About the BFSLYC (in detail)

The British Federation of Sand & Land Yacht Clubs is a democratically governed body in which all member clubs participate in the running of and decision making processes for the sport of Land Sailing.

Land Sailing includes any form of wind powered wheeled craft and although most of our members sail conventional yachts there are several new types of yacht such as parakarts (kite powered buggies) and yachts using wind surfer rigs like the Speedsail.

We provide to our clubs and their individual members a range of services from Insurance to the web site, from the organization of National and International competitions to the training of novices or members of the public. We aim to provide a high level of support and assistance to our members whether it be through coaching to develop their own skills, support for club activities or representing British interests on International bodies.

We are a naturally 'green sport' being quiet and non-polluting but to ensure that the environment and others are fully protected all our clubs follow a 'Code of Practice for the Protection of The Environment'.

Twice a year we have an open meeting to which all clubs are invited to discuss the work of the BFSLYC, vote on proposals to change our rules or constitution and bring forward ideas to improve the sport. The day to day work of the Federation is then carried out by our committee of volunteers who are elected on a bi-annual basis to perform responsibilities such as National Sailing Master (Director Of Practice), training and coaching, insurance or development planning. Almost every member of the committee is an active sailor and are not just responsible for their particular area of work but are a means of transmitting the views and ideas of individual club members so that everyone has a chance to contribute to the future of our sport.

Review

Our sport has developed with support and guidance from the Sports Council.

We have many things to be proud of including our International competition record for which Britain leads the World, our home competitions, the organization of Land Yachting in Britain and the enthusiasm of our members, officers and clubs who all work together to further the sport as a whole and to support the Fed.

British yachts are one of our strengths. Our Class 5 designs are the popular standard world-wide and the design and development of 'The Fed-5' in 1991 has been valuable in providing a low cost but high performing yacht that anyone can buy or make from kit or DIY. Recent developments in Class 3 are generating new enthusiasm and even here most of the progress has come from home builders and amateur yacht designers. New types of yacht such as parakarts demonstrate Britain's continuing leading role and are helping to promote growth and widen our appeal.

Unfortunately things are not perfect, membership growth is always less than we would like and we must continue to work hard to make our sport more accessible and to retain people. We also want to improve the breadth of our appeal especially to become attractive to young people and families. We are proud of the success of our British Ladies Team but need more women sailors within the sport. In a way the success of our elite sailors has damaged the opportunities for rewarding competition amongst our rank and file members who may not have the latest equipment or for the young and the not so well off who may not be able to afford a yacht at all.

The weather is a factor in most sports but especially so for us because, "if the wind doesn't blow the land yacht won't go". Rain is less of a problem but even when the wind is up some people find that being hosed with a mixture of water and sand a put off. There is not much we can do about the weather except continue to improve yacht designs so that we can sail in an ever wider range of winds.

Weather apart, our development plans address all the above positive and negative features with a wide range of schemes; some dramatic and exciting, some just requiring hard work and effort; but all aiming to make Land Sailing a better, more accessible and enjoyable sport.

Our Future Plans

Firstly we aim to provide the right environment and facilities to make it as easy as possible to get into Land Sailing. All our clubs are pledged to provide a friendly welcome and give prospective members every encouragement. This means providing the chance to try out land sailing and thereafter to provide basic sailing and safety training up to pilot's licence standard. The Fed helps clubs through the work of the Training Officers who, with the aid of members of the British Team, will run several 'Have a go' sessions at clubs each year and provide press information and similar support for clubs' own promotional days.

New members after the initial learning stage sometimes fail to make the progress they would like. "If it was easy there would be no point", but we aim to support and encourage you, providing the help necessary to develop your skills. We offer intermediate and advanced courses and a coach development programme to ensure that coaches will be in place for further advice and training within clubs.

Most clubs have some training equipment and we hope to increase the availability of yachts with a fleet of Fed-5s and some Parakarts. These will dramatically improve our ability to help new and existing members both in the early stages for training and by providing matched racing for all levels of competitor, whether they can afford their own yacht or not. These yachts will also form an important part of our intermediate training sessions so that progress is not limited by personal equipment.

To widen our appeal

We are welcoming and encouraging new forms of land yacht and our plans also include many projects specifically aimed at special groups like young people (via schools, clubs and families), women, people with handicaps or the less well off. Many of these projects link into larger schemes such as, for instance, encouraging one design racing in our own provided 'Fed-5s'

The Competitive Success of The British Team, has been particularly good in the 1990's and we regularly expect to come home with medals for team and individual performances. This success raises our prestige and brings good publicity but even more it shows what any of our members could aspire to. Land Sailing requires skill and thought, far more than exceptional strength or fitness, and so it is not surprising to find that our Champions over recent years have ranged in age from their early twenties to late fifties and one regular member of the British Team is in his seventies.

Further Raising Competitive Standards is a constant goal and our plans cover new schemes of talent identification and development, new types of racing events, and training programmes from the grass roots upwards. The British Squad are selected on their performance in the British Championship Series each year and in the months leading to the annual European or World Championship they train together over a number of weekends in which competitors, who normally want to beat each other, pool their ideas and skill to raise the whole team standard. We strongly feel that anyone good enough to be selected to represent Britain should not be denied their opportunity to compete.

Staging International Events and other International liaison activities help develop our sport world wide and contribute to British Prestige. In 1997 Britain hosted the European Championships at Lytham St. Annes in Lancashire, and the Wirral club based at Hoylake had the honour of welcoming International pilots to 'Euro 2007' in September.

How do we pay for all this?

Our plans for the next few years are split into different areas and each needs a different approach to cover their costs. For instance routine services that every member should expect, such as insurance and the running of Championship regattas are all now self-funding through fees etc. (Don't, however, think that this means that your membership will be expensive because we aim to be extremely efficient in our services and most of the work is done by volunteer labour.)

Mike Hampton.