Thorpe Bay Yacht Club Cadet Start of Season Update

Thorpe Bay Yacht Club Cadet Fleet © Nick Alston

Through the winter the Cadet Committee with the support of the General Committee have been busy beavering away with some exciting plans and projects for the club's cadet fleet.

TBYC Cadet Week has been fortunate to be supported by many generous sponsors over the years. This money is used to subsidise the week for members to allow them to enjoy a fun packed week of activities both on and off the water and build the cadet fund for investment for the future.

The club is in a very privileged position to have a substantial fleet for the cadets and members to use including six Picos, fourteen Oppies, two Lasers, one Feva and a brand new RS Tera, purchased approximately 18 months ago. The Picos are used throughout the season for the Cadet Training Pathway, RYA Youth Training and fun. The Oppies are a familiar sight on the shore during beach club sessions and Cadet Week. The Lasers, Feva and Tera give cadets the opportunity to try a boat before moving to a new fleet.

Wear and tear is inevitable, so I wanted to make sure that we entered the new season with the assets in the best condition possible by utilising the cadet fund which has been strengthened by our sponsors. I particularly want to thank our 2023 sponsors; IT Method – Matthew and Louise Sullivan, White and Co - Carla Kennedy, Hudson Weir, Hasib and Heeock, MWS accountants - Jon Gorridge, Dedman Gray - Mike Gray, Above Wealth - Anthony Rowland, Herve Engineering - Howard Warrington and Micheal Lloyd, Harrison Holgate - Matt Waters, Thorpe Hall School, Bay Optical - the Graves family, Estate Research - Alex Avery - as well as those who have supported us historically.

Through the cadet fund we now purchased six new suits of sails for each of the Picos, a new Tera mini sail to ease the transition from Oppie to Tera for our smaller cadets, and have taken delivery of seven brand new fully fitted out Sailqube Optimists from Xtremity.net!

Thanks go to Nick Alston for his work on the Picos and Adam Clark, Rob Graves, Tom Hanham, Mark Dell, Scott Weller and Matt Rainbow for their help to complete the Oppie project.

Due to a sizeable anonymous donation from long standing members, the club Feva has also undergone a refit over the winter, carried out by Mark Dell, including a full suit of sails, rigging check and new cover.

As the new season starts the fleet is already to go. We look forward to many happy hours on the water learning and developing skills while having fun!

See www.tbyc.org/cadets to find out more.