Juniors

The club has a long and established record of encouraging and developing young sailors through fun sailing programs for all ages and abilities. So whether you're child has never set foot in a dinghy before, or whether they are already in to racing we are certain that South Staffs will provide a safe, exciting and inspiring environment to nurture their interest.

At SSSC we offer sailing dinghy training to the RYA syllabus to maximise the enjoyment and safety of sailing over the achievement of the highest possible sailing performance. However the club is blessed with a highly skilled sailing membership including several past national and world champions that will gladly offer tips and advice to the more advanded sailors.

Junior training is included with membership, and runs from April-October on a Sunday morning (excluding school holidays). The most important requirement is to have fun, and there are a number of themed sessions throughout the year, but we are also an RYA Recognised Training Centre and therefore have the facilities, equipment and team of qualified Assistant Instructors, Dinghy Instructors and Senior Instructors to enable us to deliver courses on the Youth Sailing Scheme for both single and double handed sailing dinghies, breaking down the skills required for competent and confident sailing into specific levels.

All our courses are a combination of classroom, onshore practical, and on-the-water sessions, and are delivered by qualified instructors overseen by an RYA Senior Instructor, and all take place in a range of appropriate boats.

For younger sailors, the Optibat or Oppie (the rotomoulded variant of the the Optimist) is a sprit rigged single-handed dinghy and at just under 8 foot long it suits sailors aged 6-14, 25-45kg. It is an excellent boat for the young beginner due to its simplicity and durability but still retains all the performance and components needed to effecively teach the basics of sailing. For older juniors the Topper is an 11 foot single-handed sailing dinghy. Constructed from polypropylene, it is lightweight and robust making it ideal as a training boat for sailors aged 11+, 40-60kg. It has all the performance and components needed to effecively teach the all the elements of single-handed sailing. The Topper is raced at SSSC as a Youth class boat. For instructor demos the Mirror is an 11 foot sailing dinghy, that is of either fibreglass or wood construction with either a gaff or bermudan rig. It is a small robust boat with all the performance and components to make it ideal for young sailors learning to helm or crew a double-handed boat. The Mirror is raced at SSSC as a Youth class boat.

Last updated 14:26 on 24 April 2025