Glossop Sailing Club win Activate Your Laser Fleet Innovation Award

by Susie Nation-Grainger on 11 Aug 2010 Glossop Sailing Club in Derbyshire has won the first ever Activate Your Laser Fleet Award for Innovation. Thanks to their inventive plans and ideas, the club will spend a day with Olympic, World and European Laser title holder, Skandia Team GBR’s Paul Goodison, who is ambassador of the ‘Activate’ scheme.

Katie Ashworth, Marketing Manager at LaserPerformance explains: 'We asked ‘Activators’ to apply for the Innovation Award by telling us about the different methods that they have used at their clubs to get Laser out of the boat park and back on the water. It’s been great to see how the different clubs have approached the Activate challenge and we had some outstanding entries.'

The winning ideas from Glossop Sailing Club include hosting activity, training and racing days and awarding those who attend with raffle tickets. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the season with the star prize being a brand new Laser sail. They have also set up LaserBeam, a short and simple weekly newsletter and have appointed a Laser Fleet Captain.

Glossop Sailing Club Captain David Worth says: 'We are delighted to have won the completion. There’s no doubt that the 'Activate' programme has really created some momentum at the club and we’re sure will encourage even more participation in club racing'.
'We’re looking forward to Paul Goodison coming along to inspire us with some on and off the water ‘Laser Training for the Fleet and would especially think our junior sailors would benefit from his expertise.'

Set up by LaserPerformance, the UKLA and the RYA, the ‘Activate Your Laser Fleet’ programme was launched to increase adult participation in sailing by reinvigorating activity in the number of under used Laser fleets across the country.

Paul Goodison will be visiting Glossop Sailing Club in the autumn.

If you would like to know if your club has been invited or if you would like your club to be invited to next year’s workshops please email Tzaneen Mears at the RYA, tzaneen.mears@rya.org.uk

For more information, please go to: www.rya.org.uk