Youth & junior open training launched by Welsh Pathway Clubs

Welsh Sailing / Hwylio Cymru Pathway Clubs are gearing up to give youth and junior training opportunities a boost across the country over autumn and winter.

We have four Pathway Clubs in Wales offering open training for young sailors: Port Dinorwic SC (North); Neyland YC (West); and Llandegfedd SC & Cardiff Bay YC (South).

These clubs aim to empower the next generation by providing regional hubs offering regular, high quality training and coaching, closer to home - reducing costs and travel for sailors and removing barriers to ensure the sport at every level is accessible for all.

Having announced this exciting development in summer, I’m delighted to see our four venues getting set to kickstart their Pathway Club programmes, with dates for autumn/winter now becoming available. Check out the latest news for each club!

Llandegfedd Sailing Club 

Llandegfedd SC aims to run five Pathway Club training weekends between September and April offering coaching for sailors keen to progress on the Welsh and UK race circuits. The club’s comprehensive junior training programme will then start April 2026.

The Pathway Club training weekends will take place in Toppers, with club boats available for hire if needed, and the dates for these will be:

• 18-19 October 2025
• 22-23 November 2025
• 14-15 March 2026
• 25-26 April 2026

Find out more about Pathway Club training at Llandegfedd SC

Learn more about youth sailing at LLandegfedd SC

Cardiff Bay Yacht Club

CBYC has a Saturday club for youth and junior sailors and an upcoming October half term camp, plus Pathway Club training dates as follows:

• Optimist & Topper - 18 October 2025
• Optimist & Topper - 22 November 2025
• Optimist & Topper - 20 February - 2026
• Optimist & Topper - 21 March 2026
• ⁠Optimists - 11 April 2026
• Toppers - 18 April 2026

RS Tera sailors are invited to train with the Toppers and the club is looking at putting in some ILCA training dates. There will also be a series of CBYC open youth regattas:

• Halloween Regatta - 1 November 2025
• ⁠Christmas Regatta – 13 December 2025
• Valentines Regatta – 14 February 2026
• Easter Regatta – 4 April 2026

Check out youth and junior activities at Cardiff Bay YC

Neyland Yacht Club

The youth and junior section at Neyland YC takes sailors from beginners all the way through to racing success in regional, national and international competition.

While the club’s spring and summer Thursday evening training sessions have now concluded, there will be fun, shore-based theory sessions over winter on Thursdays, 6.30pm-8pm, for just £2.50 a time. Rock up for your first session, then join the club to access the rest.

There are also on-water sessions on Saturdays and the club will be announcing its open training Pathway Club dates very soon. Be sure to follow @RYACymruWales on social media for the latest updates and in the meantime visit Neyland YC to find out more about the club.

Port Dinorwic Sailing Club

Port Dinorwic SC / Clwb Hwylio Y Feliniheli has a vibrant youth and junior section that helps sailors develop their skills and supports junior sailors into racing and beyond, with many going on to join the Welsh National Sailing Team programmes. 

The club will be running five Pathway Club open training dates over winter – keep an eye on our social media – and will also be hosting a family-friendly Christmas Regatta which is always popular with youth and junior sailors on Saturday 13 December.

Explore youth & junior sailing at Port Dinorwic SC

Welsh Sailing Handbook

We listened to feedback from the parents of youth and junior sailors about the difficulties of finding information when it is located across many different places, and so we’ve brought it all together in our Welsh Sailing Handbook.

This includes everything a young sailor and parent might need to know, whether it’s about the British Sailing Pathway, choosing a class or changing to a new one, transferable skills, applying for squads, coaching and volunteering, or safer sport.

Read our Welsh Sailing Handbook

Winter squad training

Letters have been sent out this week for the 2025-2026 Welsh National Sailing Team squads, which will be for Optimist, RS Tera, Topper, ILCA, 420 and 29er sailors.

• Check out the Welsh Sailing squad dates for your calendar
• Find out more about our Welsh squads

Remember you can keep up with all the latest youth and junior sailing announcements by following RYA Cymru Wales on Facebook  and Instagram.

Diolch / Many Thanks,

Sarah