Sail Training is a serious matter. You want to be sure that you are being taught correctly by people who know what they are doing. Luckily, Llandegfedd Sailing Club takes training seriously, and has been an RYA approved establishment for a long time. We are inspected every year, both for provision of equipment and adherence to safety standards.
All of our Instructors are unpaid, and most have full time jobs outside the sailing industry. We also talk to fellow instructors in other clubs, and occasionally work with them for youth coaching, or share Instructors courses.
Our Principal is Alan Bolton, who takes over after many years of work from Derek Robinson and Mervyn Rees. The Principal makes sure that the rest of us keep up the standards correctly.
Our Sailing Instructors also have to be RYA Qualified. This means that they must be able to sail competently, but also be able to teach in an approved and structured manner. They also are assessed on a regular basis. The governing bodies' requirements are as follows;
The Instructors award is valid for five years, but the first aid certificate has to be maintained. This is only valid for three years. A the end of each five year period, a Regional Coach has to revalidate the Instructor's certificate and uses log book evidence to ensure that the Instructor is actually teaching, and in what sort of environment. Attendence at Instructor's Clinics and coaching sessions is also advised.
The RYA also recognises the role of supporters to Instructors. These people are competent sailors who have been assessed to be skilled in providing additional training to learners. However, they will not have the full training or necessarily meet the eligibility criteria. Our team is as follows, (but we have more lined up who want to start in 2008);
We now have one Advanced Instructor; Andy. This endorsement brings together a number of different techniques from spinnaker handling, through Rig Tuning to Performance Sailing. We have never run a formal course for theses aspects of sailing, but there as aspects within here that contribute to the improvement of sailing beyond the RYA Level 2 courses, and bring us towards the racing coaching work.
Janine has coastal/hardboat and safety boat endorsements, so can certainly cover all that we need for Llandegfedd's Safety Boat Instructing. Sean and Phil can Instruct Power Boat 2 and Safety Boat.
The current list is;
We have two Club Race Coaches.
Club Race Coaches must be able to teach the RYA Start Sailing, Junior Racing Red and White badge standards. All sorts of racing techniques, start coaching, boat handling skills are covered. Our Racing Coaches have many years of racing experience to back up their coaching abilities. Our Current Racing Coaches are;