The CYCA Youth Sailing Academy (YSA) has announced their revised season of winter training as NSW restrictions are eased following the COVID-19 pandemic. Highly regarded as the world’s leading youth sailing academy, the YSA will commence sailing on Monday 6 July 2020, in time for the school holiday period.
The CYCA has done a tremendous job in rescheduling nearly all events and courses in light of recent months’ restrictions and have created a COVIDSafe plan which will safeguard participants, parents, volunteers and staff during this unprecedented period.
For sailors aged 13-18 whose sailing experiences range from very limited to reasonably competent, their first opportunity to get back out on the water at the Club will be during the July School Holiday Course which will be conducted over four days. This will be the first time the CYCA has run this course over winter.
Following this, CYCA Winter Squads will commence on Saturday 11 July and run through to the end of September. These squads have produced National & World Champions, Rolex Sydney Hobart winners, America’s Cup champions and Olympic medallists. The three tier program caters for a variety of youth sailors.
The Talented Sailor Squad has been revised and will now run from 13 – 16 July in a similar format to a school holiday course. The CYCA coaching staff are confident this confined program will allow sailors to fast-track their keel-boat skills and potentially progress to higher squads in the same season. Additionally, the new format will ensure the club does not conflict with sailors’ dinghy programs and racing when Term 3 restarts.
“It was really important to us to offer as many of our world-leading programs as possible, while supporting our surrounding Clubs as we lead into summer. The YSA has always had a strong relationship with these dinghy Clubs, and so we have created a calendar which will allow sailors to participate across multiple disciplines,” commented Commodore Paul BIllingham.
The Development Match Racing Squad will run on Sundays from July 12 to September 27, incorporating both fleet racing and match racing disciplines. The popular program, which is designed for sailors 15-18 years of age, will provide opportunities for sailors to represent the CYCA at local, state and hopefully, national events later in the year.
Finally, the world leading Advanced Squad will run on Saturdays from July 11 to September 26 and will be open to sailors 17 – 25 years of age. The 2020 squad will be one of the strongest in recent years, having recently won back-to-back World Championships in youth match racing, and 8 national titles over the past five years. This program focuses on high performance training and results.
Squad and course information is now available online at the CYCA website here, with applications open for each squad till Friday 26 June 2020. For anyone interested in more information, please contact the Youth Sailing Academy directly
