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Home / News / Youth Sailing Opportunities - What's Coming Up In The Next Few Months!!
Home / News / Youth Sailing Opportunities - What's Coming Up In The Next Few Months!!

Youth Sailing Opportunities - What's Coming Up In The Next Few Months!!

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Published 11:29 on 9 Jul 2021

I'm not quite sure where the last month has gone but we only have two sessions of Block 2 of SYT left, and the Summer holidays have begun for some of our sailors, and will soon for the rest! While we still have a couple of weeks where it's easy to have a chat with everyone about the opportunities that are coming up I though I'd put out a quick email about what is going on between now and October that our sailors can get involved in. Some of this is being run at the Club, and some of these opportunities are elsewhere around the South Coast, and even up to Oxford!

Block 3 SYT

Block 3 of SYT will be running as normal in September and October. One change to SYT going forward is that where a sailor is missing a week as they are competing at another event or at a Class Association Training Event we will not charge for that week of coaching. So if for example one of our Topper sailors was sailing at the Warsash Topper Open on 16th/17th October, but were attending the other 5 weeks, then we would discount the block by 1/6th! Hopefully this will encourage our young sailors to travel to more competitions, and help keep costs down for families. We are still finalising the mechanism for how we will administer these reduced costs, but more details will be available when booking opens!

Youth Supported Sailing

Over the Summer holidays we do not run SYT as a formal block of sessions. What we are going to trial this year is an alternative through August called Youth Supported Sailing. On a Sunday morning between 9.30 and 12.00 we will have an instructor available to provide safety cover and support for up to 12 boats on the water. The instructor will set an area, and possibly run a few fun races, but otherwise is there to keep the sailors safe, and this will not be a formally run, structured training session. We have to limit these sessions to 12 boats due to safety ratios, and so please do book on the website if you would like to attend. These sessions are free if you are using your own boat, or just £10 if using a club boat!

Wednesday and Sunday Racing

Please remember all club members are always welcome to join in with our club racing, either in their own boats, in hired club boats, or there are several members who will happily take our younger members out as crew so they can experience different boats! I am also looking out for a crew for my Firefly for the Twisted Tube and Firefly Open in November if anyone is foolish enough to sail with me!

Introduction to Team Racing Day

On Saturday 31st July we will be running an Introduction to Team Racing, using our Fevas. Team Racing is a great version of dinghy racing, with the focus being on lots of short, high action races, where you use the rules to try and gain an advantage over your opponents! Team Racing is something we already run at Spinnaker and are looking to run more often in the future. This day would be a great starter for anyone who might be interested in racing in any of the Team Racing Events the Club is hosting later this year, or even going to the Eric Twiname Championships in October!

Eric Twiname Team Racing Championships

The Eric Twiname Team Racing Championships is a great event where young sailors get to experience Team Racing against other clubs in either Fevas or Fireflys. The event is held at Oxford Sailing Club on 15th/16th October. To support our sailors in attending this year the Sailing Committee has agreed to fund this event using the Youth Development find to cover the cost of entry fees, and contribute towards some of the other costs which may be incurred! We are looking to have a team of 4 sailors attend. So if you are interested please get in touch with James!

Youth Race Camp

Our annual Youth Race Coaching Camp is running in August from Monday 16th August to Friday 20th August. This week is structured to help our young racers develop, and does not lead to an RYA Certificate, but is great fun and perfect for our racers looking to push onto the next level of competition, whether that is at the club or elsewhere! We still have spaces available, and you can either use your own boat or hire a club one!

JETS Topper Training

Spinnaker Sailing Club has been invited to join a local training programme called JETS, which is a programme of winter race coaching for Topper sailors, normally between 10 and 14. This is a joint programme between several south coast clubs including Warsash, Hill Head, and Portchester. Involvement would mean getting the opportunity to sail at several other venues at the coast, with some fantastic coaching from Helena Lucas (RYA South Lead Topper Coach and Paralympic Gold Medallist).

Involvement in JETS is a great opportunity for our young sailors, and gives them the opportunity to get involved with other local Topper sailors. If anyone would like more information about JETS please speak to me on Sunday!

Local Opens and Traveller Events

It has been brilliant to see a few of our Optimist sailors spreading their wings this year and travelling to some local clubs for events at venues such as Bosham, Parkstone and Hamble River. Looking ahead there are several more Opens planned later this year, including the Optimist Open here at Spinnaker Sailing Club on Saturday 18th September. The best places to find out more details about Local Opens is on the Topper and Optimist Class websites.

If you would like more information about the opportunities to race elsewhere please speak to me or Keith at the weekend!

RYA Regional Junior Championships Including Onboard Fleet

Every year the RYA organises a Regional Championship event, this years is on the weekend on 25th/26th September at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, a fantastic venue. For our more serious competitive racers this is a 2 day event with loads of racing in all RYA Recognised Pathway Classes such as Optimists, Toppers, Teras and Fevas. This Regional Event is also one of the key indicators they use for selection to the RYA Regional Training Groups, an RYA programme of winter training for aspiring racers who are identified as having the potential to represent the UK in the future! Several former Spinnaker sailors have gone through the Regional Training Groups predecessor (Zone Squads) and it gave them a great boost.

Alongside the serious racing there is also the Onboard Fun Fleet, you can attend 1 or 2 days of this, with boats being provided! This is a great opportunity to try sailing somewhere different in a relaxed environment. The Onboard Fun Fleet is managed and run by qualified coaches and instructors. This year I have also been asked to support the event, and so there will be a friendly face on the water for our sailors as they try somewhere new!

Bookings will open for these events on 1st August, and more details will be released shortly before.

As you can see there is loads going on, and we want to help our sailors maximise their opportunities so please do ask us about what your child can get involved in, and what would be suitable for them. Travelling to some events can come with a cost, so please remember we do have the Youth Development Fund available. This is a fund which young sailors can apply to receive funding from to help further their sailing.

Last updated 09:41 on 20 December 2023

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