RYA North East blog - March 2024
It’s been great to see bookings rolling in for our RYA Regional Training Days in the North!
A reminder that these days are open to anyone involved in delivering activities on the water at your club, including all levels of instructors, along with race coaches and volunteers:
- Saturday 23 March at Welton Waters Adventure Centre
- Sunday 24 March at the Anderton Centre
- Saturday 13 April - Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club
Powerboat spaces are full for Welton Waters but there is still winging available along with the whole variety of other sessions. At the Anderton Centre meanwhile there’s no winging left so if this is something you were keen on, take a look at heading over to Welton Waters.
Every event will have something for everyone but some venues also have particular kit or sessions, including for example, windsurfing at Derwent Reservoir SC. For a quick overview of what’s taking place where, revisit our February blog or check out the options online when booking for either your nearest event or the one with a specific activity you’d like to try.
To secure your preferred date and sessions, book as soon as possible now and by midnight on Sunday 17 March 2024 at the latest for Welton Waters and the Anderton Centre
Sign up now for our RYA North Regional Training Days.
Dinghy Show delights
It was fantastic to be at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show at the end of February and to see so many of you there. Among the highlights was seeing our RYA Club of the Year supported by Gallagher finalists recognised on the Main Stage in front of a packed audience.
Although we didn’t win I would like to congratulate again the two North East clubs shortlisted this year: Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club in the Active Club of the Year category and the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club in the Community Club of the Year category.
It was also exciting to hear West Lancashire Yacht Club confirming at the Show that its legendary 24-Hour Race would be returning in 2024! This was following a fantastic response to the idea from clubs in the region and the first NE team to enter is Scammonden Water SC – do keep the entries coming in so we can make the event a real success.
Enter your club for the WLYC 24-Hour Race.
Powerboat skills
It was great to see participants on our Powerboat Skills Day at Ripon Sailing Club making the most of the opportunity to develop their practical know-how.
If you missed this one, there are three places left on our upcoming Powerboat Skills Day at Halifax Sailing Club on Saturday 20 April – book asap before this fills up.
It’s a chance to capsize boats and practise getting them the right way up without the pressure of actually having to rescue someone. The feedback from our skills days shows this is really useful, and we’d encourage all clubs to do this to support their instructors and volunteers.
It’s especially useful to think about the best way to recover the kinds of boats used at your own club, whether that’s a Stratos keelboat, Topper or Funboat, so your team is ready and confident in advance for the busy training and racing season ahead.
Inspection allocations
Inspection allocations for 2024 are being finalised and will be sent out this month to RYA Recognised Training Centres. When you have that in your inbox, please reach out to your designated inspector and get a date in the diary.
Ideally this should be when activities are happening during Spring and Summer because it’s not just about checking policies and procedures, it’s an opportunity for you to ask questions and benefit from supportive advice and guidance.
I’m looking forward to carrying out inspections at around a dozen North East clubs and centres.
It will enable me to get out and about to meet some of you for a chat, and we can also talk about club development and how we can best help you going forward.
If your Training Principal has not received a notification by the start of April, please get in touch with me and I will be able to join the dots to put you in contact with your inspector.
Youth & Juniors
Entries are now open for the North East & Yorkshire Youth Traveller Series, which includes a fantastic variety of inland and coastal venues, plus a chance to join sailors from the North West circuit at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club in the Lake District.
Bassenthwaite SC will also be hosting the NSSA (National School Sailing Association) National Youth Regatta, 21-27 July 2024, which will be a great opportunity for young sailors from across the region to enjoy a memorable week of learning, racing and having fun with friends.
In the meantime, good luck to all those competing in the upcoming RYA Youth National Championships 30 March-5 April 2024, at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy.
For younger sailors, entries are expected to open mid-March for the BYS Regional Junior Championships for the North at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club, 22-23 June 2024.
As ever, please do share all of these events and links with the youth and junior sailors and parents at your club or centre!
Get OnBoard
RYA North West Sailing Development Officer Alan Jones has been delivering bespoke RYA OnBoard Days, including recently at Ripon SC, to help clubs get fired up for the season.
These are for any club or centre looking to make best use of RYA resources for delivering OnBoard / youth & junior activities, with sessions onshore and/or on-the-water. They’re a fun and sociable day and include games with aims to help you inspire your next generation!
If you would like one of our tutors to come along and provide a FREE day of upskilling for your instructors and volunteers, contact me and we’ll get that organised.
Monthly forum for March
Our monthly evening forum will take place on Thursday 28 March. As ever will be a chance to get together for updates. And following last month’s look at startline strategies – with my GP14 worlds campaign and race coach hats on - we’ll be continuing to get set for the racing season with a focus on tactics, strategy and communication.
Register now for our online March 2024 RYA North Forum.
Disability Awareness
Otley Sailing Club recently hosted an RYA Disability Awareness Course for their volunteers. If this is something your club would like to do for its members, let me know and then one of our trainers can be lined up to deliver this for you.
And finally…
We have an RYA Senior Instructor course coming up at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club over the weekend of 7-8 & 14-15 September 2024 which is now open for booking.
You can find all upcoming courses for instructors and opportunities for clubs in the North East at the RYA Events hub. To keep up with the latest updates and announcements, follow @RYANorthEast on Facebook and/or X if you haven’t already!
Until next time,
Adam.