Blackwater Sailing Club awarded RYA British Youth Sailing Recognised Club status
by Christine Brown 25 Nov 2020 14:07 GMT
Blackwater Cadet Week © Nigel Butler
Blackwater Sailing Club has added to coveted Royal Yachting Association accreditations, being awarded British Youth Sailing Recognised Club status.
The club is already a RYA Recognised Training Centre and all members can avail themselves of training provided by qualified instructors. Now this latest accolade gives even more opportunities to our youngsters. From the age of 8 children can become a cadet and enjoy learning to sail within the safety of our seven acre fresh water training lake.
They start in Optimist dinghies and the Club has 30 of these available. Once established, cadets usually pretty soon take great pride in owning a boat of their own. They then move on to the Toppers, RS Tera, RS Feva and Lasers. They can also receive instruction in more advanced sailing and seamanship skills in one of our four RS Quests which can accommodate three cadets and an instructor.
Cadets are able to take part in three full training weekends starting in the Spring and leading up to Cadet Week in July. There are also coached racing days during April to July followed by the Reid Scott race series that takes place at the end of August. In addition to all of this there is regular weekend races at the Club and mid week sessions on the lake during the summer.
As well as qualified coaches, these events are supported by parents and other club members who give up their time to provide safety boat cover, race box duties and launching assistance amongst other things. And let's not forget all those who work tirelessly in the galley to feed the hungry cadets.
The club has a good record of attending the British Youth Sailing Regional Championships. From here they can be invited to join the Regional Training Squad and enjoy a further six weekends of race training during the year. Thereafter RYA Youth Nationals comes into play. BSC has produced National and European Junior Champions over the years.
Who knows, we may have a future Olympic sailor in our midst.
Of course not every sailor, young or old, enjoys the cut and thrust of the racing scene and Blackwater cadets also enjoy social sails on the lake or the river. The same goes for adults too. The favourite is a sail around Northey Island and a visit to the Prom in Maldon where its ice creams all round.
If you would like to visit the club with a view to joining then please contact our membership
secretary, email membership-secretary@blackwatersailingclub.org.uk.
For more details see blackwatersailingclub.org.uk