Attracting Students to Aberdeen & Stonehaven Yacht Club
by Karen Robertson 6 Dec 2019 22:03 GMT
Stonehaven harbour - the late season venue for Aberdeen & Stonehaven Yacht Club © ASYC
Many people are aware that sailing sometimes loses young adults from the sport at club level as they head off away from home for further education and when they start their careers.
Aberdeen and Stonehaven Yacht Club have started an initiative they hope will do a little to try and students attending university in the North East of Scotland involved in club sailing while they are studying, and have decided to offer students at any of the Aberdeen Universities or Colleges the opportunity to sail at ASYC during term time, without the need for paying a second membership fee in addition to their home club, which ASYC hope they are still members of.
The intention is to encourage students to remain members of their home club so they can sail there out of term time but still be able to take advantage of the many of the benefits that sailing at club level offers when they are away from home in the periods when term time and the sailing season overlap without significant additional expense.
Of course if the sailors stay in the Aberdeen area ASYC hope they would become full members in time, but the primary purpose is to keep students involved in club sailing during their studies (and to get a few more boats on the start line of course).
The offer is open to any student in full-time education who is still a member of their home club or a member of the local university's sailing clubs and gives students the opportunity not only to race their own boats at ASYC but also gives them access to any of the many ASYC club boats which includes Topper, Laser, Blaze, 2000 and Stratos classes, for a small donation towards their upkeep.
ASYC operates from two facilities. It starts the season at the sheltered Loch of Skene just west of Aberdeen at the start of the season before moving down to scenic Stonehaven harbour situated on the coast south of Aberdeen at the start of June.
For more details visit www.asyc.org.uk, our Facebook page or email