About the UK Cadet Class

The UK National Cadet Class Association (UKNCCA) is dedicated to ensuring that children learn to sail in a safe and friendly environment. The Association provides racing for beginners and all abilities in the UK plus encourage sailors to compete at international events including the Cadet World Championships. For beginners, clubs offer sail training for all levels of ability and there are also Open Training days paid for by the UKNCCA. Sailors can pursue the RYA badges, in selected clubs, or continue with club training and attend Open Training organised by the UKNCCA at a club near you. If sailors are successful they might be selected for an RYA squad. There are RYA Zone Squads, throughout the country, for the younger, less experienced teams and then the top boats in the country aspire to the RYA National Junior Squad or the UKNCCA National Squad.

The UKNCCA also provides Association owned boats free of charge to clubs that are developing their Cadet Class so that youngsters can try out a Cadet.

 

Clubs

Sailing Clubs that support the Cadet Class often have club owned cadet craft to be used by their members particularly newcomers to the sport. Sailing Cadets does not have to be expensive! Clubs offer sail training and racing at a local level which is the starting point for all sailors.

History

The International Cadet Class was formed in 1947 after Jack Holt who was a junior race trainer designed the first Cadet boat. Since then, thousands of children have had their first introduction to sailing via the Cadet including several past and current Olympic Sailing medallists.

The Cadet boat is uniquely the double handed three sail dinghy sailed and raced worldwide by Juniors ONLY. Nobody over the age of 18 can compete in a Cadet event. In UK it is a RYA Junior Pathway class of boat sailed by two sailors, a helm and a crew. The big advantage of this is that the crew can get to sail straight away under the guidance of an older and more experienced helm. The helms will often have a great deal of experience and knowledge which they then pass down to their new crew and therefore ensure rapid progress for beginners. Typically every helm started as a crew so the helm knows the help and guidance their young crew needs. The Cadet provides a three sail experience where the helm and the crew must work together as a team to obtain the best results. Crews will start at 8 or 9 years old and then begin to helm at 12 or 13 but this is largely dependent on size and ability. The class finishes for children when they turn 18. Many Cadet sailors progress on to the 420 or 29er RYA Pathway Classes at an appropriate stage in their development, but others just move on to their preferred Club class or start coaching or move straight in to keel boats.

The Cadet Dinghy

The Cadet is known as a one-design boat and therefore all Cadets have the same, strictly controlled measurements. The boat itself is 3.2m long, weighs 54 kg and has a sail area of 4.55 / 4.65 square metres.

The boat was purposely designed to be too small for an adult to sail but with all the attributes of a racing dinghy, including a spinnaker. For many years all Cadets were made of wood but for some time craft have been made of glass fibre which of course means low maintenance. Both wooden and glass fibre are sailed competitively.

There is a ready market for older Cadet Dinghies, both wooden and glass fibre. The cheaper older boats are never the less still very competitive with national success being achieved in second-hand boats costing less than £1,000. There are boats for sale all the time and a good idea of the typical costs can be found in the Boats for Sale sidebar of this website or you could contact our Licensed Boat Builder (Chris Somner,  www.cserve.co.uk, 01202 736704) if you are considering a new boat!
 

Internationally

The Cadet Class is not just restricted to racing in the UK. Each year a team is selected following a series of Indicator events to represent the UK by competing in the World Championships. Non-selected boats may attend and compete in the promotional fleet. The World Championships have taken place in Australia, Argentina, India, UK, Holland and many other European countries. The 2011 World Championships were held in Kuhlungsborn, Germany and 2012 sees the Class at Sandy Bay S C , Hobart, Tasmania over Christmas and New Year. A European Championships is being held in Carnac on the west coast of France in July 2012. The International rules and regulations of the class are run by the International Cadet Class Association (ICCA).

 

Racing

As soon as helms and crews are comfortable with the basic skills of sailing, the clubs and the UKNCCA will encourage them to try their hand at racing. Much of the training at Zone Squad and National Squad level is preparing teams for the various competitions that take place throughout the year. Firstly most clubs will host an Open event with visitors arriving from all over the country. Then there are the UKNCCA run Indicators, including Inland Championships and National Championships (Cadet National Champions Hall of Fame), where over 100 cadets will gather to compete for the many trophies and prizes. These events provide a fantastic opportunity for children and their parents to meet new friends and enjoy the various social activities while participating in a lively outdoor sport.

Cadet racing is not just about sailing, it is about being part of a team and learning transferable life skills. Cadet sailors not only go on to do well in sailing but become successful in their chosen careers too. Sailing Cadets is about fun, friendship, teamwork, fitness, diet, achievement, managing disappointment, setting and achieving goals, building confidence and accepting new challenges.  

Join us and be part of the most successful junior sailing class in the world.

You never forget your first Cadet!