Derbyshire Sport website search

Enter keyword - eg. athletics

Derbyshire Youth Sailing celebrates tenth anniversary

4 January 2010

It was in the run up to the Millennium that volunteer parents got together at Ogston Sailing Club and formed the county’s youth sailing organisation to help local young sailors get the most from their racing sailing.

Since the formation of DYS hundreds of sailors have competed in the annual series and have represented their county at National events. Some have gone on to sail for their country at international events and at least one sailor is now a full time professional racing sailor who has recently competed in the Sydney-Hobart race as well as being a member of the crew who won the first Open 40 yacht racing World Championships in 2009.

Closer to home DYS has had plenty of successes in the first ten years. As well as DYS sailors being selected for RYA Team GB National Training Squads and securing more than one National Championship in their chosen sailing dinghy class, DYS teams have had a good track record in National competitions. DYS is affiliated to the National School Sailing Association and enters teams from Derbyshire into the NSSA events. DYS sailors have won NSSA Team Racing trophies and been rewarded for podium results in many of the single and multi class events when competing against a national line up.

As well as the racing events, DYS has organised winter training events to help the sailors improve their skills and prepare for the next season ahead. The racing training has also been supported by older youth sailors who have trained as racing sailing coaches and returned to share their knowledge with the next generation of Derbyshire sailors.

Chair of Derbyshire Youth Sailing, Mike Haynes, said: “It has been an amazing experience to look back at the first ten years and to see what the sailors and volunteers have achieved. It’s quite exciting to know that those sailors who compete in the events DYS organises can achieve such wonderful things and go on to take their racing sailing to the highest levels.  As ever we volunteers are in awe of these young sailors.”

The volunteers of DYS have also worked incredibly hard during the first ten years to help run the annual series and also to host both the NSSA Team Racing and the week-long NSSA National Regatta at Carsington Sailing Club, with the help of the club members, Severn Trent Water and many others. The Derbyshire volunteers have also been a key part in many of the NSSA events held around the country.

The tenth Derbyshire Youth Sailing series will commence in April 2010.

Details are available at www.dysailing.com (opens in a new window).