Ripon Sailing Club celebrate Sport England grant
by Jennie Clark 14 May 2015 16:28 BST
14 May 2015
Ripon Sailing Club are celebrating after receiving good news about a recent grant application, and are looking forward to the arrival of 4 new RS Quba dinghies to join their club fleet. Funded by a Sport England grant, the new dinghies will help the club further develop the provision of dinghy training and coaching for members.
The new boats will join the club's existing 2 RS Quba dinghies and help deal with the heavy demand for these versatile craft. It is also intended to use the boats as a fleet of 6 to teach and develop Team Racing skills amongst the youth sailors at the club.
Fitted with jibs so they can be sailed single or double handed, the RS Quba has been found to be an ideal boat to teach adults the basics but also more advanced techniques of sailing and teamwork. As a recognized RYA Teaching Establishment the club runs a wide range of training and coaching programmes for its members including dinghy and powered craft courses.
The Club's Training Principal, Mark Fowler, was responsible for the grant submission and said 'these Quba dinghies will be put to work immediately, as we have a packed programme of training courses to run this season. They join our existing fleet at a very busy time and we are delighted to have been successful in our application.'
Membership Secretary, Bernard Clark, said 'we have had a large number of applications to join the club already this year, and the fact that people can join easily, learn to sail on our sheltered waters and use club dinghies until they feel confident to buy their own boat is clearly something they really value'.
Ripon Sailing Club is based in rural North Yorkshire, close to the spa town of Harrogate. Sailing on inland water, the club has a thriving membership and last weekend welcomed over 100 visitors to their Push the Boat Out celebrations. The club has the largest Streaker fleet in the UK and racing is held on Wednesdays and Sundays for mono hulled dinghies under 15ft overall length. Formed in 1957 the club prides itself on its family friendly focus.