Sweden Expedition Gets Plumpton College Students OnBoard

East Sussex students complete wild sailing trip after learning through OnBoard

Ten Plumpton College students have just returned from a challenging sailing expedition of a lifetime in Sweden thanks to the skills they learned as part of the RYA OnBoard grassroots sailing programme at Newhaven and Seaford Sailing Club.

In the first such expedition, the students, all aged 16 -18, plus two members of staff, travelled to the remote Lake Runn in central Sweden, where they explored the large lake, wild camped on the numerous islands and used all their navigation and seamanship skills.

For the year building up to the expedition, the students, who are all members of Plumpton College Sailing Academy, along with a number of other classmates, honed their sailing skills on Piddinghoe Pond under the banner of Newhaven and Seaford SC and RYA OnBoard.

RYA OnBoard provides low cost sailing and windsurfing opportunities for local school and youth groups, enabling kids aged eight to 18 to learn to sail and stay in the sport.

The aim of the expedition was to expand the students’ experience and qualifications ahead of the expedition, then lead into employment within the sailing industry, with companies such as Rockley Watersports, Neilson and Sunsail, at the end of their second year at college.

Elliot O’Dwyer, expedition student, said: “For many of us this was our first experience abroad let alone living in the wild. We all learned a huge amount about sailing, living in remote places and about ourselves. We will reflect on the trip with fondness and use this experience in our future careers as outdoor instructors and coaches.

“Many of the islands allow camping in line with the Swede’s national policy of a right to roam. Some even provide camping shelters and toilets for those visiting, although the lack of flat camping ground meant that we tried sleeping in the Wayfarers dinghies. Despite a little discomfort, the group agreed this was the best camping we had ever experienced.

“A pattern of delayed starts in the mornings, due to strong winds, meant we tended to use the light in evenings to sail by, often not arriving into camp until around 8pm. As students who find it difficult to get up anyway, we found this arrangement suited us well!”

RYA Sailing Development Officer for the South East, Sam Rowe has been working with the Plumpton College Sailing Academy via OnBoard in the build up to the expedition.

He said: “Learning to sail at a young age doesn’t have to be all about becoming the next Ben Ainslie. Some youngsters will choose to go down the racing route, but there are so many facets to sailing that it really does lend itself to a lifetime of involvement and enjoyment.

“The Plumpton College students have demonstrated the experience and life skills that can be gained from sailing expeditions such as this and we look forward to seeing many more students from the college continuing to learn to sail with us into the future.”

Andy Hamilton, Level 3 Programme Leader in Adventure Education at Plumpton College, added: “Although there was only space for 10 students on this expedition, I’m sure it is the first expedition of many.

"We currently have 18 students signed up to the Academy with numbers growing steadily as the word gets out. The plan is to make this a college wide sailing initiative next year, giving access to all 2,500 students at Plumpton College.”

Special thanks go to the RYA South East region, The South East Agricultural Society College Funding programme and Steve Trusler from www.runnsailing.com for making this trip happen.

Over 10 years OnBoard aims to introduce a minimum of 500,000 children to sailing and windsurfing in the UK, converting over 10 per cent of them into regular participants.

For more information about RYA Onboard visit www.rya.org.uk/go/onboard