Lymington Yacht Haven invests in the future of British sailing
For over 25 years now, Royal Lymington Yacht Club's Wednesday
Junior Sailing (WJS) programme has been teaching children the
basics of sailing. WJS has helped thousands of youngsters learn to
sail - and has even given rise to Olympic stars.
For just £1 a week, youngsters not only
get two hours of dedicated tuition from the club's experienced
instructors, but they also get a cup of tea and a doughnut thrown
in too.
Every Wednesday afternoon from the middle of April until the end
of September, any child between the ages of 8 and 18 can learn to
sail or row a dinghy and enjoy the fun and thrills of being on the
water and learn to handle a boat safely.
Lymington Yacht Haven is proud to continue their on-going
support of WJS and is delighted with the record levels of
participation in recent years. Edward Harrison, Head of Wednesday
Junior Sailing, told us "We have welcomed over 200 juniors onto the
water in an afternoon some weeks this season".
Over the years, thousands have passed through the scheme,
including gold medal-winning Olympic sailor Pippa Wilson and 470
silver medallist Nick Rogers. And although Ben Ainslie, the
country's greatest ever Olympic sailor, was too old to take part in
the programme when he joined the club in his twenties, he used to
help out with coaching whenever he could.
In addition to the
regular Wednesday Junior Sailing programme, the club organises a
Youth and Family Week each year. For 2011, the Royal Lymington
Youth Regatta will take place from Monday 15th August to Friday
19th August, for young sailors aged between 8 - 18 years old.
There will be a series of races over four days competing for
Class Prizes and trophies, including the Optimist sailors, the
River Fleet in Scows, and the Tera Fleet in RS Teras and Laser
4.7s. On the final day there will be themed 'fun' racing for all
the fleets. And alongside the racing, a programme of family social
activities will run in the evenings for the children and their
parents to join in the fun.
For more information or to register your interest visit
www.rlymyc.org.uk/junior/WJS