Leicestershire and Rutland Youth Sailing Association

Regatta at Roundhills SC

The third regatta in the Mayors Trophy/Mathew Fullham series run by the LRYSA took place at Roundhills Sailing Club on the 14th of May. The LRYSA
were joined this time by Melton Sailing Club racing team. The two teams battled it out with Tom Haywood from the LRYSA and Jamie Graham from Melton running a very close race in the advanced class, Tom winning overall. Matt Haywood was in third place.

In the Mayors trophy races Tyler Symmonds from Melton came first and Liam Poxon in 2nd place from the LRYSA.

The next regatta is at John Merricks Lake on the 5th of June when Hinckley sea cadets and Melton sailing club will join the LRYSA to battle it out for the major trophies presented in September. 

Instructor Awards

The LRYSA would like to congratulate 6 of its members who  passed their dinghy instructor course, and are now fully qualified instructors.  All the new instructors trained at Bosworth Water Trust with Colin Magee our principal, and will now be volunteering with the LRYSA helping to train new students and our advanced racing team.

The succesful passes went to - Anthony Gill,  Diane Mattock, Ruth Townsend, Cheryl  Kay-Roberts, Brian Graham, and Pete Pollard. Brian, and Pete are from Melton Sailing Club, and are now members of the LRYSA as instructors.

2010 Hinckley and Bosworth Local Sports Alliance Awards

The following LRYSA volunteer and sailors had their achievements recognised at the Hinckley and Bosworth Sports Alliance Awards in 2010. Congratulations to them all. 

Anthony Gill - Winner of Adult Volunteer of the year

Anthony Gill is a teacher at Redmoor High School.  Three years ago he began bringing groups of students from the school for sailing sessions with the LRYSA at Bosworth Water Trust in his own time after school.  The project was a great success, and many of the children progressed onto advanced race training on Friday nights. Tony expanded the project to include pupils from Dorothy Goodman School for children with learning difficulties.  The two schools have continued to join together for training each week in the summer.

Tony joined the LRYSA as an assistant instructor and has since given his time tirelessly for the association.   Escorting children to and from events, instructing, fund raising, towing boats, and driving the rescue boat, you name it Tony does it.

Tony is now also the general secretary of the LRYSA, another demand on his time which he gives with his usual generosity and good humour.

Tom and Matt Haywood - Winners of the Making a Difference Award

Tom and Matt are brothers who train with the LRYSA , and are members of the Youth Racing Team. It is however for their support of the LRYSA, which is a charity run by volunteers, that they have won this award.

At the beginning of 2010 the charity where extremely short of funding.  The costs of entering events, the buying and the upkeep of equipment, and the constant replacement of spares had made the situation urgent.

A 12 hour sponsored sail was organised.  Tom and Matt who were only 14 and 12 at the time immediately began raising sponsors.  They went around knocking on doors, getting sponsorship from their neighbours, their teachers and youth leaders. They went that extra mile to raise support for the sponsored sail.

On the day of the event along with other members of the LRYSA they turned up put their boats on the water and sailed the event, all without fuss, they just quietly got on with it.

In the end the event raised over £2000 for the charity.  This enabled the LRYSA to enter the National Schools Championships last year with the costs of spares covered.  It also allowed us to buy much needed equipment.

Jason Graveling - Junior Disabled Sportsman of the Year - Winner aged 12

Jason began sailing 2 years ago after joining the Hinckley Sea Cadets. He came with The Dorothy Goodman /Redmoor High School  project to improve his sailing skills with the LRYSA and Jason has now completed his levels 1,2,and 3 -  An achievement not always reached by more accomplished students.  In addition to this Jason has now qualified at level 1 as a power boat driver.

 

 

 

Liam

Liam Poxon is 13 years old and loves sailing. He is training with the Leicestershire and Rutland Youth Sailing Association (LRYSA) in our youth racing team.

The LRYSA is a charity run by volunteers, so we are always in need of funding so that the organisation can continue to help the community.

