RYA Cymru Wales OnBoard Festivals 2024
by RYA Cymru Wales 7 Sep 2024 19:50 NZST
31 August-1 September 2024
Aspiring sailors and windsurfers gathered at Dale and Bala to have fun and develop their skills at this year's RYA Cymru Wales OnBoard Festivals.
Eighty-five youth and junior sailors took part in the two events over the weekend of 31 August-1 September 2024, with sunshine and light to moderate winds providing ideal conditions for a busy schedule of OnBoard games and racing.
The aim of the annual festivals is to build on home club training at the end of summer by enabling young sailors to develop their confidence and knowledge in a sheltered water, relaxed and friendly coached environment.
Sarah McGovern, Performance Manager Wales, said: "These events are truly rewarding for us as it is the start of a journey for these young sailors and it's great to be able to offer the opportunity to develop their sailing and racing skills.
"The three aims of our OnBoard Festivals are to have fun, make new friends and learn something new... hopefully all the sailors went away having achieve one of the goals.
"A big thank you to our host venues and to all of the volunteers and the mums and dads who were supporting on and off the water."
A new initiative this year was the introduction of participation medals for each competitor. There were also some games to gather sailor feedback to capture the voices of younger sailors about their involvement in the sport.
North OnBoard Festival
Thirty-six sailors attended the North OnBoard Festival hosted by Bala Sailing Club on the Saturday with 12 entries in the OnBoard fleet and 22 in the main fleet across a range of single and double-handed classes.
Sailors arrived to a foggy start caused by the big difference between the air temperature and that of the lake but this soon cleared and by 9am, bright sunshine and a light easterly breeze had arrived to set the scene for the rest of the day.
The main fleet ventured out into the middle of the lake and completed two races, with a quick break for lunch followed by three more races. The OnBoard fleet also had a grand day out, enjoying a mix of 'games with aims' and start-to-race activities.
Providing a fantastic Welsh role model for the sailors was Catrin Williams, a British Sailing Team iQFoiler, who came to support and shared the story of her own journey from attending her first ever event - a North OnBoard Festival! - through to representing GBR and racing internationally.
Alongside more than 15 volunteers supporting the activities, the three other Welsh coaches - Jacob, Ffion and Leah - likewise all started out at an OnBoard Festival and are now enjoying giving back to the sport through coaching.
Another memorable feature of the festival was clubs working together to support their sailors and each other, including Llyn Brenig who created a great vibe wearing their club colours, orange and black, complete with war paint and orange tutus.
The youngest sailors were Harriet Thomas and Benji Hall, both from Port Dinorwic SC. Ellis Crierie of Llyn Brenig SC meanwhile earned an endeavour award for been the only Optimist sailor who ventured out onto the main fleet course.
North OnBoard Festival results.
South & West OnBoard Festival
Nineteen sailors joined the OnBoard fleet alongside 30 main fleet entries for the South & West OnBoard Festival hosted by Dale Yacht Club / Celtic Sea Watersports.
Coordinating the South & West event was RYA Cymru Wales Club Development Officer Hester Walker, who said: "We had a lovely 10-15 knots of breeze across the weekend and the race committee did a great job to get in four races each day, with some challenging shifts and a dropping forecast on the Sunday.
"The Onboard Fleet completed all of their eight races with some fantastic coaching, while the Main Fleet had some very close racing, with the overall winners being decided on the last race. Well done to all the sailors and a heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers for your commitment and 'giving back' to providing safe, fun and rewarding sailing and continuing to support RYA Cymru Wales."
Thanks also go to photographer Ade Owens for capturing the festival spirit at Dale: Onboard Championships - Dale 2024 | Flickr.
Hector Jennings of Dale YC was awarded the Jaffa Trophy for his unselfish action of giving up his RS Tera for another sailor to compete in the main fleet and jumping into a Topper for the remaining races of the regatta he had left to sail.
Find the overall results at S & SW OnBoard Festival - Main Fleet and S & SW OnBoard Festival - OnBoard Fleet.
Welsh Youth & Junior Championships
Next up in the major events calendar is the Welsh Youth & Junior Championships, 21-22nd September 2024, at Plas Heli, which are also an indicator for those seeking selection to the Welsh National Sailing Team squads.
This event includes both coached Regatta and Championship fleets and is open to all young sailors from across Wales and beyond, with sailors and parents invited to get their entries in and share the details with their class associations.
Enter now for the Welsh Youth and Junior Championships and keep up with all the latest news and events by following RYA Cymru Wales on Facebook, X and Instagram.