Bala Youth Squad

Youth Squad

The Youth squad on the 17th was windy! Lets hope the next one after Family week on the 21st is lighter.

Talent Contest

Stop press! Bala's first Talent Contest will be held on the 21st of August.

Family Week

The next big Club event is Family 9th-13th August. Then the Junior Cup 22nd August.

CYRC

What an incredible sight 60 juniors on the water at the BAla CYRC in April. Very close racing in all the fleets. Clicky for photos.

The results are available from Welsh Sailing. Port Dinorwic CYRC again had champagne conditions. The tide changed for races 3&4 and caught a number of sailors out! Sea sailing is a whole new dimension! Penmaenmawr on 12th June had to be relocated to Port Dinorwic due to adverse sea conditions. Roll on Brenig in September!

Year Planner

Download a spreadsheet with all the years important dates.

Junior Captains

This year Geoff Pettit and Josh Wilde will share the role of Junior Captain.

Review of the 2009

2009 has been a great year here is a video of some of the highlights

Pre Season Racing

Bala Juniors braved the freezing tempratures to take part in the New Years Day pursuit (results)at Leigh and Lowton and are also competing in the Tipsy Series. Which is the biggest winter series in the UK. It attracts a very high standard of sailor. There was 25-30 boats on the start line as the juniors start with the adults in the general handicap fleet. James Guinan was 3rd placed junior and Aled Goddard 5th! Well done both of you.

James and Aled also took place in Leigh and Lowton's winter regatta and both did well. Aled unfortunately got injured and had to retire.

Youth Squad Dates for 2010

Sat 20th March, combined with the adults “Improved Boat Handling”
Sat 10th April, WYA Open Training prior to the first CYRC event
Sat 24th April, combined with the adults “The Beat”
Sat 12th June
Sat 17th July
Sat 21st August
Sat 11th September, combined with the adults "Downwind Speed"

Junior Trophy/Cup Days

In addition to the Early and late Saturday and Sunday series. There are junior starts at all the Club’s Regattas. Don't forget the Junior Champion helm runs throughout the season.

CYRC 11th April 2010. The first date of the season long North Wales inter club youth racing circuit run by the WYA.
Owen Shaw Shield Sunday 23rd May
Pugwash Trophy 3rd-4th July
Family Week 9-13th August
Junior Cup Sunday 22nd August
Junior Open Sunday 19th September

CRYC Events 2010

Details of the WYA's North Wales Club Youth Racing Circuit (CYRC) have now been confirmed. Bala will be the first venue on 11th April. There are usually three fleets: Toppers, Optimist and General Handicap. With coaching for the regatta, or "silver", fleets the CYRC events are the perfect introduction to racing at a new venue and great introduction to sea sailing for us lake sailors. Watch the WYA website for further details. The NOR and sailing instruction can be downloaded form the link above.

Sun 10th April Bala SC
Sun 9th May Port Dinorwic
Sat 12th June Penmaenmawr SC *** Youth Squad Sea Side Outing ***
Sat 18th Sept Llyn Brenig SC incorporating North Wales Schools Sailing Championships
Sat 16th Oct Shotwick SC

Here is a video of the highlights of 2009 by the WYA

RYA North West Junior Traveller Series 2010

Date and Venue

27th March Hollingworth SC
10th April Nantwich and Borders
3rd May Budworth SC
8th May Leigh and Lowton SC
12th June Ullswater SC
19th June West Kirby SC
3rd July West Lancs SC
17th July Coniston SC
4th September Redesmere SC
2nd October Bolton SC

For further details see NWJTT website

Topper National Fixtures 2010

Dates Venue Event

20-21 Feb 2010 Rutland National Winter Regatta
17-18 Apr 2010 Datchet National Series 1
01-02 May 2010 Grafham Inlands
05-06 Jun 2010 Derwent National Series 2
10-11 July 2010 WPNSA National Series 3
17-18 July 2010 Leigh and Lowton 4.2 National Championships
01-06 Aug 2010 Pwllheli National Championships
11-12 Sep 2010 Largs National Series 4
16-17 Oct 2010 Carsington National Series 5

To enter any of the Topper national fixtures see SailRacer

Winter training has been a great success (again!) further details see Junior training Pages

Read all about the Youth Squad in the Autumn Newsletter

Congratulation to Aled Goddard for winning this years Junior Champion Helm

and to James and Aled for winning every club trophy or series between them!

Before the Bala 2009 season began a group of intrepid juniors blew the cobwebs away with a Try a Boat Day at Plas Menai.

What does this flag mean and why is it not needed at Bala?

Clue: Rule 40

What do we sail? Mainly single handers such as Toppers, but also a few double handed boats as well. Below is a selection of the classes sailed with links to the class association or manufacturer.

Topper Standard with 5.3 m2 or the smaller 4.2 m2 for lighter helms of around 35-45 kg		Laser Radial
Topper Taz		RS Feva
		The Bala Youth Squad is aimed specifically at the younger generation and welcomes all members under 18 years, (and even some over 18!) regardless of their sailing ability. Our aim is to encourage young people to get into sailing, have fun and develop their boat handling skills and confidence on the water. Youth Squad days are made up of all sorts of fun activities both on and off the water, including games, sailing practice and race training (for those that want to race). Even when we can't sail, normally due to too much or too little wind, we still find other cool things to do!!
Those not yet confident enough to sail on their own will be teamed up with the more experienced sailors who will offer guidance and help show them the ropes. As everyone knows; the more you practice… the better you get! We encourage our more ambitious “Squaddies” to join in with Saturday Club racing and put their skills into practice. There is also an opportunity to help out the race officer and learn how to organise races. Best of all…. meet up with other young people and have FUN. All we ask is that a parent or guardian must be on site at all times and they help with rigging and putting boats away as required.
		Youth Squad mornings start at 10:00hrs, with everyone changed and boats rigged so we can make the most of the day. There will be racing in the afternoon for those that want to join in. Although there is no Squad day planned for August, there will be lots to do during family week so make sure you don’t miss out.
5th March, 2010
Junior Fleet Reps Josh Wilde Boat Sailed: Topper Geoff Pettit Boat Sailed: Laser