On The Water Session 7
On The Water Session 7.
We're going to try something a bit different for how we manage OTW Session 7.
At Session 6 I asked for suggestions on how we could do things better or just differently for On The Water. Following a discussion between some of the participants and helpers (including the club Instructors and Senior Instructors who ran OTW 6) we are going to try a more controlled way of booking on to session 7.
Previous sessions have been allocated 50 spaces (30 initial spaces and 20 reserve ones) which are open to all, which means we have no idea what the breakdown of ages and abilities of attendees will be. To help the Senior Instructor with session planning and to better manage the grouping I will create different ticket types:
- Junior Beginner & Stage 1
- Junior Stages 2 & 3
- Junior Stage 4+
- Adult Student Sail
- Adult Open Sail
Adult open sail is for those who want the reassurance of knowing there is safety boat cover on the water but don't need to be under the supervision of an instructor (thus freeing up an instructor). This means we will have 4 groups which require an instructor.
When booking opens there will be an initial number of places available per group. As more instructors sign up to help with the session I will add places to the groups.
We'll see how this works for Session 7, then test and adjust as necessary. Separately I will send an e-mail asking for further comments, suggestions and feedback on how we plan and deliver OTW.
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 to share or you can go out in your own boat. For these sessions participants are grouped by ability then assigned to an instructor with a safety boat, meaning sailors have safety boat cover for the whole time they are on the water. The emphasis is on FUN and we go out in all weathers within reason!
'On the Water' sessions are proving very popular. To allow the club to run them a multitude of adult volunteer helpers are required, and In particular parents bringing children down are expected to help crew the safety boats, move trailers, help with dinghy launch and recovery, etc. The session is scheduled for 3 hours around high water. Participants should be ready, changed into sailing gear, for the start of the session.
Where children are taking part they must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult who remains availble 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 parent quickly so as to be able to focus on the remaining sailors still on the water.
OTW sessions are for members and their families only.
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)