Junior sailing
Training
The Club offers a comprehensive junior training programme, covering the full range of RYA courses. Training uses the RYA syllabus with Club-appointed RYA-qualified instructors. Juniors start on the millpond (Martlets) and work their way up to sailing in the harbour, combining formal training with practice time on the water, fun with their friends, race coaching and club racing. Juniors can progress to becoming RYA dinghy instructors themselves.
Providing every opportunity to enjoy time on the water is at the heart of our junior sailing at ESC.
Martlets
The Club's junior training starts with a programme known as 'Martlets', which runs from the Easter break, for children aged 7 (Year 2) or older.
COW week
The aim of Children on Water (COW) week is to bring our junior sailors of all ages together to consolidate sailing skills and boost confidence, whilst having fun on the water and exploring the harbour. Older juniors, using the skills that they have gained at the Club, help to encourage the younger sailors. It is a week which we hope will be enjoyed by all juniors and their parents, whilst enhancing our juniors' sailing skills and building friendships. Parents are expected to be present and to provide shore and patrol boat cover (PB2 qualification required) during the week. COW week is hugely popular and is therefore only open to ESC members.
Time on the Tide
A series of events over the course of the year, aimed at those juniors who are at least Stage 3 competent, who want to improve their skills and have fun on the water, but who are not ready for, or interested in, racing.
In addition to the programmed events, we may also hold an annual down-harbour trip to East Head, a watersports day and a swimming regatta - please keep an eye on the Weekly Roundup and online programme.
Junior racing
All juniors are welcome to join Club races subject to individual race rules. There are different series of racing to suit all abilities from Improve Martlets onwards, introducing juniors to racing in the harbour around fixed marks and laid inflatable marks. There will be experienced support for these events, but parents are also expected to volunteer for shore and patrol boat cover.
The Will Acres Trophy is aimed at juniors wanting to get more racing experience. The series will feature several short back-to-back races. Racing will start from a committee boat, and race around inflatable laid marks. There will be fleet starts, though the Race Officer may vary this depending on numbers. The aim is to improve racing and handling skills over short courses.
The Club has an annual Junior Regatta run alternately by ESC and ESSC, as well as Junior Race Week along with three Junior Champoinship weeks during the season.
Relevant Club racing events
Our older and more experienced juniors participate in the full range of Club races. In addition, a number of the Club racing series are particularly appropriate to and welcoming of junior participation:
Short Harbour - these races are run on the same day as the main Club races, on a much shorter course that is closer to the Club. A great opportunity for developing juniors to start getting an experience of racing.
Blois Johnson - these Club races are held on summer evenings and as theye tend to be shorter than the normal Club races, they can be more suitable for juniors.
The Aldora Vase - this Emsworth Cup has had many guises over the decades, and is currently run as short racing in front of the Club around inflatable marks, designed as an introduction to racing.
The Coronation Cup and Coronation Mug - these races are open to families racing in the same boat.
The Emsworth Oyster - the only qualification for this race is that the total age of the crew in the boat must exceed 100 years!