Building legacy
A donation by Plymouth City Council to SailGP will ensure training courses and membership opportunities will be afforded to 480 young sailors.
09 August 2021
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Less than four weeks after the 2021 Great Britain Sail Grand Prix, SailGP has confirmed that Plymouth City Council has donated £20,000 (AU$37,788) to its youth sailing program.
Named Inspire, the community engagement initiative is designed to promote greater inclusivity and diversity within youth sailing, while also providing education on the significance of sustainability, in each Season 2 host city.
This donation is expected to enable approximately 480 young people in Plymouth access to RYA Sailing courses and club memberships.
It’s been reported that Horizons Plymouth Children’s Sailing Charity and Plymouth Youth Sailing were also involved in donation.
“Our youth are the future of sailing. Building sustainable foundations through meaningful partnerships such as what we’re developing in Plymouth, as the league continues to expand, is fundamentally important,” said SailGP CEO Russell Coutts.
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“We’re excited about what our Inspire programs – Learning, Careers, Racing – are cultivating. Each event across the globe uncovers new talent and brilliant young minds, furthering our approach to racing for a better future.”
Plymouth City Councillor Nick Kelly shared the sentiments stating, “It was incredibly important to us that SailGP had a wider, long-lasting impact on the community right here in Plymouth.”
“We were proud to work closely with SailGP and our key city partners to deliver such a fantastic program of activity, which has enabled more people to get out on the water, to try sailing, learn new skills and embrace all that is brilliant about Britain’s Ocean City.”
“This included our own ‘STEM GP’ event, which gave hundreds of school children the chance to enjoy an exciting day of STEM activities, all with the theme of ‘Powered by Nature’ to align with SailGP, which showcased the future career opportunities available to them.”
“Thanks to SailGP and WASZP, we have a fantastic opportunity to use the legacy boat to give young people from our local area the opportunity to learn to foil,” said Horizons Chief Executive Simon Mace said.
It’s been reported that a WASZP dinghy was donated to the Horizons program.
“Horizons will be working closely with the RYA Southwest in the coming months to identify local youngsters who are at the appropriate point in their sailing journey to give foiling a go. In the long term, it would be great to see some of these young people competing at the next UK based SailGP Inspire event.”
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