When Liam found out that the LRYSA wanted to buy a portable unit at a cost of £300 to store equipment he wrote out, by hand 30 letters asking for sponsorship, he then cycled around the local industrial estates posting them through letter boxes. At the time Liam was still only 12. In a short time letters started to arrive with offers of help from generous local businesses. Up to now Liam has raised nearly £1000. This means that not only can the association buy the unit , they have enough, thanks to Liam, to start filling it with new bouyancy aids, and wet suits. Liam has also found a sponsor who is going to buy badly needed new sails to replace the worn out ones being used at the moment.

It is incredible that someone so young should have achieved this on his own, especially when you find that Liam has not had an easy time, having had health problems from when he was a baby, and he suffers from dyslexia which makes writing all those letters very arduous for him.

Liam has written thank you letters to all the sponsors who supported him, again delivered on his bike.

Liam and the LRYSA would like to thank all the sponsors for their generosity.

 

 

 

 

BLESMA Cheque Presentation

On 24th September 2008 a cheque for £7510 was presented to BLESMA. this was the total sum raised from the 24 hour sponsored sail in 2007. Thanks again to all those involved in the event both on the water and behind the scenes. Photographs: BLESMA

 

Forthcoming dates

There will be no further Friday night training sessions this year.

The BWT regatta arrival time is 10.00 and first race at 11.50.

Wed 24 Sept 11.30 formal presentation of 24 Hour Race cheque to BLESMA at BWT.

Sat 20 Sept Regatta at Formark Reservoir , Milton, Repton, Derbys, DE65 6EJ (watch this space).

We're still looking at boat availability for those without their own boat.

11 Nov 6.30 LRYSA AGM BWT Classroom

All parents and supporters welcome as we would like some new blood on the organising committee.

29 November 9.00 Rudolf Regatta and Sailors Christmas Party.  This is a provisional date.

NSSA Info Updated

Lots of photos here . Thanks go to Maria Mcevoy for taking them all! More pictures from Sue Jeffries

Including a review of the week and photo links . Links found from the NSSA Regatta block to the left and the menu.

A couple of quotes from of our competitors:

'This year the nssa regatta was held at Carsington and the week was fantastic. The group worked together all week, giving tips and advice to each other. In the evenings we played games like football. Near the end of the week I injured my knee and just wanted to say thank you to Andrew Mcevoy and Alex Rice for helping me as Alex stayed with me while Andrew went and got the rescue boat. The week would not have gone as well as it did without the help of the helpers and team managers so a great thank you to everyone.' - Hannah

'I enjoyed the racing on the Monday and Tuesday because it was good strong challenging racing and I did well in those two days.' - Adam

'Carsington was a great experience! I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Apart from the sailing, it gave me the chance to get to know, and have fun with my other team members. Thanks again to the leaders and parents for all their help over the week etc.' - Andrew

Well Done

Well done to everyone involved in the Carsington regatta. A special thank you to Rebecca and Jeremy for all their hard work and also to Richard Friday for stepping in at the last minute to crew the safety boat despite family commitments.

I received a lot of compliments about the team whilst out on the water, particularly about their excellent behavior and organisation, so well done.

Colin Magee

Carsington Daily Updates

Get the latest news from Carsington here. Team on TV here

News letter 

Download the news letter (4th July)

Rutland Training Report

Over the weekend of 28/29 June we once again enjoyed the expanse of water and great facilities provided by Rutland Water for the pre-NSSA training with the Cambridge and Rutland teams. It was time to renew friendships with Rutland and Cambridge competitors from previous years for some and a whole new experience for others from Leicestershire! As last year this was a two day event with camping available for those that wanted to stay over in the adjacent camping field.

We arrived in good time on the Saturday for the first training day and despite some threatening black clouds the weather was to remain good for sailing throughout the weekend albeit blowing somewhat hard at times! Once rigged and on the water the usual drill was to sail a small triangular course in front of the clubhouse to see how everyone would cope. A total of circa 35 boats jostled around the triangle, Laser folks obviously itching for the wider open spaces of Rutland Water! The biggest fleets as expected were Lasers and Toppers also joined by a 420 and a Mirror.

