Sailing
Whether you consider yourself a casual, social or competitive sailor Scaling Dam offers fantastic opportunities to realise your passion for sailing. Our wide range of support programmes cater for your needs.
- Try our Get into Sailing Taster Sessions Getting Started Page
- Is gaining internationally recognised accreditations your goal? RYA Courses Page
- Improve your skills through Social Sailing Sessions & Development Coaching Social Sailing Page
- Sharing Joys of Sailing with children and adults with disabilities Sailability Page
- Youth And Junior provides family fun and chance to improve sailing skills Youth and Junior
- Club Racing is very popular with members and SDSC provides opportunity for Open Days and Fleet Development Support
- Sailcamp A week of unforgettable fun
Social Sailing
As a social section, we welcome all manner of water craft including wind surfers, canoes and kayaks. Whether you consider yourself a casual, social or competitive sailor Scaling Dam offers fantastic opportunities to realise your passion for sailing. Social sailing is all about sharing that passion and could include comparing notes and technique over a pizza at the Friday Night club, trying out others boats, a relaxing Saturday cruise with a picnic lunch on the shore or sharing the water with the racers, while marvelling at their antics, on Sunday afternoon.
The most popular times for social sailing are Friday evenings and Saturdays, and additional social sailing activities are often arranged for the Saturday of Trophy Weekends. Details of these can be found in the annual program, with additional information provided on the website and club calendar links as each date approaches. The water is also open for social sailing during all racing sessions, however we do ask that you stay clear of the start area during start sequence (when lights are displayed in the race box on shore) to avoid confusing the race officers.
Racing
The SDSC race programme runs from the beginning of March to the end of November and includes both multi-week race series and one off Trophy events. Racing is mainly held on Sundays and Wednesday evenings, with occasional special events on Saturdays.
The majority of our races are open to all entrants, although class races (generally held in the afternoons) are segregated by boat types & PY handicap numbers. Within the club series racing and Trophy events prizes may also be awarded in the following categories:
Junior Under 13 on 1 st March
Youth Under 20 on 1 st March & not qualifying as a Junior.
Master Over 60 on 1 st March
Novice not won a series or trophy and has been a member in excess of one full season
(NB Junior and Youth categories for trophy eligibility are not related to membership categories)
The racing calendar is divided into 4 main sections: the March Series, the Summer series which runs from the beginning of April to the early July, followed by the Autumn series running to the end of October and lastly the Freezer Series which runs from the end October and November. The Wednesday evening series starts after the clocks change in early April and runs to the third week of September. Sailors need to complete 40% of the available races in a series to qualify and series prizes and trophies are awarded at the end of season prize giving and party.
A number of Trophy events are held throughout the year with normally one trophy weekend per month. Details of these can be found in the annual program, with additional information provided on the website and club calendar links as each date approaches. The water is also open for social sailing during all racing sessions.
Sailability
We operate as part of the Royal Yachting Association´s Sailability initiative bringing the exhilaration, self reliance and freedom that sailing brings to all people.
We also work closely with the North Yorks Moors National Park's Sustainable Development programme whose advice and financial assistance has allowed us to enhance the sailing opportunities for people with learning difficulty or disability.
We can mix & match gentle cruising, hands on sailing or formal training to suit individual needs and welcome groups or single participants. Parents and/or carers are welcome to share the experience.
We supply essential safety equipment but visitors need to wear clothing suitable for a cool and rainy day. We have a dedicated changing/shower/toilet facility for our disabled participants.
We like to recognise achievement with award of certificates, particularly with youngsters and, as a recognised RYA Training Centre, can deliver training to internationally recognised standards. We are qualified to transfer sailors with our certified hoists and set high standards in safety and protection of vulnerable persons.
Our active season is April to September inclusive. Our regular sailing times are Wednesday afternoons and Sunday mornings but other times are possible with prior arrangement. We welcome those who seek a single ´taster´ session but are delighted to help those who wish to sail regularly and improve their skills and confidence. Sailability prides itself in its inclusive policy with disabled sailors able to sail alongside able-bodied sailors on equal terms. Scaling Dam welcomes a growing membership of disabled sailors.
Youth & Junior Sailing
The club provides a range of activities for youth & junior sailors ranging from Learn to Sail programs and family days with camping through to advanced race coaching for our more experienced sailors. Sailing is one of the few sports where young people can compete successfully on a level basis against Adults. We encourage our young sailors to race so that they may join in with main club races. There are races on Wednesday nights and Sundays, with special awards given for results by Y&J sailors.
Youth & Junior sailors are encouraged to take part in the 12 o'clock Race Series - General handicap race on Sunday's (2 April - 22 October). Youth & Junior results from this series count towards the "12 o'clock trophy" with an award to the overall winner as well as "Youth Plate" - leading Youth and "Junior Plate" - leading Junior.
There are two main parts to the Y&J calendar, these are the Y&J Saturdays and Sailcamp.
Youth and Junior Saturdays take place on the Saturday of each of our monthly Trophy weekends. These start with shore based games, followed by on the water games and training for improving sailors. In the afternoon there are racing activities supported by on the water RYA qualified coaches and instructors. The evenings generally include family activities or a wider club social with some members choosing to camp at the club. Youth & Junior sailors are always encouraged to join the Trophy Event on the Sunday, with Y&J prizes available. For less confident sailors there are often opportunities to crew for some of the more experienced racers during the event.
Sailcamp is a residential (camping) watersports activity-based week for up to forty 8-16 year old club members. It lasts from Sunday through to the following Saturday morning held early in the school summer holidays. During the week, the first four days revolve around sail-training, based on the range of junior RYA training courses, including Learn to Sail, Racing, and Sailing with Spinnakers/Seamanship. Mon-Thurs are spent sailing and team games, with Friday spent doing other fun activities.
Sailcamp is a great opportunity for both children and their parents to get really involved in the club and get to know a large proportion of the membership. Application forms and details about Sailcamp go out with the membership renewal forms in the New Year, but late applications will be considered where places are available.
RYA Training Courses
As an RYA Recognised Training Centre, Scaling Dam has a comprehensive training programme in place to provide progression for people to continually improve their skills in the areas they wish to. More details are available on the 'Training' page (see link top right of page).
