If you haven’t yet received yours, let me know as I can find out where it’s got to and help!

And finally…

A date for your diary! The RYA Connected event for the North in 2024 will be at the Lightcliffe Academy near Halifax on Saturday 16 November.

This event is for the whole of the North region with an accessible location between Leeds and Huddersfield which is well served by motorways.

These conferences are for anyone involved in running their club or its activities. Look out for bookings opening later in the year and in the meantime - save the date!

Keep up to date with all the latest news by following our social media @RYANorthEast on Facebook and/or X.

Until next time,

Adam.