Juniors
To provide young sailors of all abilities with a safe, fun and welcoming environment in which to begin and develop their sailing adventure.
The Juniors Group meets regularly throughout the summer season with some specialist winter dates, enjoying a broad range of training, racing, social events and many other fun-filled activities.
Juniors is run by the parents and qualified instructors. Children of club members are welcome to join for anannual fee from the age of seven.
As a RYA Recognised Training Centre, we use the RYA Youth Sailing Scheme syllabus as a basis for fun sessions, making use of our extensive fleet of boats with training matched to suit the season and weather. Our aim is that the children safely acquire good sailing skills and foster a love of the sport.
We have tailored sessions for our sailors to advance their cruising, seamanship, racing and instructing skills. We are active in the RYA Youth programme including the Tera, Feva and Laser classes, attending and hosting class-specific coaching, which enhances our sailors understanding of the boat and techniques.
JUNIORS ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
Subject to sailing ability and suitable parental supervision, Juniors Group membership includes free access to the fleet of junior boats outside of the organised activity times. So when you join Juniors you don't need to make an investment in a boat for your children to be able to sail at Whitefriars.
As a member of the Juniors Group, you can also book onto the regular Junior sailing sessions shown below. Junior membership for the year costs £20 per child.
OUR JUNIOR GROUP PROGRAMME
Organised Junior Group Sessions usually run once or twice a month from March – November (9.30am - 4.00pm). Our aim is to focus on the RYA Youth Scheme stages 1 – 4 through a mix of formal and informal instruction, games and adventures on the water.
Once children have progressed through all four RYA youth training stages they can progress to the Youth Development Squad (YDS), where more experienced young sailors can hone their skills and discover advanced sailing skills, such as racing, sailing with spinnakers and seamanship.
Clinics are run through school holidays and are aimed at supporting the development of sailors who may have missed parts of the syllabus or request extra coaching on specific skills.
Class Training is run by our class captains, which are specific for the class of boat, allowing enhanced techniques and deeper understanding of how to maximise the performance of the boat.
Juniors Cup - For the sailors that wish to enter, we offer a Junior Cup, with 5 races spread throughout the season.
Interclub Regattas are conducted during the season, with our neighbouring clubs of Cotswold SC and Bowmoor.
More information can be seen in the Parents handbook
Please note: Junior group sessions are only open to members of the Juniors Group (new members are welcome and can be signed up via your membership portal) but must be pre-booked, also via your portal (unless stated otherwise).
For the 2023/24 season, each junior session will cost £17pp per day and can be booked via your membership portal.
FLEET CAPTAINS
The growth of our community has resulted in the need for specific class captains, who are responsible for the training and support of our sailors on the Classes that they lead.
Juniors currently have the following fleets:
- Oppies
- Tera
- Zests
- Qba
- Feva
- Lasers
- 420s
More information can be seen in our Parents handbook
RS TERA CAPTAINS
“Fast and exciting 21st century single-hander that looks cool and makes sailing addictive. From entry level to international competitions, the RS Tera gets kids hooked on sailing.” - RS Tera team.
At WSC, we have a growing fleet of club Teras, a class popular with our Juniors group who sail them throughout the season.
For our more experienced Juniors, there are opportunities to develop their racing skills on the Tera through the winter months, with support from our WSC instructor team, supplemented by support and involvement with RYA regional coaching groups.
The Tera fleet is overseen by Tera Fleet captains, Dominic and Richard.
CALLING ALL PARENTS
The Juniors Group is run by parents for the junior members - so parental help is vital to the successful running of this group.
Whilst we expect young sailors to learn how to rig boats themselves, help is always required with rigging/de-rigging, moving boats on and off the water, packing everything away and ensuring the children are happy and safe.
We also really appreciate help on the water, instructing and driving the coaching boats.
If you are an experienced sailor and wish to help instruct, or you’re a qualified safety boat driver, please get in touch or email [email protected].
LIST OF MEMBERS
Chair – Tim Farmer
Class Captain – Tim Lee
Secretary – Victoria Farmer
Treasurer – Anne Baxter
Chief Bosun – Matt Firth
Bosun – Simon Portman
Bosun – Gianluca Corrado
Lead Instructor – Alex Pegg
Tera Captains – Richard Trevithick, Dominic Horner
Feva Captains – Simon Portman, Michael Monger
Laser Captain – Vacant
420 Captain – Simon Portman
Systems – Chris Hargreaves
For further information please contact:
Group Chair: Tim Lee: [email protected]
Group Secretary: Victoria Farmer: [email protected]