Scottish Keelboat Academy 

The Scottish Keelboat Academy is a partnership of RYA Scotland and Edinburgh Leisure's Port Edgar Sailing School. The programme provides keelboat training and a regional feed into the national keelboat programme run by the British Keelboat Academy.

The Scottish Keelboat Academy is aimed at 16-24 year old sailors. Whether you are an experienced dinghy sailors who wants to make the transition into keelboats, or existing keelboat sailors who want to develop your skills this programme is for you.

This training is also used by the British Keelboat Academy as a regional feed into their programme. Regular updates and additional information is posted on FaceBook.

The intention behind the SKA is to:

 - Provide a performance pathway for young aspiring keelboat sailors

- Generate talented young sailors, through mentoring and coaching, to help the lopng term sustainability of Scottish yacht racing

- Provide professional and high level coaching to all SKA members

Shorebased training is also on offer to Academy members this year, with the chance to do the RYA Sea Survival/ ISAF Offshore Safety course, and the RYA First Aid course.

Members of the Academy will receive access to: On the water training weekends, GMDSS/ DSC course, Free access to 707s for events and training (by prior arrangement), Access to SKA branded GILL uniform (thanks to GILL for their support of this programme) and mentoring and coach support at events.

August 25-26

Do you want to receive quality coaching and training from RYA Keelboat coaches and leading sailors?  Would you like to access a range of top keelboats as crew or even run your own campaign?  The Scottish Keelboat Academy can help reach those goals with a package of training , mentoring, equipment benefits and access to an extensive network of Keelboat owners

looking for top class crew. 

The Scottish Keelboat Academy has its next open training weekend on the 25/26 August.  If you are 16 – 21 and have experience in Keelboat racing or at club level dinghy racing then this may be exactly what you are looking

for.   

For more information please contact us on 0131 331 3330 or bookings.pem@edinburghleisure.co.uk.

First Level 2 Keelboat Coaches Course in Scotland!

Towards the end of March Port Edgar Watersports Centre played host to the first Keelboat Coaches’ Course to be run in Scotland. Demand for qualified coaches is growing north of the border, driven by the success of the British Keelboat Academy’s Regional Squad, the Scottish Keelboat Academy; an increase in 707 racing in the East from Banff to the Forth; and a continued appetite from raceboat owners.

With the forecast set for perfect sunbathing conditions, sailors from across Scotland descended on Port Edgar hoping for enough wind to put the centre’s 707s through their paces. Running the course was RYA Coaching Development Officer Mike Hart, assisted for the first part of the course by David Frame from SportScotland Cumbrae and Callum Calder, Scottish Keelboat Academy Coach.

The aims of the Keelboat Race Coach Level Two course are in line with the well-established dinghy coaches’ course which has produced many qualified coaches across Scotland in recent years. At a slightly longer length the keelboat course tackles the added complexities and logistics associated with running training for keelboats which can range in size and speed from the two-man flying fifteens up to fifty-foot raceboats and their large crews.

The first morning of the course was spent looking at the coaching process and structuring sessions, broken up by a very welcome shakedown sail. All were keen to make the most of a gentle easterly breeze running up the Forth, although nobody was complaining about the unseasonably warm weather and bright sunshine. The afternoon passed in a flurry of exercises as each candidate ran a practical session out on the water, with expert feedback from Mike and David. As the breeze began to die away towards the evening, competitive natures were well evident as the boats fought their way back to the marina against a fast-running ebb tide. Sadly this was to be the only day on the water as thick fog and light breezes dominated the remainder of the long weekend.

For the rest of the course Mike covered an array of different subjects, from effective video analysis to planning and tailoring race training programmes. All the sailors felt well tested on their ability to plan and run creative shore-based sessions; with rules exercises shuffling Fevas around the dinghy park to blind-folded kite-hoists looking at communication skills, they proved their coaches’ toolboxes were sufficiently weatherproof!

In spite of the conditions, the course covered an impressive range of topics and the discussion-based format kept things lively with fresh ideas on familiar themes. All the newly qualified coaches are eagerly anticipating getting out on the water this season and putting their skills into practice.