Sailing Spring Update
Published 23:35 on 16 Apr 2022
Dear Member,
We hope you are enjoying the long bank holiday weekend! The lovely weather has got us thinking about all the things happening at the club over Spring, so here's a brief update for you.
Members Handbook and Renewals
As member renewals have mostly been wrapped-up, your Members Handbooks are now ready! These pocket-sized handbooks provide some great reference material about all the things happening at the club, including a printed version of our club calendar. These will be available to pick-up from the club house from the 17th April. Any not picked up by the end of the month will be sent directly to you.
We also realise that there have been some oddities with the renewals this year. This is due clearing up some past issues with the system, of which our Membership Secretary, Steve Portch, has been doing a great job. Although in the short term this can be frustrating, we are hoping that sorting these issues out now will make future renewals much easier and improve our records - so we thank you for your patience. Please contact Steve if you are aware of any issues with your renewal on membership@swsc.org.uk.
Assistant Instructors (AI) Training
To support the club in being able to deliver courses, the Squids and Sharks (our youth group), and the new Taster Sessions, we are looking to increase our pool of members with RYA teaching qualifications. To that end we will be running an Assistant Instructor course on the 14th and 15th May.
An AI is the entry point into the RYA's training qualifications. The course introduces sailors to the teaching "method", and how the training centre works. The qualification is valid for 3 years. Most AIs who use their qualification will then be a very strong candidate for the dinghy instructor (DI) course which the club will be keen to support them with.
If you are interested in attending the AI course, please email squidsandsharks@swsc.org.uk, or contact Richard Hargreaves directly.
It's also worth noting that our training dates for the year have now been confirmed! If you are interested in either Sailing or Powerboat courses, please take a look on our website or calendar and contact Ian Howard or Emma Southwell on learn2sail@swsc.org.uk.
Social Sailing and Camping
The 16th April marked the return of Social Sailing Saturday for 2022. There were a few members out-and-about enjoying the holiday weather this weekend which was great to see. For more dates, please remember to check-out our Social Sailing Saturday page on our website (Stewartby Water Sports Club : Social Sailing Saturday (swsc.org.uk))
It was also great to see the return of our Social weekends on the 9th and 10th April, although it was a tad cooler than this weekend! Even so, a few dedicated members made it up and hopefully we will see more as the weather improves. The next Social Weekend is the 30th April - 1st May and coincides with the Social Sailing Saturday, so it promises to be a busy weekend, weather permitting!
Taster Sessions and Discover Sailing
New this year, we also had the first of our Taster Sessions on the 16th April. These sessions for non-members are aimed at those interest in sailing but who would like to give it a go before committing to training or membership. They are proving to be quite popular and the next one in a few weeks time is fully booked!
In the spirit of enticing those interested in sailing, our next Discover Sailing day (or Sailing Open Day) is fast approaching on the 21st May. We are expecting quite a few visitors this year and have lots planned, so it would be great to see some of our members around on the day. If you would like to help on the day by helming a boat, helping in the galley or tea station, or generally supporting the organising sub-committee, please contact Gerry Howcroft directly or through rear-commodore@swsc.org.uk.
Racing
Of course there is lots of racing happening now we are in April, with the Fastnet series and Wednesday evening racing completing their second weeks. We also have the first of our Club Cup races approaching, the Houghton Cup, on the 24th April. Please note this starts slightly earlier than normal racing at 10:30am.
That's about it for this Spring update. Happy Sailing!
Your Sailing Committee
Last updated 20:22 on 26 October 2023