2014 - The Highlights 

Another busy year for the RYA

It’s been another busy year for the RYA, protecting and promoting the rights and interests of recreational boaters, attending events and boat shows across the country and looking after their 103,000 members. Here are just a few of the highlights from 2014...

January

Kicking off the year at the London Boat Show the RYA celebrated 40 years of the RYA Yachtmaster scheme and city banker Joseph Macdonald was crowned RYA Yachtmaster™ of the Year 2013. Chosen for his thorough technical knowledge of sailing, his demonstration of sailing skills and his sheer enthusiasm and enjoyment for sailing, Joseph was presented with his prestigious trophy by HRH The Princess Royal.

The RYA was also joined at the show by TV personality and sailor, Nick Knowles and Shipping Minister, Stephen Hammond MP to endorse its new safety initiative. The first safety awareness publication of its kind for the leisure boating community, the annual Safety Advisory Notice is a clear, easily accessible digest of current, critical safety issues. Four key safety messages - look after yourself, have a plan, keep in touch, know your limits, form part of an ongoing safety education campaign.

January also saw the launch of latest addition to the RYA’s suite of interactive online courses; the RYA online SRC course. For the first time students had the choice of either undertaking traditional classroom training or opting to work through the course using a state of the art online training course.

February

Heading in to February and the RYA launched its ‘Killcord Campaign’ urging owners and drivers of small open-powered boats and RIBs to stay safe by following these simple safety steps:

1. Always wear a kill cord.
2. Keep a good look out.
3. Keep passengers and crew seated safely with secure handholds.
4. Maintain good communication throughout the journey.

To date over 60,000 ‘Wear Your Kill Cord’ console stickers have been distributed to UK boaters. The campaign has also been taken up abroad in the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

The RYA’s Sailability programme announced the winners of the RYA Sailability Volunteer Awards at the largest ever RYA Sailability National Conference, where some 130 delegates from RYA Sailability groups across the country where in attendance.

The Green Blue launched its ‘Green Guide for Boat Charter Companies’, to encourage charter companies to ‘go green’ ahead of the 2014 summer season. The guide used The Green Blue’s partnership with Sunsail to show what can be done on board and ashore to minimise the impact of charter sailing and racing on the marine environment.

We also saw some 200 plus powerboat racers, friends and family came together to celebrate the success of British Powerboat racers in 2013 at the annual RYA Powerboat Racing Awards Ceremony. A staggering 50 plus awards were presented to the crème-de-la-crème of powerboat racers who throughout the previous year clinched a whole host of British, European, World and Speed records across the sports racing disciplines of Circuit, Offshore and JetSport.

While over in Miami, Giles Scott, Bryony Shaw and the 470 women’s pairing of Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre ensured a golden hat trick for Britain’s sailors on the final day of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami.

March

The RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show 2014 proved more popular than ever as 10,000 visitors flock to Alexandra Palace, London, for the only show in the world dedicated to all things dinghy. From hard core racers to cruisers, families and youngsters the show had something for everyone. Main stage talks attracted big crowds as did the more hands on coaching sessions where visitors got to experience everything from taking part in the sailing fitness sessions, to the interactive racing rules session and the always popular Rig Tuning sessions.

At the show Staunton Harold Sailing Club in South Derbyshire was crowned RYA Club of the Year 2014. Mike Lennon’s Exocet International Moth was crowned Concours d’Elegance winner and seven year old William James from Torquay clinched the start prize in the RS Design a sail competition.

We also turned the spotlight on the some of the UK’s most promising young sailors, windsurfers and powerboaters as the first ever winners of the RYA Regional Youth Champion Awards were revealed.

At the fifth UIM Awards Giving Gala held at the Salle des Etoiles, in the principality of Monaco the RYA was awarded the Stefano Casiraghi Memorial Trophy which is presented in recognition of special service to the sport and to those who in their career have done something to improve and develop the sport.

Also in March the RYA gave evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee of MPs about the implementation of Marine Conservation Zones and attended the inauguration of HMC Protector on the Thames and spoke to the Home Secretary about the need for close-co-operation between the UK Border Force and the recreational boating community.

April

In April the RYA received a boost to its Paralympic Pathway with the delivery of a brand new fleet of 16 2.4mR one-person keelboats, with the aim of delivering future Paralympic medals for Great Britain. Helena Lucas, London 2012 Paralympic champion in the 2.4mR class, commented “The new fleet of 2.4mRs is just fantastic for the sport of sailing, and in particular Paralympic sailing. To be able to promote the sport and to encourage more disabled people to get into and progress with their sailing and racing is just amazing.”

May

This year over 260 sailing clubs and centres up and down the country opened their doors to their local communities for the Push the Boat Out event. With 140% more clubs taking part in the national event since last year there was a huge increase in the number of people attending the events and experiencing sailing at ‘have a go’ sessions and open days.

As well as connecting people with their local sailing club or provider and discovering how easy it is to get involved in the sport, clubs gained more than 1,000 personal memberships and over 500 families became members of the clubs they visited. A huge success for all involved.

June

When the RYA’s OnBoard (OB) programme was created back in 2005, it set itself the ambitious target of introducing half a million children to the sport in ten years. As the programme approaches its ten year anniversary, the RYA were delighted to announce in June that they had already reached that number.

In June the RYA also launched its new Refer a Friend scheme and the new SafeTrx Smartphone App.

The Refer a Friend scheme offers new members 25% discount on the price of their chosen membership type; and once the friend or family member has signed up the referring member receives a special thank gift of either an exclusive RYA branded umbrella or five litre RYA branded dry bag from Overboard.

While the SafeTrx Smartphone App, developed by the RYA, enables boat users in UK territorial waters to plan their passage on their Smartphone.

