The British Keelboat Academy (BKA) is a new partnership between the RYA and UKSA. The BKA has been designed to produce a constant stream of credible and talented young keelboat sailors aged between 18 and 24. It does this by developing sailor’s confidence, self-belief and team skills through the intense challenge of high performance yacht racing.
Members of the Academy will sail regularly on both the RYA’s TP52 ‘John Merricks II’ and UKSA’s fleet of J80 keelboats. Competing in a range of events during the season, the Academy sailors will receive top class coaching on board from a variety of professional sailors. In addition to this, sailors will receive training ashore spanning subjects including winching, meteorology, navigation, racing rules, rig tuning and sail trim, with input from marine leaders and industry professionals. This year the team are working towards competing in the Round Britain and Ireland Race departing from Plymouth on the 23rd of August. Along with additional RORC offshores leading up to this event the team have a busy year ahead of them,
we hope them all the best for 2010.