East Antrim Boat Club

Aim

Getting young people from the Larne area on the water. Low cost, supervised safe and fun sailing and water activities.

Who are we?

East Antrim Boat Club was established 75 years ago, we have developed the types boating and purpose of the club over this time. We now have an active dinghy racing fleet, thriving junior fleet, keelboat racing and cruising members. Our active members range in age from 6 to 86 years old and that's the beauty of our sport and our club. 

We are a Royal Yachting Association (RYA) accredited training centre so can offer courses and activities for people of all abilities and have trained RYA instructors for youths, adult sailing and power boat skills. 

Our members represent us at National and International events and we have produced high calibre sailors for decades. 

We host sailing events for different classes each year attracting visitors to Larne from all over the country.

We have committed volunteers who keep our club running, from boat maintenance, planning and organising events, running weekly racing and developing our juniors through training. We also welcome members of the community to take part in free try sailing day and regular sessions to encourage more people to enjoy the water safely.

Why are we crowdfunding?

We are fundraising because we want to continue developing our club for the future, in our 75th year we have been striving for continuous improvement at the club, developing different types of on water opportunities for everyones needs. Our members work hard to keep the club activities going, from committees, instructors on the water, volunteers in safety boats to keep our activities safe and fun, boat yard safety and maintenance of club boats and safety equipment, there are activities and jobs for all, which also comes at a cost. 

Our main club activities cater for our current members, with weekly racing and training on Sundays throughout the year. We also host seasonal regattas and welcome racers from across Ireland and the UK. We would love to reach out and attract new people to our sport by providing these additional initiatives to create opportunities for others to get involved in sailing.

• We want to provide learn to sail activities for non members and attract new people to our sport within the local area. This introduction to sailing comes at a cost, which we don't want to be a barrier to participants so we want to provide equipment and instruction which will allow people to get on the water for as little as possible. 
• Our main target is children and young people from the ages of 8-18, there will be no barrier to participate as long as you are able and willing to give it a go! 
• A key outturn of the provision of this opportunity is an increase in the junior membership to see the club thrive into the future.

How we’ll spend the money raised

• Running a free try sailing day which is open to all members of the community in late spring.
• Provide a 3 month series of training sessions during the spring/ summer season for young people to have a regular outlet and to continue their experiences on the water. This will be run as per the RYA OnBoard series and follow a syllabus of fun learning activities and structure to ensure the best experience for participants.
• We will ensure our team of instructors are qualified and experienced to deliver the training to participants. Instructors will have RYA qualifications, and receive appropriate training to make sessions safe and fun! 
• Running costs of sessions are subsidised by the club to keep the cost of participating down. These costs include; instructor fees, boat use, use of personal safety equipment provided by the club, safety boat cost and fuel.  

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Community impact

With Larne and the local areas running along the Antrim coastline, locals have instant access to water. 

• We want to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to take part in water activities from a young age so that they develop knowledge of safe water use and can choose to continue to get on the water throughout their lives. Learning to sail from a young age can lead to participation in other activities such as volunteering, safety cover and race management, all of which require additional support through experience and courses through the club.

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How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made