Easter Junior Fun Days
Published 13:07 on 27 Feb 2026
Easter Fun Days announced for junior members!
At Shotwick there are three elements to our junior sailing development programme. Note any participants must be full members of the club and cannot participate as a day visitor.
1. Accompanied Saturday afternoon Junior sessions where youngsters, beginners and the more experienced, can build confidence on the water with their responsible adult, in a safe environment with safety boat cover! No age restrictions.
2. Shotwick Junior Fun Days, run by an experienced Shotwick instructor, where youngsters are dropped off at the club for a day of fun activities on and off the water. Participants must be 8 years old +.
3. More formal RYA junior training. Age 8-18.
To keep up-to-date with all Junior activities please join the club Junior Sailing Section WhatsApp group.
We outlined the aim of the accompanied sessions in a recent post. The first of these sessions will be on Saturday afternoon, 18th April. Please contact Trevor Holding for more information - again through the club Junior Sailing Section WhatsApp group.
Before the accompanied sessions start, older club juniors (min 8 years of age and must be members) have a chance to participate in several water sports fun drop-off days - Shotwick Fun Days. These will run during the Easter holidays (1st and 2nd - 8th and 9th, both Wednesday and Thursdays). Similar events will be held during the May break and Summer holidays.
The sessions are suitable for all levels of ability from complete beginners to expert (min age 8 years old) and will run from 10am until 4pm. All equipment will be provided but youngsters must bring lunch, snacks and a drink to keep them going during the day and suitable clothing, including shoes that can get wet (not crocks as they fall off), a wet suit for water-based activities and a properly fitting buoyancy aid if they have one. Any relevant medical condition or medication requirements must be notified to Jude on arrival. If you have any questions about any of this please contact Jude through the club Junior Sailing Section WhatsApp group.
With a mixture of shore-based and waterborne activities (weather and temperature permitting), the fun days will be led by experienced instructor Jude Stratton supported by other Shotwick dinghy Instructors, with assistance from club volunteers. All instructors and volunteers are DBS checked and current holders of the RYA Safe and Fun Safeguarding Certificate.
Each day will cost £10 for each of the first two children with a third child being free-of-charge. Great value for a full day of activities!
So what sort of things will be on offer? Boat (Beetle) drive; first aid sessions; knot relays; team building games moving water; rigging a boat competition; games to learn parts of a boat; paddle game; spot the rigging errors; collecting tennis balls afloat (dinghy, SUP, kayak); passing balls between boats; sailing relays; raft building; grab the tail off another boat. Something for everyone from beginner to expert!
Jude is a secondary school teacher with over 20 years of tall ships sailing supporting older teens, and has been a senior dinghy instructor (able to cover dinghy, powerboat, first-aid, VHF radio courses) for five years.
No stranger to running junior fun sessions, Jude has successfully run several week-long programmes for youngsters during school holidays.
Jude explained more about the sessions:
We carry out lots of fun activities, both on and in the water together with shore-based tasks. We always include water fights and jumping in, to develop water confidence and help youngsters trust their buoyancy aids. Onshore games include learning the parts of a boat, a hiking out challenge (with prizes!), and the most popular challenge of all, how many people can you get onto an inflatable sofa - the current record is 12! As confidence develops informal training on the water can follow, with the ever-popular capsizing competitions - averaging 15 capsizes per day…
Other activities might include: knot relays; team building games moving water; rigging a boat competition; games to learn parts of a boat; paddle game; spot the rigging errors; collecting tennis balls afloat (dinghy, SUP, kayak); passing balls between boats; sailing relays; raft building; grab the tail off another boat etc.
The days are really popular, especially with the parents as the youngsters sleep like a log most nights!
Parent feedback from previous fun sessions:
What a great session for the little ones. They looked as though they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. What a great idea.
The girls had such a good time this week cant understate how much fun they have had. You have given our youngest so much confidence on the water, she is not short of confidence on land!!!
Thank you to Jude and the Instructors. He has had a wonderful week every evening he has been full of tales of how many times he deliberately capsized What patience you all have! Thank you for making it so much fun for them.
Photo of Jude racing at Shotwick Lake.
Last updated 13:07 on 27 February 2026
