South West RS Tera Academy becomes South West Youth Sailing Academy

30 children from Teign Corinthian YC, PSC, RTYC, RDYC and SGBA launching at Paignton Harbour with World Champion Will Taylor © Nicholas James

Royal Yachting Association lends great support to local sailors

With the support of the Royal Yachting Association, we would like to announce the development of the South West RS Tera Academy into the South West Youth Sailing Academy.

With 25% of the Academy now sailing Topper dinghies and receiving race training from Topper Coaches as part of our training weekends we are broadening our horizons.

Duncan West, the South and South West Club Pathway Officer said, "The RYA believes investing in the development of junior sailors is a great way to encourage the sport. Seeing sailing clubs working together so effectively shows great sporting ethos that we only want to encourage."

The RYA is supporting the South West Youth Sailing Academy by paying for some coaching days for the juniors, helping keep the Academy's fees to a minimum.

Teign Corinthian Yacht Club (TCYC) has been fully supportive of this development and has committed £1,000 of Club Funds to upgrading and maintaining their 6 Club Toppers.

An official from TCYC, Ray Potter, commented "With the enthusiasm of the juniors not only learning to sail but to undertake race training during the cold winter months, they deserve as much support from their clubs as possible. We see the South West Youth Sailing Academy bridging the gap between the RYA training courses we offer and the regular club racer, which is who every club like ours enjoys having."

Nick Ripley, the Commodore of Paignton Sailing Club and committee member of the South West Junior Sailing Academy commented "By amalgamating the resources and enthusiasm from the six Sailing Clubs, Teign Corinthian, Royal Dart, Royal Torbay, Salcombe, Stoke Gabriel and my own, we are making sure those children who want to maintain and improve their racing skills over the winter months in the junior dinghy classes are able to do so."

30 children from Teign Corinthian YC, PSC, RTYC, RDYC and SGBA launching at Paignton Harbour with World Champion Will Taylor - photo © Nicholas James

This development comes hot on the heels of the 3rd Squad Training weekend this winter, which was held at Sutton Bingham Sailing Club (SBSC) near Yeovil.

With forecasts showing winds increasing from 22 knots gusting 40 knots it was becoming increasingly likely that the youngsters from throughout Devon might be disappointed and the session cancelled. Fortunately, great local advice and knowledge from SBSC Sailor Richard Frost proved spot on, with very sailable conditions on both days.

Twenty-seven youngsters aged from 9 to 13 from South West sailing clubs took to the water in their Tera and Topper dinghies each with their specialist class coaches. Nick James from the South West Youth Sailing Academy said "It's great having so many youngsters on the water, it enables us to give each group some excellent race training and for the coaches to be more effective with their group of youngsters. By having a mixed fleet of boats it shows youngsters a clear pathway of how they can progress through the sport"

This was the first time Tim Anderton, the Academy's head coach provided by the Andrew Simpson Foundation, had been to Sutton Bingham Sailing Club. Tim was delighted with the venue as we had a great weekend's sailing, whilst many other sailing events in the South and South West had been cancelled due to the high winds.

Once again support from the parents was fantastic particularly Hugh from SBSC & Vanessa Ripley in the galley who provided hot lunches for the hungry sailors, coaches and parent helpers on both days.

The next coaching weekend will take place at Paignton Sailing Club for a coastal session in March.

If you would like to support the volunteer run, South West Youth Sailing Academy, in any way or would like further information of how to get your child sailing please contact Nick James on .