HRH princess Anne meets with young people who have taken part in the National Citizenship Service (NCS) at UKSA.

Staff, students and ambassadors of UKSA have enjoyed another busy Lendy Cowes Week thanks to a visit from the charity’s Patron Princess Royal, the launch of five dinghies sponsored by local businesses and an afternoon of fun racing with UKSA Ambassadors Helena Lucas MBE and Dee Caffari MBE.

UKSA’s CEO Ben Willow and Chair of Trustees William Garnett welcomed Princess Anne to the maritime training centre on Tuesday morning and Her Royal Highness enjoyed a tour of the site, viewing the plans for a proposed capital works programme to improve the site for its 10,000 users a year.

UKSA’s staff and students then met with Her Royal Highness and discussed the academy’s charitable work including youth development work, such as the National Citizenship Service (NCS) and the Aberdeen Asset Management Confidence Masterclass, both delivered at UKSA, and met with graduates who have been supported locally by the Royal Yacht Squadron Foundation.

UKSA CEO Ben Willows said: “We were delighted to welcome our Patron to UKSA to explain our ambitious plans for the future. We are dedicated to providing our students and the local community with the best possible experience at UKSA. It was a pleasure introducing Her Royal Highness to our staff and students and they all thoroughly enjoyed meeting her.”

The afternoon saw a change in pace as UKSA welcomed local business people, the Isle of Wight’s MP Bob Seely, UKSA Trustees and Ambassadors onto the maritime training centre’s two largest yachts: 65 foot Farrs Albatross and Whirlwind.

Skippering Whirlwind was UKSA Ambassador and graduate Dee Caffari MBE, who welcomed crew including WightAID’s Geoff Underwood and Pete Tyler of Neilson Holidays, who work closely with UKSA to train staff for their watersports and yachting facilities across the Mediterranean.

Also on board with Dee were Young Ambassadors Dan Wentzel and Geenola Gardner. Dan completed the NCS programme at UKSA and will now be working closely with other students when they complete the same course. Geenola, from Birmingham, recently completed the Aberdeen Asset Management Confidence Masterclass programme at UKSA.

Dee said: “I always love returning to where it all started for me: UKSA. It was fun to be out on the water and see the Young Ambassadors enjoy the sport I love. It was nice to see the smiles on the faces of the youngsters as they experienced some big boat sailing for the first time and I could pass on some top tips.”

UKSA Ambassador and Paralympic gold and bronze medallist Helena Lucas MBE welcomed her crew on to Albatross including Red Funnel’s CEO Kevin George, former High Sheriff Claire Locke, Spinlock’s CEO Chris Hill and Tom Horne, grandson of USKA’s founder Noel Lister. Joining them were UKSA Young Ambassadors Perry Anderson and Jacob Fincham, both of whom have trained and now work at UKSA.

Helena said: “It was a fantastic day meeting HRH Princess Anne, before heading out on the water for some match racing. After a good tussle at the beginning of the first leg, I jumped on the helm to help us take the lead going into the first mark. The Young Ambassador are the most amazing and inspiring young people I have ever met – watching them grinding, helming, and generally getting stuck in was great and the smiles on their faces were brilliant! Perry did an amazing job helming the last leg to the finish to give us line honours! It was truly my most enjoyable day during Cowes week!”

Ben Willows added: “Thank you to our Ambassadors for a fantastic afternoon of friendly racing – it was great to see Dee and Helena passing on the skills they have developed during many years of world-class sailing. It has been a great week for both UKSA and Cowes.”

For more information, please visit: uksa.org

The post Royal visit and racing for UKSA during Lendy Cowes Week appeared first on All At Sea.