Royal Temple Yacht Club Academy
Introduction
Yachting and motor boating for the under 25’s
This programme is aimed at young adults who are expected to have minimal or no previous on water experience in our geographical area.
Royal Temple Yacht Club aims to provide activities on the water, a social programme and classroom training along with individual mentoring for Academy members. All of the programme activities are targeted at building experience and confidence for members to increase their knowledge and ability on the water.
Young people under the age of 18 are encourage to join in the on shore programme and will require parental or teaching staff supervision when on the water.
The Academy programme
The academy provides young people with all year round mentoring with classroom training in the winter months and the opportunity to crew on members boats in the summer months. Academy members can expect to become proficient sailors and to gain all round experience in all aspects of boat handling, cruising, racing and navigation within the first year.
Academy members will have full use of the clubhouse until the age of 26. At the age of 26 academy members automatically become Junior members of the Royal Temple Yacht Club.
Social networking will be encourage using Twitter and Facebook to promote activities and membership of the Academy.
As an Academy member you will be entitled to use any of the following facilities:
- Navigation courses – Day skipper, competent crew and Yacht master including Ocean Yachtmaster.
- Snooker room
- Full use of the club bar and restaurant
- Mentoring programmes
- Crewing opportunities
- Dedicated social programme
It is expected that Academy members will be able to apply for funding from the Royal Temple Trust Fund in order to attend promote their on water experience and the full conditions of funding will be explained to all Academy members.
Our target for membership is limited to 100 members in 2011 in our first year.
Apply to info@rtyc.com and ask for an Academy membership pack.
Sailing Academies by Peter Woodward
I’ll start by making it extremely clear that the experiences gained through a youth sailing academy are invaluable. Spending time in the class room is just as important as on the boat. One of the great features about academies is you don’t have to be the next Ben Ainslie or Shirley Robinson. If you’re determined and want to achieve and you listen, you will learn very quickly. That’s on the boat, the theory, the fitness, the team work, leadership and many more components will help enhance your sailing ability, personal structure and even at your work place because they’re very adaptable.
My personal experience started when I saw the iconic Union Jack spinnaker of yacht ‘Bear of Britain’ sailing through London Bridge. I remember seeing it in Yachts and Yachting and asking Dad (RTYC member - Paul Woodward) what was that all about? I then discovered via the internet all about the GBR Yacht Racing Academyand how I could be involved in the future.
It wasn’t until a few years later I decided to submit an application and being a year below the selection age I wasn’t expecting much of a response. Totally out of the blue, I received an e-mail with an invitation to a selection weekend in Cowes. Obviously, I had a good idea of what they were expecting of me after reading all about it. However, the one thing I learnt from the selection weekend was Coach Ben Willow’s comments surrounding sailing skills, in summary: ‘’that’s not everything’’. They were looking for like minded youngsters that worked well within a team, had a good attitude towards learning and wanted to achieve. That always gave me added motivations knowing I wasn’t the most successful sailor there, but I did have a chance if I worked hard in other areas. After a pretty tough selection process I was then accepted at the final interview and from that point the hard work began prior to the start of the season in 2008.
From in the class room to going on the water, I was taught about sail management/repairs, team work and leadership skills, planning training sessions and chasing sponsorship. Looking back all of these classroom activities made our training sessions on the boat a whole lot easier. The technical side of sailing just flowed and always being the under dogs within the Solent 52 class we had to work incredibly hard for the result. The team’s attitude stems from classroom sessions or workshops and just developing a good/simple cohesive team environment will always stand up when you hit the start line.
This particular academy provided 18-25 year olds with both inshore and offshore sailing events. There are a wide range of differences is both types of sailing, from sail plan, boat management, crew management, communication skills, problem solving, tactics and there’s heaps more. With all those skills along with inshore and offshore sailing skills set me up to meet different people in the sport and to sail a variety of yachts all over the world. The class room lessons certainly contributed a huge amount towards that. I spent two seasons with the GBR Yacht Racing Academy and competed in most of the events around the south coast, including RORC offshore series and 2009 Fastnet race. Since gaining such knowledge I was ready to make a change and try something new. Since leaving I have been racing at the following levels, One Design Racing, IRC Racing, Super Yachts, Student Nationals, 2 Rolex Fastnet Races and most recently the Rolex Sydney to Hobart.
Through my experience within the sailing academy, Jessica Watson selected me along with her youth team who had an average age of 19 to compete in the 2011 Rolex Sydney to Hobart. Being the eldest at 21 I felt added responsibility, however I was able to fall back on what I had already learnt in previous experiences which helped me though the long and intense 3 month training program. The learning curve was huge, especially away from the boat where our head coach Chris Lewin was a bit of a ‘’guru’’ within team work and leadership. Learning those skills actually has improved my sailing ability and know how important those skills are as a watch leader and the team. Like most teams we had our disagreements but after our 3 months of training enabling us to find a solution to most problems. Having two of the ‘’youngest round the world’’ sailors on board, Jessica Watson and Mike Perham attracted the press and we received a good mixture of positives and negatives. Come Boxing Day they had interviewed the majority of Sydney 38 yachts in our One Design division and it was clear we were the “kids” with “no experience”. We knew on the start line that with our training we were at our best with togetherness, planning, the big picture, motivation etc that would give us an edge at some point. There were times in the race we were the quickest and not so. It’s in those times that when you’re not fast or things aren’t going your way, how to find a solution and extra speed.
From my first class room lesson, 4 years ago, with GBR Yacht Racing Academy I learnt heaps about yacht racing, tactics, navigation, weather and planning from the classroom onto the boat. It’s the key to any sailing academy and any sailor that wishes to progress.
This is a great opportunity for me to publicly say a massive thank you to all at the Royal Temple Yacht Club who have seen me grow up around the club and supported my every move. I’ve made some great friends and enjoy every return. I would like to say a personal thanks to John Barrett who allowed me to sail on his boats as I grew up. Thanks to Mandy Barrett, Matthew Saunders and Ollie Acutt who showed me the ropes on the foredeck in my early days on board and also our Commodore Mike Brand for his continuous support. Most importantly my Dad, Paul Woodward for his support throughout and without him I wouldn’t have done or achieved anything in this sport. Finally I have no hesitation in recommending and supporting the RTYC Sailing Academy and hope it’s a great success.
Regards,
Peter Woodward