Hello,
We have so much activity taking place in our region at the moment which is great, not least including lots of celebrations taking place on and off the water during the Coronation Bank Holiday. I hope everyone had lots of fun coming together and maybe even a few new volunteers due to the Big Help Out initiative.
Would you like your club’s website to receive an audit from marketing experts, SocialB? Please do contact me – susie.moore@rya.org.uk – if you’d like to take advantage of this opportunity.
Youth and Junior Activity
It was fantastic to have so many youngsters from South clubs taking part in the 35th Eric Twiname Championships at Rutland Sailing Club over the first Bank Holiday weekend this month. The South region lifted the Eric Twiname Dinghy Trophy for the top dinghy region – well done to all the young sailors! Here’s Duncan West, Regional Performance Manager below.
South Regional Junior Championships
The events are now only 1 month away so do please book onto the dinghy or windsurfing event soon. The Windsurfing event is on 10th – 11th June at Bristol Corinthian YC, Axbridge Reservoir. Book here.
The dinghy event is the following weekend of 17th – 18th June at Oxford Sailing Club. Book here.
Save the Date!
The 2024 South Regional Training day will take place on Saturday 16 March once again at Thorney Island Sailing Club.
We will once again be holding a South Affiliated Clubs Conference which will be held towards the end of this year. Watch this space for a confirmed date. We are also looking into making the day a hybrid event.
The 2024 South OnBoard Development Day will be on Saturday 27 January at Lymington Yacht Club.
Did you know that OnBoard benefits include a range of printed resources – showcased by Tackt-Isle Adventures with their new OnBoard resources
Plus free access to the OnBoard Event Gazebo and Mega Sup – superbly shown off in the photo above from Christian Youth Enterprises based in Chichester Harbour. They can be booked via South Sailing Development Officer Polly Schafer.
Find out more about how to get involved with OnBoard here
Courses
Don’t forget to visit the RYA South Training and Courses page which contains all the opportunities to train instructors and develop race coach skills. The page can be found here.
A Race Coach Level 2 course is taking place at Hamble River SC on 24-25 June 2023. Book here.
Following interest in our region for a Sailability Safety Lead course, I am pleased to report that Leon Ward, Disability Development Officer, will be holding a FREE one-day Sailability Safety Lead course next month on Thursday 8th June.
The course is designed for volunteers who would like to start leading sessions, but don’t feel they have the experience or knowledge yet. Participants will discover how to lead safe Sailability sessions which meet the needs and aspirations of those involved and will also cover:
- Responsibilities and planning
- Managing risk
- Growing confidence
- Dealing with incidents
The course will take place at Testwood Sailability, Southampton, from 10:00am-4:00pm on 8th June 2023. Although this course is free participants need to book a place here.
British Keelboat League Sailability Championship
The BKL Sailability Championship takes place on 1-2 July 2023 and is the perfect opportunity for a group of friends to come together and compete in a team of up to 4 people. The team can be from a club or centre, or even from a non-sailing organisation – there is no requirement for participants to represent a Sailability group to take part.
Not everyone in the team has to have a disability and remember there are lots of invisible disabilities. For example, neurodiversity such as autism or ADHD, a visual impairment, a hearing impairment or a brain injury. However, it would be good if at least two of the crew have good mobility around the boat.
Racing will take place in Portland Harbour in Elliot 6’s, supplied by the RYA. The event will hold up to 12 teams with lots of exciting but short races. You’ll even have time for a breather as you watch the other teams race. Find out more and how to here.
Open Day resources
If your club is planning to hold an Open Day event don’t forgot to sign up to RYA Discover Sailing. By running your Open Day in association with this fantastic initiative, you can take advantage of lots of valuable resources, advice and guidance to help promote your event and help make it a success. The deadline to order resources is the 7th of each month. Find out more here
And finally…
The Funding Officers at the RYA are here to help you, and in particular can help you with any funding applications including the Small Grants which now open once again. Please do get in touch with me so I can connect you. There is also lots of advice in the ClubZone area on the RYA website.
Until next time,
Susie
