Youth Sailing
Ely has a dedicated group of sailing cadets (18 and under) and sailing families. Cadets are welcome to participate in all social and racing sailing sessions, including trophy races. One of the joys of sailing is that young and older can sail and compete alongside one another. We actively encourage cadets and their adults to come and give sailing a try.
The club runs RYA Youth training courses with Stage 1 and 2 courses running every year. Cadets will learn to sail in Topper dinghies. We have a fleet of 8 Toppers available to rent. Once a cadet has outgrown a Topper they tend to progress to Laser dinghies.
Our cadets are friendly and approachable and always happy to give new sailors a helping hand.
Thursday Evening Novice Racing
Thursday evening novice racing is open to all members of the club and is very popular with our cadets. At these sessions we run some friendly races around a simple course. The idea is to get sailors to progress the skills that they have learnt on the Stage 1 and 2 course by sailing in all directions relative to the wind. It's a great opportunity for parents and guardians to get involved too; help rig the boats and learn a bit more about what goes on. There's usually more experienced sailors on the water who'll help the novices, as well as advice from the safety boat. Even if your cadet isn't competitive or doesn't fancy racing we still encourage them to take part as they will really advance their skills.
We do run a cup series for Thursday evenings; in fact there's 2 trophies to be won, one for the first half of the season and another for the second. If a sailor has already won a series then they won't qualify for winning another, but they can still take part.
George Washington Cup
We also run a novice cup event; the George Washington Cup. This is open to any sailor in the club who hasn't previously won a cup event. The cup comprises 3 races with 2 to count. This year it's on: Saturday 26th September. I'd encourage all of our cadets who've not previously won a club event to take part.
Sunday Racing
If your cadet enjoys racing then we recommend that they take part on Sunday afternoons at the club. All of the series and cup events have a cadet prize to win.
Youth League
Throughout the season a team of our cadets take part in the Cambridgeshire Youth League, with 5 separate events at each of the county's sailing clubs; Cam, Grafham, Ely, Paxton and Hunts. It's a great opportunity to represent the club and sail in a different location. Any cadet is welcome to enter, with the series very much focussed on encouraging new sailors. Ely SC permits cadets to use club boats at Youth League events and we have trailers to get them there which can be borrowed.
In the past couple of years we've had some great success at both the individual and team level. You can see the current series results and standings on the Cambridgeshire Schools and Youth Sailing Association website:
https://youthleague.csysa.org.uk/index.php
NSSA National Youth Regatta
The National Schools Sailing Association regatta is a large annual event usually in the first week of the school summer holidays. Teams from schools and counties from across the country take part. The event is at a different location each year, including Bassenthwaite (Lake District), Rutland and Deal.
The Ely cadets join Team Cambridgeshire, racing with sailors from the other clubs that they've got to know at the Youth League. They camp for the week with a team of adults looking after them. Parents and guardians do not stay with them. The regatta runs a number of different fleets according to boat class, and includes a "Regatta Fleet" for novices which includes coaching each day. This is organised by CSYSA and it is necessary to become a member in order to take part
The cadets who've attended this event have had a great time. Sailing for 5 days in a row, developing their skills and making new friends.
More info and entry details are on the CSYSA website: https://csysa.org.uk/index.php
WhatsApp Parents group
The club has a WhatsApp group for cadet's parents and guardians. If you're not a sailor it can be daunting getting involved, especially rigging a boat. If you have any questions there's always someone who'll be glad to help, just send a message. We also share information about events such as the Youth League. You can find a QR code for joining the WhatsApp group on the information pillar.
Last updated 21:46 on 10 June 2026