Focus on Youth and Junior Sailing
As we move into the coming year our fantastic Youth and Junior sailing team have once again pulled together a great range of events to help children learn and develop their sailing through a range of fun, sociable and enjoyable activities.
With demand guaranteed to be high I make no apology for focussing this news on that activity alone – please do read on if you have a young or novice sailor and make sure they don’t miss out on the fun.
2025 Youth Programme (from Ruth Gribble on behalf of the wider youth team)
This year we are hoping to run RYA youth courses for stage 1-4 for children aged 8 to 16 and a separate Chew Crew youth sailing programme for those who have already achieved RYA stage 2 or higher and are wanting to practice their sailing, start to participate in club races and/or improve their racing skills.
The youth programme will be led suitably qualified club members with instructor experience. All children will need to have a nominated responsible adult on site and parents/guardians may need to assist the instructing team by crewing rescue boats, helping with launching and landing, etc.
The sign up forms for the following courses will ‘go live’ on Webcollect at 7pm on Wednesday 12 February:
Chew Crew – Summer Fun: 10 Sunday morning sailing sessions (09:30-12:30), for sailors who have already completed stage 2 or higher, to build skills and confidence. Runs from 13/04 until 20/07 (no sessions on 24/05, 31/05 or 14/06). Cost £125
Chew Crew – Summer Racing: 10 Sunday morning sailing sessions (09:30-12:30) focussing on boat control and racing skills. Aimed at more confident sailors, sailing at stage 3 or higher (i.e. happy to rig & sail a single hander independently). Sailors who sign up for this programme are expected to attend most weeks and are strongly encouraged to stay on for Sunday afternoon club races. Runs from 13/04 until 20/07 (no sessions on 24/05, 31/05 or 14/06). Cost £125
RYA stage 1 Youth course: 4 Saturday morning or afternoon sessions, where you’ll learn the basics of sailing a single hander and the opportunity to earn your stage 1 certificate. 26/04, 10/05, 17/05 & 07/06. Cost £50
RYA stage 2 Youth course: 4 Saturday morning or afternoon sessions, where you’ll develop the basics of sailing a single hander and the opportunity to earn your stage 2 certificate. 21/06, 28/06, 05/07 & 12/07. Cost £50
Club Optibats, Teras, Picos, Toppers, Fevas and Quests will be used the courses and Chew Crew sessions. Similar personal boats could also be used, subject to agreement by the organizing team.
We also intend to offer the following courses later in the year. Further information will be shared in due course:
Autumn Chew Crew: from the end of the summer holidays until autumn half term. The format will be confirmed at a later date.
Combined RYA stage 3 and 4: course on 11 & 12 October
Additionally the club will be hosting a Topper event on 21/22 September and we are looking into inviting more junior sailors to join the CVLSC club racing ‘youth start’ on a regular basis.
To receive further updates about the youth sailing programme, please join the WhatsApp group by following this link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DjVdEnURE3bKOujtLYoiMA Due to high levels of spam you will be asked to provide your name and membership number before being added to the group.
Please contact the organizing team at chewcrew@chewvalleysailing.org if you have any queries or would like to help out. We aim to check the mailbox at least once a week.
Andy Jones
Commodore