2001 October
Senior Instructor Course.
From
the 15 to 19 of October 2001,
I attended a 5 day RYA Senior Instructors course at the National Sport
Centre, Cumbrae . Since 1993 I have organised and delivered basic training
and race coaching to Juniors at my local club and latterly with the North
of Scotland Sailing Squad. I decided to do the SI course to consolidate
this experience, learn new skills and obtain the appropriate qualification.
The residential course run by Sport Scotland, was intensive and rewarding.
Sessions started at 09:30 and often finished after 21:30. The staff and
facilities were well matched to the job, while the prospective SI's were
able to share knowledge from a broad background of instructing.
Competent and enthusiastic Coach / Assessors, David and Charlotte delivered
the course with a practical emphasis. Primarily they set the objectives
and we had to make plans, manage the Students, Instructors and Rescue
team as well as arrange all equipment for the exercises.
The wind blew Force 4 to 5 all week, except for a brief respite on Thursday. We sailed a variety of well maintained state of the art performance and training boats. Our boat handling skills were tested in Laser 4000 with asymmetric and trapeze, in both helm and crew positions.
Rudderless sailing in Sport 16's and racing in Laser 1's enabled us to demonstrate the range of our skills. But it was the little Pico's soap-dish decks that caused most embarrassment - several of us slipped out while gybing in the waves coursing up the Firth of Clyde.
We prepared on and off the water activities to show our organisational
skills. In these, we took turns to run the sessions while the remaining
group acted as students and provide critical feedback.
The time allotted to brief, deliver and debrief on the water sessions was progressively reduced from 3/4 hr to 1/2 hr. It drove us to greater degrees of focus and minimal waffle. Though most of the time we were to exhibit our existing skills, we were given continuous valuable coaching and presentations on the new RYA Dinghy Scheme and the Role of the SI.
We joined students from the RYA Dinghy Instructor Course, to plan and deliver activities as teams in our prospective roles. The Race Training, Regatta and Team Racing we did for 16 "Clients", with 3/4 hour notice, were great fun and surprisingly slick. Adding pain to gain, during the Racing a Laser lost control and ran into my back. Thanks to my buoyancy aid, I got away with a colourful bow shaped bruise.
A written assessment
on the Thursday night was a "tell us what you know and justify your
answer" type paper. night.
The topics covered Child Protection and Centre Management as well as RYA Syllabus and Course Planning. A welcome pint in Millport followed, prior to a very welcome early night.
On Friday morning the sailing came to an enjoyable and exhilarating finish with a Round the Island blast in Dart 16's.
After lunch we had our final
individual interviews where I learned that I had successfully met the
requirements of "RYA Senior Instructor".
I would recommend the course and venue to any active sailors who want
to consolidate their years of instructing and help to manage the generation
of tomorrow's sailors.