Crawley Mariners Yacht Club has much to offer Junior dinghy sailors

We have a well established junior training scheme which has evolved considerably since it began. Young people between the ages of 10 and 16 can start with RYA courses Stages 1 and 2, and progress on to Stages 3 and 4, also during that time they can do a two day Start Racing course. These courses enable a smooth transition to the advanced syllabus which includes: Sailing with Spinnakers, Seamanship Skills and Performance Sailing. At this stage improvers and advanced racing courses are also available

Under the guidance of the RYA we have structured our race training for young sailors and became a Volvo Champion Club. This enables us to help and assist any aspiring Olympic medallists to find the right coaching and training available to help them in their quest. In recent years we have also had visiting RYA coaches running evening coaching sessions for Toppers and this year will include several for budding Laser sailors. Team Racing is something else we have introduced in Toppers and this year we have an RYA coach coming to run a training and Team Racing day in RS Fevas.

A list of club boats available for use during RYA courses and at other events is listed below:

 7 x Optibats (those aged 6 to 10)
Five of these boats were obtained from Lottery funding and an additional one was purchased, to bring the fleet to six, as demand in this age group was growing. These boats are very similar to Optimist dinghies but are heavier and very robustly built.

10 x Topper (age range 10 to 16) :
We also had five new Toppers from this Lottery funding and several members donated old Toppers which increased our fleet to 10.

This is our hardest working fleet, so to ensure our young sailors learn to sail and race in boats with up to date specification we purchase a brand new one each year. We then sell our oldest boat (usually to a club member) and this keep the fleet in great shape.

4 x RS Feva - double handed dinghies (ages 10 to 16)
Thanks to three of our young sailors living in West Sussex, we applied to the Youth Opportunity Fund and received funding for these four boats and a double trailer. These boats enable us to teach RYA Stage 4 which allows the young sailors to attain the skills required to apply for pre-assessment to take part in an RYA Dinghy Instructors courses held at one of the RYA coastal centres. This qualifaction can help young peopled with their D of E awards, and often allows them to find Summer jobs at home or abroad whilst at college or university.

These boats, along with the road trailer, have enabled our young sailors to compete at National and County regattas.

4 x Laser 1 (ages 12-19)
Once again, three more of our young sailors in the West Sussex area have successfully put forward a bid to the Youth Opportunity Fund to purchase two brand new Lasers with radial rigs and a double road trailer plus an additional 4.7 rig. We took delivery of the boats last Easter and they have proved very popular with an increasing number of young sailors in this age group, enabling them to sail in a boat more suitable for their height and weight. These, alongside our older two Lasers, enable more young sailors the opportunity to try out this Olympic class boats. We now have one full sail, 4 radials and two 4.7 rigs.

2 x Topper MAGNO dinghies (14+ to adult)
These boats were bought in 2004 and have proved invaluable for teaching asymmetric spinnaker and trapeze techniques. They are robust and easily reefed, making them suitable for experienced young sailors to helm and so gain confidence with more advanced skills in a stable boat.

Having such a wide range of excellent boats for young sailors from 6 to 19 enables them to learn, improve and decide which type of boat is best for them at each stage of their sailing development before having to buy one.

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