Susie Scoop October 2022

Hi everyone,

Let me start this month’s blog by expressing how I, along with the South team, are shocked and saddened by the tragic news from Cowes and my thoughts are very much with the yachtswomen’s friends and family.

I hope you all found the RYA Club Live Show informative. I enjoyed it and thought it was a great reminder to us all that we need to start planning for next year whilst bearing in mind the recent changes that we are discovering in people’s behaviour. This being that although we are seeing lots of new participants getting involved with our clubs, of these around 80% only go out on the water once or twice a year though.

The question we need to ask ourselves over the winter is: Can we understand their motivations and how can we capitalise on this opportunity to increase their time on the water?

Does the answer lie in offering a range of different experiences and how can we fulfil this? I am here to support you and explore how we can do this so please do drop me an email or give me a call. I am always happy to visit your club too.

If you missed RYA Club Live Show, you can still check it out here.

Time to Talk
I am keen that Centre Principals and Chief Instructors get more opportunities to meet each other and discuss the challenges and successes we are facing so we may learn from each other and overcome our obstacles cooperatively.

I have therefore arranged a Time To Talk online session where you can meet others from the South Region who deliver a similar product to yourself. As well as the chance to discuss your experiences of the 2022 summer season and any successes and challenges you are facing. I hope we will also have time to investigate other topics such as inspections and instructor training/development and get a short update from myself.

The session for clubs (which is also open to charities that have Recognised Training Centre status) is on Thursday 17 November at 19:00 till 20:00. Book here.

Affiliated Clubs Conference

The South Affiliated Clubs Conference event takes place at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton on Saturday 12 November and you can now sign up for your FREE ticket here.

This will be a packed day of information for all club committee members, with workshops covering: 

• What are the needs and motivations of your club members and how can you provide an experience that’s right for them?
• How can you make your club welcoming to a wider range of members?
• What can you do to make your volunteers experience meaningful
• How can the RYA’s new Club Management Compliance Toolkit help you manage your club?
• How to secure the funding you need for your club
• How can you increase yacht racing participation at your club?

The RYA South Region AGM will also take place during the day. 

Regional Instructor Training

We now have several upcoming courses available to book in the South area on the RYA website here.

I am also delighted to announce that our Regional Training Day (formally Instructor Training Day) will take place on 11 March 2023 at Thorney Island. 

I’m very much looking forward to seeing Instructors, Coaches and Volunteers from clubs and training centres alike come together for a day of shore and water-based activities.

We will also examine what it means to create a positive participation experience with lots of time for discussion and ideas generation. 

So do please put this in your calendar – bookings will go live early next year.

National Coach Training 

The RYA Race Coach Development Team has launched a series of FREE online ‘Connect With Coaching’ development workshops. They are open to instructors, race coaches and trainers and will develop knowledge and discuss topics which support coaching. There is one a month and start on Tuesday 1 November. More info and book here. 

OnBoard

I am pleased to report that Polly Schafer, the South’s Development Officer, along with myself, will shortly begin visiting all of the OnBoard recognised clubs in our region. These important visits will help strengthen our offering to young people taking their first steps into sailing and we are both looking forward to hearing about and discussing plans with our OnBoard clubs. 

As listed above, wo OnBoard Development Days will also be taking place next year. The first will be at Emberton Park Sailing Club on 11 March 2023, followed by Lymington Town Sailing Club on 18 March 2023. Both costs £25 per person. You can book here. 

Youth and Junior news 

The British Youth Sailing (BYS) Regional Training Groups (RTG) winter training will be starting soon over the October half term in the Topper, Optimist, ILCA 4, RS Feva and Bic Techno windsurfer classes. 

There are over 90 sailors from 19 South clubs – which is great to have so many young people taking part in this fantastic coaching programme. Obviously too many to list here so you can find the full list here. More information on the BYS RTGs can also be found here. 

And finally…

British Youth Sailing are looking for a Windsurfing Lead Coach within the South or SW RTG Programme. If the challenge of helping our young windsurfers to become the best in the world appeals to you then don’t delay as the deadline to apply for this fantastic role is on Wednesday 26th October 2022. More info and apply here. 

Until next time,

Susie