SCSC RYA Level Training Update

Published 11:11 on 30 Jul 2025

Last weekend, 26-27 July 25, saw our second scheduled RYA Training weekend of the summer with Adult Level 1, Level 2 and Youth Stage 1 & 2 courses running concurrently. Eight happy sailors enjoyed almost ideal conditions in an array of dinghies, including the club Wayfarers, Toppers, RS Fusions and RS Quests (the latter two types kindly made available by the REME instructors who assisted with the course delivery). Everybody passed their selected course and were issued with RYA logbooks and course certificates. Some of the newly qualified Youth sailors enjoyed the Toppers so much that they have already signed up to take their Stage 3 & 4 course with us next month.

The club are very grateful to the RYA qualified instructors who made the weekend possibly, notably Declan Smithies (SI) and Ben Stringer (DI) from REME, Ava Roberts (DI) and James Cooper (DI) from Westbury SC. We gained one new family membership and another prospective single adult membership so the weekend was a win-win for everybody involved. The new 'dedicated safety boat' duties created by Mac Powell helped enormously as the instructors were able to focus exclusively on course delivery.

In other Training news:

• We welcome Andrew Martin to the new post of Training Administrator. Andrew is a long-time member of South Cerney SC and a former powerboat instructor (PBI). He will be assisting the Training Principal with course enquiries, bookings, refunds and student communications, as well as certification data uploads to the RYA website.
• After over 6 years as Chief Instructor Dinghies, Emma Wall has unfortunately decided to step down and take a well-earned break before starting a new job in the autumn. Emma has put in a lot of hard work with Chris Williams and Gary Morris to help keep the South Cerney SC RYA Training Centre (RTC) running and maintain our RYA accreditation. We wish her every success moving forward in her career and hope to see her back at the club from time-to-time instructor on some of our courses.
• Paul Kimmens has taken on the role of Chief Instructor Powerboats and brings a vast amount of experience to the RTC. We look forward to working with Paul in rolling out the new 'Lake-specific safety boat training course' which has been requested by the Cadet Squadron and will be piloted next month under the guidance of Max Buswell and Gary Morris. Longer-term we intend to offer this 1-day training to any PB2-certifed powerboat driver at the club as we strive to upskill our safety boat handling skills.
• Congratulations to Teya Brezan and Charles Barrett who have recently qualified as RYA Dinghy Instructors (DIs); taking their 5-day courses at Whitefriars SC and Rockley Watersports (Poole) respectively. We look forward to helping them develop their sailing skills as they instruct on the various course at South Cerney SC. Megan McMorris and Max Buswell both qualified as RYA Senior Instructors (SIs) and Powerboat Instructors (PBIs) at Bowmoor SC in May and have already made a positive impact on course delivery at South Cerney SC.
• Topper fleet no, we haven't acquired any new dinghies, they've simply been refurbished under guidance from Topper UK using a combination of white spirit, fine wire wool and elbow grease! Thanks to everyone who has pitched in to help with this exercise including Kira Brayman, Rosie Hancock, Mark Nailer, Jono Hancock, Steve Kirwan and Paul Kimmens (Paul's application of patio cleaner to one of the hulls makes it stand out as almost new see if you can spot it!? Apparently our erstwhile Commodore has produced a video of me doing a demo clean on Topper#6 somewhere but I can't find it on the website. New flat covers have been ordered from Creation Covers of Andover and the demo model is currently on Topper#8 with the remainder due to arrive next month.
• Going forwards all 7no. of the Toppers will be berthed 'upright' thus alleviating any requirement for heavy lifting at the start and end of each Youth course. These dinghies might be old but they're ideal for training young people and we intend to keep them seaworthy for as long as possible. NB. Topper#7 and Topper#9 were re-rigged and transferred over to the Hire fleet last month.
• Wayfarer fleet. All three boats have been inspected and the trolleys upgraded with puncture-proof pneumatic tyres. They're still heavy to manoeuvre and require 2-3 persons to launch/ recover but at least it's a bit easier than when the tyres were flat.
• Powerboat courses Gary Morris delivered a successful PB2 course to the Cotswold Lakes Trust earlier this month and Max Buswell is scheduled to run another course for club members on 04-05 August 2025. There is currently one space remaining so sign up quickly if you'd like to qualify as a club powerboat driver.
• Training container thanks to Paul Kimmens for replacing the combo lock. Access is now restricted to the instructor pool only so that we have a chance of keeping it tidy and accessible; everything needed for club boat hire is stored in the adjacent Hire container.

Our next courses run from 16 August through 24 August and include 2-day RYA Adult Level 1 and Level 2, with Youth Stage 1 to 4 over 4 days for the ambitious younger sailor.

Please contact Training if you'd like to book on a course or if you are interested in getting involved with the RTC.

trainingprincipal@scsailing.org.uk

trainingadmin@scsailing.org.uk

Malcolm James - Training Principal

Last updated 11:11 on 30 July 2025