20 November 2025
It has been an Ambition of ours for the last three years to ‘Keep the Magic’ by investing in and developing our whole team, from core staff to our fantastic volunteers.
Nine volunteers took part in Mate training courses - RYA Watch Leader and RYA Competent Crew - in October to develop their sailing skills, seven of whom were young people we supported after treatment.
Some will now progress from acting as Crew Leaders on trips to Mates, assisting the Skipper and ensuring the safety of the crew and young people on board, while some will continue their training with the RYA Watch Leader course next year. All of them will take part in a skills refresher ahead of next summer’s season. This development means more Crew Leader spaces will be available, making it possible for even more young people to return as volunteers when the time is right.
Mate training helps strengthen our team while providing volunteers with sailing qualifications that benefit them in their own lives as well as when on the water with young people.
It also provides the opportunity to increase diversity amongst the volunteer pool, including addressing a gender imbalance. Typically, our volunteers with sailing experience skew male, but all bar one of the volunteers who took part in last month's training were female.
This is so important: if young people don't see themselves represented in our team, they won't feel like we are for them.
Vic was part of the group who was taught last month by Skipper Becky, our Deputy Operations Manager and much-loved face from our sailing season.
She said: “Knowing I can be part of making a young person’s trip safe and fun as a Mate on board means the world to me. My goal is to one day have my Day Skipper, so this course is a step towards where I want to be.
“As someone who has been turned down multiple times from sailing schools due to my medical conditions, having the opportunity to take on such an important role meant so much to me.
“Becky was an amazing Skipper! She really supported us all and gave me the confidence to ask questions, make mistakes, and learn not only from her, but from each other.”
Krissi Cartright-Riley, Volunteer and Team Development Manager, said: “It is so vital to have a flexible and versatile volunteer community which means our teams on trips are geared up to have the biggest impact possible on young people.
“Being able to run this course means we get to work with volunteers who already know and understand what we do, and provide them with opportunities to improve their sailing and gain qualifications which they might not be able to access otherwise.
The training took place between 6 -15 October from our bases in East Cowes and Largs, and was delivered by our long-term Skippers Becky and Andy.
A big thanks goes to the Royal Yachting Association and UK Sail Training for helping us arrange and deliver the courses.