RYA North East blog - January 2024
I’ve just come back from Welton Waters Adventure Centre where we’ve been busy planning for what’s set to be an exciting Regional Training Day on Saturday 23 March.
A packed schedule of activities will include dinghy sailing, windsurfing, winging, powerboating and even some keelboating - so there’ll be something for absolutely everyone!
We also have a Regional Training Days at the Anderton Centre near Chorley on Sunday 24 March, and I’m meeting with Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club soon to finalise what we’ll be doing there on Saturday 13 April for the north of the region, again with a whole variety of on-water activities.
These are shaping up to be really good days and they are open to anyone involved in delivering activities at your club, including all levels of instructors, along with race coaches and volunteers.
Look out for bookings opening very soon and then register as soon as possible to select your preferred sessions – in the meantime save the dates and share them with your team!
You can also find out more about our Regional Training Days by coming along to our next monthly online forum for clubs, OnBoard and training centres on Thursday 25 January 2024.
This forum will also be an opportunity for your club or centre to share your own specific training needs for the year ahead. Register now for the RYA North Online Forum.
Windsurfing instructor revalidation
There are a lot of windsurfing instructors with lapsed qualifications in the North East so we’re running a revalidation day at Yorkshire Dales SC on Saturday 16 March.
Sailing Development Officer Paul Adams will be leading and I’ll be there for some windsurfing CPD for myself and getting my own instructor qualification revalidated on the same day.
We have only 104 RYA Start Windsurfing Instructors in the region compared to 160 before the pandemic. This drop in numbers is a big area of concern, so if your qualification has expired within the last 10 years, please do book a place on this day to get it renewed!
Sign up to be a Senior Instructor
For RYA Dinghy Instructors wanting to take the next step, there are just four places left on the RYA Senior Instructor course at The Anderton Centre, Chorley, 17-18 & 24-25 February 2024 – bookings will close the week before so seize the opportunity to sign up if you’d like to get qualified in time for the start of the new season.
If there is a particular RYA course which you would like to see in the region, remember to let us know by filling out our RYA North Instructor Course/CPD Expression of Interest form.
Book an OnBoard day
It’s been great to see bookings coming in for our RYA NE OnBoard Networking Day at Ripon Sailing Club on Saturday 2 March 2024.
This shore-based day is for volunteers and instructors involved in delivering youth and junior activities at their club or centre, providing a chance to share ideas, work through the latest updates and explore how to make the most of the RYA’s OnBoard resources.
You might also like to host a bespoke OnBoard Development Day at your own club: we can send along an OnBoard tutor to provide a day of learning for your team and there is no charge for this.
These sociable days can be delivered on shore and/or on the water, and are proving popular in the North West, with Winsford Flash among those to benefit recently with around 20 of its volunteers taking part. We have a further 10 days booked in already so get in touch if you’d like one too!
Looking ahead…
The Brass Monkey at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club over the festive season turned out to be a breezy affair so well done to all involved in running it and to those who braved the conditions to race!
It was also brilliant to see the busy team racing event at Ripon Sailing Club in the New Year, organised by North East & Yorkshire Youth Sailing Association – a big thank you to all who supported and provided this superb opportunity for our young sailors to develop their skills.
Next up, take a look at the dates for the North East & Yorkshire Youth Traveller Series 2024 and please do share them with your Y&J sailors and parents if you haven’t already.
We’re also really looking forward to the BYS Regional Junior Championships at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club, 22-23 June 2024. With camping on site and fleets for rookie, regatta and championship fleet sailors, now is the time to make sure this must-do event is on the calendar at your club!
Entries are due to open for this annual festival of junior sailing over the weekend of the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show, 24-25 February at Farnborough International.
To keep up to date with all the latest news and announcements, remember to follow us on @RYANorthEast on Facebook and/or X, and whatever you have planned over the coming weeks, I wish you all a fantastic start to 2024!
Adam.
Yorkshire Dales SC Brass Monkey 2023, credit Tim Olin