It was fairly gusty and as Ben had warned adding another 5mph to the forecast South Westerly breeze of around 15mph for the weekend would be prudent to allow for how the wind builds across the uninterrupted full length of Rutland Water from that direction! There was to be somewhat more breeze than that before the weekend finished so it was pretty challenging especially for the younger of our sailors out there. To give all the young sailors credit they handled the conditions very well. I had to smile when Tom our lightest sailor commented after the morning’s sailing “… I capsized and then the boat went completely upside down – I didn’t realise the water was that deep!!!!!”. Tom didn’t wait for the rescue boat - he just went straight on to righting his Topper from inverted for the first time ever like a seasoned pro – well done Tom!

We had a couple of the regular briefing sessions over lunch where Ben, Pete, Graham & Dash provided a wealth of helpful tips and importantly made sure that each of the lads and lasses had specific personal objectives to achieve during the afternoon. The group was split into Lasers and Toppers to each follow different coaching plans during the afternoon. I joined Ben in one of the rescue boats for the afternoon session and was hugely impressed with the ease with which he moved between basic tips for the younger Topper sailors, advanced rig controls for the faster Toppers and Lasers and finessing the downwind three sail reaching in the 420. Saturday finished with a couple of quick races for the Toppers we were with and our Andrew M acquitted himself well on unfamiliar waters gaining some top finishing positions.

Sunday was an interesting day as we combined a Mayors Trophy / Matthew Fulham regatta with the coached race programme at Rutland. Whilst our usual roving team of volunteers got used to a new venue and competitors being spread over a large site, Ben, Pete and the team set up an NSSA style race course. Maria, Helen C and on site parents did a great job getting competitors registered before boats were readied and launched. No sooner were we thinking through the logistics of collecting race results our hosts kept the pace up and gave the instructions to launch! Colin, Richard and I were ferried by rib out to the committee boat where we joined the always professional Pete, Race Officer for the day. Richard was on flags, Colin called over boats crossing the line and I recorded a backup set of elapsed race times to compare with Pete’s actual race times where queries arose. Never a dull moment!

As is usual for our regattas everyone started off the same line so quite a lot of vying for space on the line amongst the 35 starters. But overall the starts were all impressively clean with no need for recalls at all during the day – that bodes well for Carsington. Racing was very competitive and the conditions remained breezy for most of the day so great experience for everyone. There were a few capsizes during the day especially among the lighter sailors. Capsize of the day went to our own Jon Cooper for his spectacular capsize right in front of and very nearly on top of the committee boat – not the place to do it Jon!!

As Rutland was a pilot event for the MT / MF series we had decided to make the event standalone and not counting towards the overall series results. This was mainly as we divided the fleet into Lasers for the MF and Toppers for the MT for ease of handling on the day and couldn’t guarantee that everyone who wanted to compete could be provided with a boat. In the event, there were enough boats available for those that were able to come along although the distance, lake size and conditions would have proved a little too much for some of our younger Mayors Trophy sailors. As can be seen from the results our LRYSA sailors acquitted themselves well amongst a very competitive fleet overall with Rob (3rd), Alex (6th) and Jon (7th) being our three highest place sailors in the Matthew Fulham series and Alisdair (4th), Andrew (7th) and Rosie (9th) taking the LRYSA honours in the Mayors Trophy fleet. Thanks to Brian and Helen for doing such a great job under pressure on the IT with such a big start line!

We were fortunate to get the necessary three races in during the day, two back to back before lunch and one after lunch before a squall set in and turtles many of the competitors. Any thoughts of a further short race were abandoned whilst rescue boats did a great job helping right dinghies, ferry competitors back and the committee boat up anchored to act as a mother ship if necessary. The conditions remained pretty challenging and whilst a few of the older Laser sailors took the opportunity for a blast around the lake, everyone else was escorted back in to quieter conditions back at the clubhouse!

Overall the weekend was excellent and a good time was had by all. As on previous years’ training weekends our LRYSA sailors, particularly the ones new to Rutland training, shifted up a couple of gears and gained a huge amount from the event. Back to the clubhouse afterwards for presentations – Colin and Pete gave out the Mayors Trophy and Matthew Fulham trophies and medals and Ben finished off the technical debriefing from the weekend.

