Final On The Water

On The Water Session 10 - The Final Session

OTWs are supported sailing sessions for all ages - children and adults alike - but with an emphasis on getting our younger sailors out on the water! Club boats will be available or you can go out in your own boat. For these sessions participants are grouped by ability and activity with an instructor and a safety boat, meaning sailors have safety cover for the whole time they are on the water.

OTW sessions are for members and their families only.

Structure

The session is structured into specific groups with separate tickets for each.

The groups are:

• Games - A series of fun and games in the area in front of the clubhouse (paddle races, whistle game, rounders, and suchlike) to build water confidence. This is enabled by games helpers which is an opportunity for non-instructors to get involved and support - no sailing skills are required! There will be 5 participant spaces per games helper, up to a maximum of 20, with an instructor running the group.
• Junior Beginner Sailing - For those juniors who hold Stage 1 or Stage 2 and want the opportunity to focus on sailing rather than just games (typically the slightly older ones). This is supported by sailing helpers, which is for adults who are competent sailors and who are happy to squeeze into a Pico or Fusion to help steady the boat.
• Junior Improver Sailing - A session which will focus on improving a specific skill (such as MOB or coming alongside). This is to focus learning and enable participants to continue to develop their sailing. This group is open to juniors with stage 3+.
• Youth Feva Training - This session will be run concurrently with OTW but will be organised separately by our youth coaching team.
• Adult Improver Sailing - For adults who want some instruction on skills contained in the advanced modules (Seamanship Skills, Day Sailing, Performance Sailing). This group is for sailors whose sailing competence is equivalent to Level 3 and above. This group will only be opened for bookings once there are enough instructors to cover the other groups, since adults can join the Open Session.
• Open Session - For youth Stage 4+ and Adults who judge themselves to be competent. This will have safety cover and a designated sailing area but no instructor, so is simply a "go for a sail in this area" session. You sign on and off the water so we know who is afloat and who makes it back safely, and the safety boat keeps an eye on you. This is an opportunity to sail with friends, potter aimlessly, practice a specific skill, or just sail as fast as you can. Windsurfers are welcome to join in this session.

Support Roles

Along with the powerboat helms and crews, Assistant Instructors, Dinghy Instructors and Senior Instructors that make On The Water a success, we need the support of participants' parents. The support roles are:

• Games Helper - To help with running the afloat fun and games. The intent is that one Instructor can oversee the whole group, with parent helpers running the individual games and keeping watch over the juniors. This role will be getting wet.
• Sailing Helper - A competent sailor who is willing to squeeze into a Fusion or Pico to act as ballast and steady the boom. This role will probably be getting wet.

Booking

When booking opens a small number of tickets will be available by group, based on the assumption we will have at least 3 instructors sign up. As more instructors, games helpers and sailing helpers sign up to support then more groups and more tickets will be added. There will not be a waiting list.

Parental Presence

Where children are taking part they must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult who remains available on the shore throughout the session. If we have a cold child, one who no longer wishes to sail, or an injury (thankfully a very rare occurrence), the instructor for that session needs to be able to hand the child over to his or her adult quickly so as to be able to focus on the remaining sailors still on the water. Parents looking after other people's children is fine, so long as the children know who their responsible adult is.

Current Plan

The current allocation of volunteers and resources to groups is:

• Games: (15 places)
  • Lead - Sarah Redwood
  • Helpers - Neil Barrett, Philip Caswell
  • Boats - 2 x Picos
  • Safety Boat - SIB - Steve Dunn
• Junior Beginners: (10 places)
  • Lead - Paul Harker
  • Instructors - Neil Haines, Ben Jeffery
  • Helpers - Felicity Whitmore-Jones
  • Boats - 3 x Picos
  • Safety Boat - Jaffa Tom
• Junior Improvers: (12 places)
  • Lead - Katy Baines
  • Instructors - Evie Robinson, Noah Chisnall, Nick Palethorpe
  • Boats - 6 x Picos or Fusions
  • Safety Boat - Jaffa Dick
• Youth Feva Training:
  • Lead - David Goodman
  • Instructors - Nigel Harley
  • Boats - 6 x Fevas
  • Safety Boat - Jaffa Harry - David Goodman
• Open Session: (15 places)
  • Lead - Martin Sweet (shore based)
  • Boats - Own boats, 3 x Fusions, plus any other club boats unused by other groups
  • Safety Boat - Yellow RIB
• Roving Safety:
  • Safety Boat - Grey RIB

Changing the Plan

In the event that we have inadequate support for all participants or activities then priority will be given to juniors over adults. It may be that groups are merged, time on the water is staggered, or a group is cancelled. This decision will be made by the Senior Instructor for the session.

If you have any questions about On The Water please speak to RC Training (rc.training@tisc.org.uk) or the Commodore (commodore@tisc.org.uk)