The first-ever RYA Connected conference took place at Taunton Racecourse on 04 November, attended by over 120 people from 10 Sailability venues, 50 clubs and one class association representing the counties of the South-West from Gloucestershire to Cornwall. Attendees came in groups from their organisations, bringing flag officers, instructors, volunteers, race officials and more, to ensure that they were able to take as much away from the event as they could.
The new format for conferences involved workshops, presentations and forums that ensured everyone went home with lots of information and action points to embed into their daily activities. In addition, the SW Regional Team had built in lengthy networking opportunities which enabled people from the different affiliate groups to make meaningful and creative connections.
The regional team was joined by a large group of Head Office staff, including Director of Sport Development, Rob Clark, Chief Instructor for Dinghy and Windsurfing, Liz McMaster, Programmes Manager, Michelle Gent, and staff representing EDI, Safeguarding, The Green Blue, Legal and more.
Highlights of the packed conference were:
- A round of 20-minute technical pop-up sessions that allowed people to discuss specific concerns with an expert, covering topics such as finding funding, reducing your environmental impact and making it easier for disabled people.
- Presentations by Exe Sailing Club on connecting training, Sailability and everyday club life and by Poole Yacht Club on how they have got so many non-racers racing.
- Forums on creating a welcoming environment, ideas for running your Training Centre and challenges and opportunities in 2024.
It was a long day – networking began at 9am, and the crowded plenary room was still buzzing with conversations at 5pm when the conference closed.
For Tom Barnes from Thornbury Sailing Club, this was the first time he had attended an RYA conference: “It was very good, with lots of food for thought. It’s clear we have to work hard and make changes, attract new members from scratch, and think about our sailing and racing structure.”
Other feedback after the event included:
- A brilliant, informative and inspiring conference. It was so well run and gave such a massive learning and sharing opportunity for everyone there. I feel energised to tackle our winter planning and I cannot wait to share what I learnt with the club team.
- The workshop on the RYA funding portal was especially helpful and something I will certainly take advantage of. References to good governance within clubs struck a chord and gave me something to think about and possibly do things differently.
- After attending the conference, we will adopt a more person-centred approach on matters relating to new membership, training and Sailability to ensure that the sailors’ expectations are being met and that there are no barriers to diversity.
- I will communicate my learning gained at this event to our club members via the newsletter and word-of-mouth.
To keep the momentum going, there will be more RYA Connected events throughout the winter, including Monday webinars, drop-in 45-minute Connect Calls and local in-person events for further networking. Details of all these can be found on the Connected page of the RYA website. Look out, too, for the new Connected monthly newsletter which replaces Clubroom, and workshops at the Dinghy & Watersports Show on 24-25 February 2024.