We are extremely grateful to Ben and Pete for organising the event, for providing the first class coaching and facilities and for allowing us to hold our travelling Mayors Trophy road-show as part of the proceedings. And last but certainly not least thank to all our LRYSA volunteers (you know who you are!) for helping to make the event so successful.

Before we went Pete gave us Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th June 2009 as the dates for the NSSA pre-training weekend next year – keep your diaries clear!

Well done everyone and here’s hoping for good results at Carsington!

Jeremy

LRYSA Assistant Team Manager

 

Chairman's Award

The Chairman of Leicestershire County Council kindly came to BWT on May 17th to present Jeremy with his award (See Chairman's award news item below) as Jeremy had been unable to attend the main event due to illness. The picture shows all the award winners at BWT together with members of the Saturday morning sailing group and Councillor Keith Lynch, president of the LRYSA and the current Mayor of Hinckley and Bosworth.

Olympic Laser Coach

On Saturday (4th May), Brett Beyer an Olympic Laser Coach (and friend of the Ryley's) dropped by BWT to help coach the racing group. It was a fantastic opportunity for the group and I learned a lot too! The Laser sailors each had individual rigging and tuning advice for their boats and were able have questions answered by an expert.

On the water we practiced racing starts, boat handling and mark rounding. All sailors appeared to benefit from the experience and really enjoyed the session. The weather couldn't have been better with a gusty force 2-3 wind and bright sunshine. If anyone took pictures could they please send them in for the website?

Feedback from the session will be used by Nick to help run the Tuesday evening sessions (4-8pm) for those that can make them and also Saturday mornings as usual.

We are interested in feedback from sailors, what did you gain from this session? What areas do you want to work on during training sessions? Talk to Nick or Jeremy or email Becka and I will feed back to the others. I am happy to answer any NSSA related questions too, if I can!

Becka Sharpe,
Team Manager

Chairman's Awards

Following on from last year's successes, young sailors and volunteers from the LRYSA were recognised at the Leicestershire School Sports Federation 11th Annual Chairman's Awards on the 1st May 2008.

Jordan Morreta (11) received an award for the most improved young sailor and was selected in the final 10 nominations for the Chairman's trophy out of 52.

Rosie Washington and Sam Brooks were both nominated in the Chairman's Award section.

Adam Parry came third in the Junior Volunteer section.

Jeremy Batchelor was nominated for the Adult Volunteer section and won it.

The big surprise of the evening was that the LRYSA once again won the most improved sporting organisation, the first time anyone has won it twice. Along with the award came a much appreciated £500 for LRYSA funds.

Well done to all involved.

 

LRYSA Christmas meal

On 7th December, the LRYSA Instructors and helpers had a lovely Christmas meal at the Tithe Barn Restaurant at Bosworth Battlefield to celebrate the end of a very successful season. Many thanks to Jill Magee and Ann Batchelor for organising this and collecting the monies in. Some pictures here.

Rudolph Regatta 2007

The end of season Rudolph regatta took place on 1st December. A cold and windy day gave pretty testing conditions, gusting up to a F5 - more than a few had swimming practice and it was not the water temperature for that! Although this has traditionally been a low key fun event with reduced load on the helpers, this year it was opened to all and and run as Class racing. Many of the youngsters had acquired Laser 1's this year and some determined competition took place. All had great fun and the bring and share food in the classroom following the event was a great success albeit that 27 sailors plus parents / helpers in the classroom was a bit on the cosy side!! Pictures .

Colin Magee's RYA Lifetime achievement award

HRH the Princess Royal presented Colin Magee with an RYA lifetime achievement award at a prestigious ceremony held on Thursday 22nd November at the Westminster Church School House in London. more...

Mike Wood - Topper World Champion!

Mike Wood, one of our young Assistant Instructors and the group's race coach achieved first place in the Topper Worlds at Lake Garda on 31st August more...

24 hour sponsored sail in aid of BLESMA (British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association) - Great Success!

See the full article here

Whilst still recovering from the 24 hour sail we moved straight on the next day to the last regatta of the season. It was sunny with a good breeze and a great time was had by all. Tamzin Hurley from Open BIC kindly gave her support and provided 9 Open BICs, 6 of which were raced against each other in a special event with Open BIC providing prizes and goody bags. Results and photographs are now up.