Users can enter a passage plan, estimated time of arrival (ETA) and emergency contact directly to their Smartphone. These details are stored and will alert the designated emergency contacts if the ETA is exceeded. Once the emergency contact has called HM Coastguard it will be able to access your location data via the RYA SafeTrx Trip secure server. After just one week from its launch over 1,000 downloads had been made.

It was the surprise of a lifetime for sixteen year old Daisy Swinbourne from Clacton-on-Sea when she found out she had won the winner takes all ‘Start Sailing’ competition from the RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show. A shocked Daisy claimed a bumper haul of sailing goodies including a star prize of Topaz Taz dinghy.

July

Inspirational, ‘sip and puff’ sailor Natasha Lambert, 17, who has cerebral palsy, had a send-off to remember as legends of the sport Dame Ellen MacArthur and Geoff Holt MBE were amongst the guests at a special ‘Stand By To Go’ reception to mark the beginning of her incredible 2014 Sea and Summit Challenge. The challenge would see Natasha sail 440 miles around the South West coast of England to Wales in her specially-designed 21ft yacht, Miss Isle Too, before climbing Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in Wales using a specialised walking frame.

The challenge was estimated to take a month to complete during which time she would be raising money for the RYA Foundation, RNLI and the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.

August

Thirty days after embarking on her epic adventure, Natasha Lambert successfully completed her Sea and Summit Challenge as she stood at the top of Pen y Fan surrounded by her 17-strong support team, including four members of the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue team and four military personnel, plus her family and sailing coach, having successfully scaled the 2,907ft Pen Y Fan in the Brecon Beacons and her 440 mile around England’s South West coast to Wales.

Carol Dugdale (2.4mR) and Val Millward (Challenger) were crowned 2014 Multiclass Champions as the final curtain came down on the eighth annual RYA Sailability Multiclass Regatta held at Rutland Sailing Club. More than 80 sailors of all abilities, from as far afield as Singapore, took to the water in 65 boats at Britain’s largest sailing event for people with disabilities.

AAM Cowes Week designated the first Saturday of the regatta, as ‘Green Blue Day’ to raise awareness of the event's on-going commitment to sustainability, including environmentally friendly giveaways (such as bilge socks and spill kits) to skippers, installing water fountains to reduce the number of disposable plastic bottles and advice on applying bow stickers correctly to prevent them peeling away and littering the water. The regatta also ran a highly successful ‘green’ photo competition with a fantastic first prize of a Crystal ski trip to Banff.

While the sailors of the British Sailing Team rounded off the first Rio Olympic Test event with eight medals across seven Olympic classes.

September

September and time for the PSP Southampton Boat Show, where the RYA had loads in store.

OnBoard was once again celebrating success as double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton joined a group of OnBoard sailors at the show to officially announced that over the past ten years 50,000 youngsters had enjoyed the sport so much they’ve continued to go sailing on a regular basis.

Kamila Czartolmna (13) became the first girl in more than 10 years to be crowned a Honda RYA Youth RIB national champion when she and Jamie Paterson (10) claimed victory at the championship final. While in the head to head showdown to compete for the perpetual Champion of Clubs trophy, ten year old Tom Rogers representing 2013 champions Royal Lymington Yacht Club was declared 2014 Honda RYA Youth RIB Champion of Club winner.

The show also marked the RYA’s first ever Digital Day which was heralded a huge success. Many of the visitors to the stand were aware of the digital technology available from the RYA but wanted to get more information before making the move to introduce new digital elements in to their training and instructing. The team received loads of positive feedback on the technology currently supplied by the RYA and some fantastic ideas on how to further develop its digital offering as an instructor resource.

Back at Rutland Sailing Club it was time to unveil the winners of this year’s Team15 Champions Cup. For a second consecutive year the West Kirby Warriors were crowned Team15 Champions as the 2014 RYA/UKWA National Windsurfing Championships drew to a close.

The reigning champions from Wirral topped their T15 Inter-Club Series to secure their place at the national final where they continued their fine form across the four windsurfing classes (3.5m, 4.5m, 5.8m, Techno 6.8) to claim the coveted T15 trophy. The Axbridge Animals were runners up, while the Spray Sprites finished third.

October

October and Sir Dave Brailsford and 80 of his Team Sky charges swapped two wheels for three sails and spent a day learning the ropes on a team building day with the British Sailing Team at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.

“Sailing is something that none of us have done so we were all pretty excited”, commented team principal Brailsford.

It was also the month The Green Blue reminded boaters to ‘Check Clean’ Dry’ to prevent the spread of invasive species across the UK’s inland waterways and around the coast following an announcement from the Environment Agency that the non-native Quagga Mussel had been found in the UK.

And, Giles Scott claimed top honours at the British Sailing Team’s annual awards, winning the Athlete of the Year prize after his unbeaten run in the Finn class this season.

November

Tickets went on sale for the RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show 2015, the only exhibition in the world dedicated exclusively to the sport. Taking place over the weekend of 28 February - 01 March; Alexandra Palace, London, the show promises to offer something for everyone whether you’ve never set foot in a dinghy or you’re already a seasoned pro.

HRH Royal Highness the Princess Royal, President of the RYA, presented the prestigious RYA Volunteer Awards recognising the exceptional contribution volunteers across the country make to the sport. Some 47 winners were honoured for their exceptional generosity and dedication to boating at the awards ceremony and exclusive luncheon held at One Great George Street, Westminster, where they were presented with a commemorative medallion and certificate.

December

At the time of writing we are still waiting to see what December brings!

So that’s just a taster of what the RYA has been up to this year. Plans are already underway for the London Boat Show in January, the RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show in March, Push the Boat Out 2015 and a whole host of other events and activities.