RQYS MAINSHEET 2025

Youth Advisory Sub-Committee report

Young sailors develop keener insights Not everyone can — nor aspires to — be an Olympian, and there’s no shortage of other sailing career prospects! The recently formed Youth Advisory Sub-Committee (YASC) has begun 2025 by investigating the drop-out of Youth Squad Members as they become young adults, working with RQYS Membership Manager Alicia Soszynski to gain insights into the Squadron’s membership database and identify potential retention opportunities.

Working with figures and reviewing membership data from numerous years has opened discussions about initiatives to prolong Young Adult membership retention at RQYS. The YASC team has been meeting and developing programs that work to expose young Members to more diverse opportunities that are available at the Squadron. Some goals of the YASC are to mentor young sailors into knowing that there is a diverse range of opportunities available at RQYS — from inshore and offshore yacht racing to power boat navigation (‘Log’) events and on to different professional careers in the marine industry. YASC members know only too well that the cost of self-funded sailing can be a big limitation to young adult participation in the sport. With this in mind, we have worked to develop a Social Training Program for the 2025–26 141st Sailing Season which looks to offer low-cost training options in the RQYS Sailing Academy Elliott 6 training boats on Friday afternoons. This program aims to not only provide a more affordable means of sailing but also looks to upskill sailors through small keelboat skills to be able to progress into wider yachting programs. Social Training will also seek to provide networking opportunities for owners to interact with potential crews and, once young sailors are confident with their abilities, they can progress into more crewing for race teams.

The Social Training concept proved popular in its initial trial towards the end of the previous sailing season so, with some learned adjustments, will make a resurgence to kick off the new Season! In June, YASC hosted a Topic Talk on ‘Careers in Sailing’ in the Auditorium. The evening walked guests through the opportunities that can become available in sailing by working as a tradesperson in the industry. YASC greatly appreciated our guest speakers Chris Anderson (Yacht Rigger and owner of Rope Solutions Rigging Services ) and Stacey Jackon (Sailmaker and owner of NautiBags and 27 South Ocean Training ) for delivering a really inspriring evening on where their trades have taken them professionally. From sailing in multiple Rolex Sydney- Hobart Races to crewing on yachts in Europe, or completing multiple laps of the world in The (formerly Volvo) Ocean Race, there were many eye-opening stories on where a hobby can take you into a career. North Sails’ Asia-Pacific multihull specialist Ben Kelly was unfortunately unable to make the evening, however he took time to record and deliver a video on his career and how a sail is created from scratch at North Sails.

YASC Chair Hayden Barney hosts the Topic Talk

This provided great insights of the design-to-production process of a sail and offered young sailors ideas on how to become part of the sail-making industry and work with clients internationally. All-round, the evening delivered many perspectives on where sailing can take someone without Olympic aspirations or world-leading achievements. All the presenters have vast backgrounds in sailing and haven’t chased the Olympic pathway to get there. YASC has also been looking into Youth and Young Adult membership events, including post-race BBQs, ‘Intro to Log We will continue to work towards these and other initiatives into the future and look forward to working with Squadron Members more broadly — so, if you have any ideas around youth or young adult sailing, please email the YASC team at: YASC@rqys.com.au n Event’ information sessions and a ‘Young Adults in Sailing Ball.’

Mainsheet 2025

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Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Yearbook