Our friends at Avalon Sailing Club are having a fund-raiser called “All Decked Out” to raise the balance of the monies they need to replace the extended decking area around the club which is badly in need of renewal. On Saturday the 2nd of May from 5 yo 7pm come and have a drink and listen to talks by club patron Iain Murray (among other things Director of the next America’s Cup), North Sails CEO Michael Coxon and Mark Richards (Skipper of Wild Oats) with Rob brown (OAM) the host.
Avalon Sailing Club is active in the local community and enjoys a high profile with local schools, learn to sail groups, sailing camps, not for profit community groups and the like. The purpose of the club is “Fostering the encouragement promotion and teaching and above all enjoyment of sailing on the waters of Pittwater.”’ The key values which have been used to guide the strategic plan are: safety, fun, inclusiveness, family involvement and an informal, volunteer culture where lending a hand and having a go is what keeps the club alive. Avalon Sailing Club has an extensive junior sailing program, with the Sunday morning ‘Blue’ group for children 7-10 years old; a ‘Red’ group for those developing their skills; and Sunday afternoon ‘gold’ races are for the more experienced juniors. Coaching is performed by experienced teenage instructors, in conjunction with an adult mentor. There are over 100 sailors in our centreboard fleet, the large majority of them aged 16 and under. Sailing is a sport in which boys and girls can be equally competitive. Our junior sailing program has a very even number of participants and level of competition. Sailing is also a sport that is very appropriate to different levels of physical activity. Avalon Sailing Club has a variety of types of sailing: dinghy/skiff sailing appropriate to very able-bodies people; through to yacht cruising which is suited to less able people. The club recently constructed a new entry ramp to the clubhouse to allow for disabled access.