Important Information

Please register your child. At the start of each season you are required to complete a new disclaimer for your child with up to date contact details and medical information. Registration documents can be printed from the website and your child cannot sail until this form has been completed and handed in. If you require a printed form you can collect one from the Club Office and either hand it in before the start of the season or when you bring your child to their first sailing session.

If your child has a life-threatening condition (for instance a heart problem, epilepsy, acute allergy needing an epi-pen or diabetes), please alert the WJS office leader that he/she is sailing that day. It is important that Helpers are made fully aware as we do not all recognise every child.

Your child will need some special clothing for sailing. There is a real danger of children becoming very cold if they are not suitably dressed, so anyone we judge to be inadequately dressed for the weather will not be able to sail. We are going to be much more strict on this point this year, especially with those children who we know to get very cold. This is a list of the absolute minimum clothing requirements for your child to be able to sail:

Warm outer clothing - Waterproof top - A change of clothes in case of rain or capsize - Footwear with a sole that grips even when wet

Recommended additional clothing. A wet-suit is a super buy for a keen Junior Sailor, especially if they feel the cold. Brand new wetsuits are available from only £20 from www.First-Wetsuit.co.uk or from www.twfshop.co.uk Any wetsuit is useless on its own and it must be worn with a waterproof top to stop wind-chill. Once a wetsuit gets wet the child will get very cold unless they are wearing a windproof top over it. Wetsuits with short arms and legs are virtually useless except in the hottest of weather, and the British Summer is usually quite short lived. Waterproof trousers are a very good idea as they will keep the legs warm by keeping out the wind. Dry suits are expensive and easily damaged and for this reason they are really only necessary for serious racers.

Bouyancy Aids. We have a good supply of buoyancy aids that Juniors can borrow, but there is often a queue for these and we recommend that keen Junior Sailors get their own. However do ensure that these comply with the 50 newton standard. Do not be tempted to buy one that is too large on the basis that the child will ‘grow into it’. If the buoyancy aid is too large, the child may slip out of it into the water. If you are not sure that your buoyancy aid complies, please show it to the staff in the Wednesday Sailing office. We will not let a child onto the water with a badly fitting buoyancy aid.

Long hair must be tied back so it does not pose a threat to your child’s safety. This applies to both boys and girls and again your child will not be able to go afloat without their hair tied back.

Sun Block. Burns from the sun and the wind can be very painful and dangerous. Even when it is windy and does not feel very warm, the sun can be very harmful. Please make sure that your child is well covered on sunny days and send some sun cream with them in their sailing bag.

Open wounds should be covered with a suitable dressing or plaster before sailing. In the event of a skin cut occurring during a session, a supply of plasters is kept in the Wednesday sailing office.

Mobile Phones are not allowed at Wednesday Junior Sailing. The only place for them is in the safekeeping of the WJS Office. They are not permitted in the changing rooms, even in kit bags, and they are certainly not allowed on the water or the pontoons. If your child must have a phone please ensure your child hands it to the Office staff when they sign in.

Please do not leave your children until you have made sure that the Session is running and that your child has been able to register. This is most important as numbers of children on the water are limited according to how many Helpers and Instructors have signed in. If we have insufficient Instructors, we may have to turn children away. We may also have to cancel the second session if the weather deteriorates. If you leave your child and they are not not signed in, then we have no record of them and cannot be responsible for them.