Message from Peter Hurley – Commodore of The Royal County of Berkshire Yacht Club
‘Thank you for visiting our web site to discover a little more about our yacht club. I trust that you will find the content of the web site informative enough to provide a solid insight into our ethos and activities.
We have around 120 Members with a high active membership getting out on the water each month, on their own yachts or ones that we have chartered. It is common for us to have between four to six yachts out once a month throughout the year.
Our Members are very user friendly, sociable, helpful and very welcoming. They boast a high skills set amongst them and all are willing to show new members and new sailors the practical elements of boat handling and sailing. They will instruct on the theory aspects too – helping you build upon what you already know or are keen to learn.
We are in our 15th year as a club and affiliated to the Royal Yachting Association. The club was conceived when our Founder Members were attending a local further education centre studying for Day Skipper and Coastal Skipper written and then practical qualifications. More a case of putting the theory learnt into practice out on the water! This has been our main ethos since.
Our cruising area is mostly the South of England, in the Solent and out across to The Channel Islands and France. We have organised trips to Western Scotland and The West Country and also Pembrokeshire out around Skomer Island to watch the Puffins and Seals. The yachts we charter are in the main from 35 feet up to 50 feet. The cruising area for 2009 has been expanded to include a week sailing on the south west coast of Ireland. We host numerous social events throughout the year and our members work towards several trophies and awards. We have a RYA Training Team who are able to train Members and non Members for the main RYA Certificates of Competence such as First Aid, Sea Survival, Diesel Engine, RADAR, Day Skipper Practical and Short Wave Marine Radio/GMDSS.
The best way of getting to know us better is to make a visit to one of our monthly club nights and then come out on the water with us. If you are totally new to yachting or going for your Yacht Master, we welcome all skills so do not feel that your current level of experience may exclude you – we will help you further those skills and you will meet a great bunch of individuals in the process!
On behalf of the Members, I look forward to welcoming you to The RBYC, a local Yacht Club with International Members.
Peter Hurley
Commodore
Dated July 2009
Contact The Commodore