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Christian Brewer Volunteers to Help Get People Out on the Water for the First Time
On May 11th, my club (Whitstable Yacht Club) held a push the boat out day to encourage people to come and try sailing and maybe take up the sport we love.
The RYA initiative is a nationwide push to get people out on the water and at our club event we had 60 or so people who pre-booked to come and try out sailing.
https://www.rya.org.uk/programmes/push-the-boat-out/Pages/news.aspx
I had control of the club Mirror dinghy, one of 12 boats out on the water including Topazs, Wanderers, a 420, a Hartley 15 and a Dart 18. Everyone loved it and came back with huge grins!
I took out three 8 to 11 year olds one at a time and got them helming straight away, despite not having sailed before! The look on their faces was a joy. Another lady I took out, hadnt been sailing for 25 years and that was back in her native Turkey. Just the thrill of being back on the water again reminded her of what she was missing and she has since joined the club to do more.
It is so important to get newcomers to our sport out on the water to experience the great feeling we take for granted. Wind in the hair, the splash of the waves, the physical effort, the sense of achievement, the camaraderie. And it is not all about racing, the RYA have realised this through the push the boat out initiative, get people out on the water first and if they want to race later on thats fine, but just get them on the water.
Sailing can come across an elitist sport only for the wealthy. It isnt. I have proved this with my previous laser dinghy that I put on the water for £700 all in. This included insurance and my yacht club subscription. Our club is looking to introduce a pay and play option for members who dont have the time to commit to owning their own boat and maybe this is the route club sailing should be taking on across the country.
Christian Brewer - Global Sales Manager
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