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The Youth Sailing season starts on Saturday May 3rd 2008 and we’re looking forward to seeing you all for some great sailing. With our extensive fleet of dinghies we have a wide range of boats available to suit all levels of experience from our traditional Wayfarers right through to the high performance Buzz dinghies.
Our action packed programme runs right through to November 1st so you’ll have the opportunity to spend as much time on the water as you like. This season we’ll also be running Saturday afternoon race series for the more experienced students and the dates for these are in the programme. We’ve also included our annual Cruise n’ BBQ again this year as this was very popular last summer.
Our amazing team of Instructors will be back again this season and we’re planning to have plenty of fun out on the water again this year, alongside out training activities, so don’t miss out.
This season we’ll be running several different groups again to cater for all levels from Beginner right through to Advanced and we’ll make sure you end up in the right group. With each group having it’s own Lead Instructor you’ll always have someone to help you make the best of the season.
As well as some great Instructors, we also have a terrific place from which to sail and Felixstowe Ferry is renowned throughout the sailing world as being one of the very best.
All our students are given the opportunity to take formal RYA qualifications but there’s certainly no pressure to do so. We’re not a commercial training school (all our helpers and Instructors are unpaid volunteers), and although we do work to the same high standards, we place far more importance on learning by experience and the ‘RYA Qualifications’ are really an extra, albeit an important one. So, if you just want to learn the basics that’s fine with us. Or, if you really want to become a qualified Instructor then we can manage that too.
As usual we will meet inside the Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club in the dining area for registration and briefing (registration closes promptly at 0930hrs) before we split into groups and get out on the water.
"Parent Note - it’s very important that all our students arrive on time for each session – if they miss the registration time (0915-0930hrs) they will not be allowed to sail for safety reasons so please don’t be late. Our Instructors will always make sure the club is open by 0915hrs so please arrive early to avoid disappointment"
The Saturday afternoon race series are shown on the programme and are for any of our students who have already obtained their Level 2 RYA certificates. To make the afternoon session organisation more effective this season we’re asking our Students to sign up for these at morning registration so we know how many students will be taking part. There will be an extra charge of £1.50 per afternoon session to help cover costs. The enclosed programme shows all the other key dates for the season, including some special ‘one off’ events, so please keep this handy.
Our Wednesday evening ‘fun’ sessions (open to all students) are extremely popular and you’ll find the dates for these also in the programme. There’s no formal training on the Wednesday evenings so it’s an ideal time for some fun sailing and trying out what you’ve been taught.
In addition to all our normal sailing, we also try and find time to fit in a few other activities including power boat training, a day sail, our famous BBQ event, as well as the end of season RYA Assessments. For our Helper and Instructors we have Monday evening sailing sessions where we get a chance to brush up on our own sailing skills and we also try and arrange a weekend sail and camp. There are also opportunities to help the club out with some of the big events that take place and you’ll see these in the programme. At the end of our season, we finish with a special lunch and awards ceremony where our students are presented with their certificates and trophies.
Our normal student sessions take place twice a week (see programme for exact details):
- Saturday’s
- Mornings from 0915 to 1300 approximately
- Afternoons (where applicable) from 1500hrs to 1700hrs approximately (check programme for dates)
and
- Wednesday Evenings from 1815 to dusk (May – August)
(please note that Wednesday evening sessions will be cancelled if conditions are unsuitable for sailing so please check before leaving students at the Club)
"Parent Note" - the actual time of reaching the shore will often be affected by the wind and tide conditions. Our Instructors will always plan the session to get back at the stated time but this is not always possible so please bear with us! Parents and guardians are very welcome to wait in the clubhouse until their charges have been signed out. Our students are not allowed to stay in the Club outside normal Club opening hours so please make sure you are ready to collect them at the end of the session"
Youth Sailing is part of the Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club and we use their premises for all our events. Our students must become members of Felixstowe Ferry Youth Sailing (FFYS), and also of the Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club. You can apply to join FFYS by completing the consent form enclosed (this is essential as you cannot go on the water without it) and sending it to our membership secretary (address below). We have an annual membership fee of £1, which we need to collect from you at your first session. You also need to join the Sailing Club and the annual membership fee is £16.00 for 10-15 year olds, and £33.00 for those aged 16 to 21. A cheque for this amount (payable to Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club) should also be sent to our membership secretary, along with the enclosed completed Sailing Club application form by the 20th April.
If you have already joined the Sailing Club this year, either as an individual or under a family membership, please enter your 2008 membership number on the consent form.
"PParent Note - In previous seasons we have reached our maximum number of students in the first week or two of the season, so if you want to join us this year please get your application form back to the Membership Sectretary by the 20th April – it’s first come, first served"
To help towards our running costs we make a charge of £7.00 per student per Saturday session and £5 per Wednesday evening session and this sum will be collected when you arrive and register for each session. Afternoon race sessions cost an extra £1.50 per session.
(If anyone has difficulty meeting these costs please contact our membership secretary to discuss other options as we don’t want to prevent anyone from sailing)
The success of Youth Sailing depends totally on our volunteer Instructors and Helpers and it takes a lot of effort to run our sailing sessions. Many of these Instructors and Helpers have come to us as a consequence of having children who sailed with FFYS. That they have stayed with us long after their own children have moved on, is a measure of the satisfaction and pleasure they experience in working with our youngsters. In most cases these parents have either honed or learnt the skills and obtained their qualifications with us. To this end we are always keen to introduce interested parents to our activities and to provide training and courses for them to gain RYA powerboat and sailing qualifications. Some of this training is done during our normal sessions and some is done on Monday evenings during the season. If you are interested please have a word with us.
Where bad weather prevents us from our normal sailing, we make good use of the time, either with a reduced programme (including some amazing sailing with the Instructors at the helm, power boat rides, etc) or by catching up on some of the theory work involved, so please make sure you attend each session - even if the weather doesn’t look so good.
All students who attend our sessions will be taught how to prepare the boats for sailing and how to put them away at the end of sailing. This is a vital part of the session so please don’t slip away before this work is complete – anyone found doing so may well be invited to spend the following session cleaning all the boats out!!
Health and Safety
Our safety procedures insist that all students sign in at the start of each session (morning, afternoon and evening sessions) and provide a contact number for a parent/guardian, so please make sure you know which one to supply. Students must also sign out before leaving and we ask you to do this before changing as failure to sign out may result in a pointless search being undertaken by the Instructors.
Lifejackets and buoyancy aids will be provided for our beginner group where required. Our experienced students are expected to bring their own buoyancy aids. NO YOUNG PERSON OR ADULT WILL BE ALLOWED ON THE WATER WITHOUT A LIFEJACKET OR BUOYANCY AID APPROVED BY HIS OR HER LEAD INSTRUCTOR.
Please ensure you have a towel and a change of clothing at each session and please make sure that you’ve got sufficient clothes to keep you warm when you’re on the water. You don’t need the latest and greatest sailing gear, just plenty of layers and even a wetsuit will need layers over the top in all but the warmest conditions. Every season we have students who get very cold out on the water because they don’t realise just how much cooler it is off shore.
Any young person who is taking medication, has a medical condition or an allergy must include this information on the consent form and also inform their Group Instructor when they register at each attendance.
All decisions relating to sailing will be made by the senior sailing instructorSenior Sailing Instructor present and must be adhered to. This is for the safety of all those involved.
We look forward to seeing you in May.
Best regards
Andy Free
Chief Instructor
Felixstowe Ferry Youth Sailing
01394 448058 | 
