What is Saturday Club?

Saturday Club is designed to introduce young people to the joy of sailing, to allow them to gain confidence being on the water and to have fun with other children. It is typically for children aged from 5 years but with no upper age limit as it all depends on the individual child.

It is solely run by club volunteers and is aimed at juniors who are members of the club and their families. The sessions are led by a Beach Master with support from junior (or adult) group leads using the club boats (Toppers, Topaz, Teras, Oppie bats and Fevas).

The Club aims to provide a mixture of boat orientated games and adventures to give the youngsters confidence on the water. They then progress to more structured sailing and an element of competitiveness is introduced.

Activities are weather dependent and can be constrained by the number of participants, or indeed volunteer helpers, available on the day. Our operating procedures are here Saturday Club Operating Procedures

Parent contribution:

A requirement to attend Saturday Club is that the parent/carer stays on site and assists in various aspects of the sessions including: helping to launch and retrieve sailors, assisting with rigging boats, driving the Club safety boats (once trained) and keeping a watchful eye. 

The Club is managed by a volunteer Saturday Club co-ordinator and parents/carers need to book children onto the session each week using an online portal (Sailing Club Manager SCM). This helps the team to plan the best use of the resources, including the boats and volunteers, each week. These sessions are entirely free and are open to any member of the sailing club.

Do the juniors need to able to swim and be sailors already?

Junior do not need to be able to swim as all users must be wearing their own buoyancy aid (the Club does not provide these) and suitable clothing to be around water.  There are many local and online suppliers for suitable gear for sailing. Basic requirements are: a properly fitted buoyancy aid, waterproof footwear, a wet suit and a hat (and sunscreen for the hot days).

At this club we are not expecting that the juniors will be competent sailors but it will help if after attending one season, they then look to do an RYA (Royal Yachting Association, sailings governing body) Youth course (RYA Youth courses). Sailing skills are not age dependant and often younger children share experience and knowledge with older ones and, of course, many participants make friends at the club (including parents).

For assisting, parents/carers should also purchase a buoyancy aid and have suitable shoes for entering the water, a hat and sunscreen.

When does Saturday Club run?

The Club runs during the summer months and for 2024 it starts on Saturday 1^st June for approx. 12 weeks until the end of August (subject to suitable volunteers). Sessions start at 9.30am and finish by 12.30pm, in time for lunch on the balcony. We operate a free online ticket system which all members can access and it is essential to pre-book (SCM log in here), you will have received login details with your membership.

How do I find out more?

All members will receive the weekly newsletter. If you would like to visit and chat about this activity or about becoming a member of the Sailing Club then in the 1^st instance please email the Saturday Club co-ordinator on saturdayclub@ncsc.org.uk or you are welcome to come and visit. To find out about the membership fees, which include this activity for free, then please do review our current membership fees available here 

If you are looking for RYA approved learning to sail courses, then we recommend you review the club’s offering here