All BSC cadet events are supported by unpaid helpers. To make the events run smoothly we need a range of adult helpers to make sure we can maximise the time sailing. The following are examples of roles we have available. When registering your cadets for an event we will ask you what duty you would prefer and we do our best to meet your request but cannot guarantee. Some roles need specific skills or are by invitation only. 

Cadets of primary school age must have a responsible adult on site at all times. Cadets above this age but under 16 do not need an adult but must have a designated guardian on site. We can find volunteer helper roles for all adults, even if they are not sailors themselves!

Galley  

Training weekends are non catered i.e. we expect all cadets to bring their own lunch. However, we do serve hot drinks, biscuits and cake at the end of the day (cake supplied by the cadets)

Cadet Week is a catered event. We supply lunch (sandwiches) everyday and a hot evening meal most nights. We also supply food for all the adult helpers during the week. As we are catering for nearly 200 people for a week we need a large group of helpers to make this happen

This is the one role where no sailing knowledge is required, and there is usually a good social side to working in the galley with lots of breaks

Lake

As our cadets on the lake are new to sailing we rely on adult helpers to move boats around on the side of the lake and help with launching

• The role requires adults to get wet up to the waist, so a wetsuit or waders are required
• Other roles including catching the boats when they come back in and helping crew the safety boats
• We tend to split parents up from their cadets so if you have a cadet on the lake we will put you in another role
• If you want to become an instructor or assistant instructor the lake is the place to start

Patrol Boats

All RYA based training at BSC complies with the RYAs recommended ratios for sailors to safety cover, we will usually have at least two large ribs, 4 mini ribs and the launch out to cover sailing, we need crew for the following roles

Helms – all helms must have their PB2 qualification and be listed on the club’s list of designated drivers. Helms must have experience of doing patrol boat duty and recovering boats and crew. New helms will be placed with experienced helms as crew to help develop their skills

Crew – Patrol boat crew do not need to have PB2 qualification, but do need to be prepared to get wet and may have to enter the water if we have an entrapment, the role does involve physical activity and some knowledge of sailing is an advantage

Ramp

To help river sailors launch we assign a group of parents to help launching on the ramp

Duties include helping get boats down the ramp, holding boats in the water while cadets do final rig checks, recovering and stacking trollies, catching boats when they come back in

Ramp Volunteers will need to be prepared to get wet at least up to the waist so waders or wetsuit are required

Cadet Administration

We assign volunteers to carry out some 'behind the scenes' tasks in support of the the Hon. Cadet Skipper. Some examples include:

• Setting up and managing event registrations
• Record keeping for training progress & certification
• Cadet Trophy management
• Cadet Treasurer

Bridge

The Bridge runs the racing during cadet week. Their duties include

• Race Briefings
• Setting Race Courses
• Running Race Starts
• Recording Times
• Recording Results
• Tallying Boats on and off the water
• Eating Cake / Drinking Wine (afterwards!)

If you’re interested in joining the team get in touch to find out more

Instructors

• All BSC instructors are RYA approved
• They all have significant experience of dinghy sailing at the club and elsewhere
• The qualification involves completing a 6 day course with a pre-assessment of their sailing ability and a final assessment by an independent assessor

Assistant Instructors

• Assistant instructors do not need to complete a course but are assessed  by the club’s senior instructor as being capable of supporting an instructor in delivering an RYA course
• Assistant instructors need to be experienced dinghy sailors and be capable of interacting and teaching young children

Coaches

• Our RYA approved coaches need to complete a two day RYA coaching course
• They need to have significant experience of dinghy racing in single and double handers
• Once approved they can lead one of our race coaching groups
• BSC runs one coaching course and an instructors course every other year. Assistant instructors can be endorsed by the Senior Instructor during a training event.
• Attendance on these courses is by invitation only