Cumbrae Watersports Centre Closing...

[JumbleDuck]

Both Cumbrae and Blairvadach offered subsidised courses. That was almost their whole reason for existing.

Are the Cumbrae subsidised courses in addition to the ones on their website? Those are very expensive: a 3-day RYA Dinghy Level 1&2 course is £490 on Cumbrae but £305 (£285 for children) at the unsubsidised Galloway Activity Centre. Both fully residential.

 

[ShinyShoe]

I've always thought of Cumbrae as being a high level facility. Not Level 1&2 stuff. Specialist stuff. Squad stuff. Instructor training etc. A Scottish Weymouth.

Quite different from Blairvadach which was an education out door centre giving kids a chance to try stuff they otherwise might not for relatively little cost.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Are the Cumbrae subsidised courses in addition to the ones on their website? Those are very expensive: a 3-day RYA Dinghy Level 1&2 course is £490 on Cumbrae but £305 (£285 for children) at the unsubsidised Galloway Activity Centre. Both fully residential.

It is designated a national sports centre and receives funding from government grants given to Sports Scotland. The grants are targeted at national coaches and the development of talent. Also the development and maintenance of the building comes out of this grant. Are the RYA courses subsidised? I think they are indirectly via the administration, building and other support to Cumbrae via Sports Scotland. RYA practical courses may cover some of the boat costs but I doubt they pay for their share of the burden. That comes from the tax payer.

The annual report below hints that further efficiencies were being developed for the centre suggesting that the tensions have been in place for a while. Let's face it, badminton, tennis, football, volleyball etc are being retained at the expense of publicly funded, assisted funding sailing.

https://sportscotland.org.uk/media/4481/ssc-trust-co-annual-report-310318-for-website-100119.pdf

 

[ShinyShoe]

The annual report below hints that further efficiencies were being developed for the centre suggesting that the tensions have been in place for a while. Let's face it, badminton, tennis, football, volleyball etc are being retained at the expense of publicly funded, assisted funding sailing

Well... There has to be some acceptance that some sports cost More to get medals than others. Skiing presumably has a higher cost too?

But... You wouldn't be thrilled if the volleyball training centre was on Aran...

And if you are at a volleyball coach training weekend... Do you stay in subsidised accomodation? Or do you book into a travel lodge?

I do wonder if either could be made commercial concerns run independently - or will the premium building sites mean they are too expensive?

 

[JumbleDuck]

It is designated a national sports centre and receives funding from government grants given to Sports Scotland. The grants are targeted at national coaches and the development of talent. Also the development and maintenance of the building comes out of this grant. Are the RYA courses subsidised? I think they are indirectly via the administration, building and other support to Cumbrae via Sports Scotland. RYA practical courses may cover some of the boat costs but I doubt they pay for their share of the burden. That comes from the tax payer.

I can see an argument for a centre specialising in coaching the best racers, but it's not immediately obvious that it has to be a stand-alone setup rather than an adjunct to a more general centre or even just a travelling team of instructors and boats. I can't see any justification in using Sports Scotland funding to subsidise courses for the general public.

As an aside, it's interesting that the National Tennis Centre is in a rich, leafy suburb of Edinburgh rather than Wester Hailes, from which some hungry talent might be expected to emerge. It has a very nice soft play area.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

........ As an aside, it's interesting that the National Tennis Centre is in a rich, leafy suburb of Edinburgh rather than Wester Hailes, from which some hungry talent might be expected to emerge. It has a very nice soft play area.

Maybe they sponsor the side of a bus from Wester Hailes to Craiglockhart .

Hello. Welcome to LTA.
Our vision is tennis opened up. We’re here to help as many people as possible get involved with tennis, across the whole of Great Britain.

There is more than one way to skin a cat, that's for sure, but a national watersports centre, with residential facilities, located on the coast does not appear to be that radical an idea to develop talent from. However, if the demand is not there, then it should not exist for the sake of it. Anyway, sailing has been in long term decline in Scotland and it will probably continue to be so. The need for tuition is market driven now and private companies do provide that service at the correct price point.

 

[lw395]

Since GBR sailing is all about East German style 'olympic medal farming', it seems to me that Cwmbrae is not very well placed.
It's on an Island, facing the mainland shore about 1km away? Looks like a nice location for cruising, but poor training for Olympic venues.
Possibly it would be fair practice for Garda?
The RYA has been moderately successful at harvesting medals, to do that you need the best people from Team GBR training together, and that's focused on Portland. Quicker to get Flybe (yes, I know, but policy will lag reality....) to Southampton and down the road to Weymouth than get ferries etc.
But OTOH the RYA was supposed to be going more 'regional' with youth squads?
RYA announces ground-breaking junior racing developments

 

[Uricanejack]

relying on private funding, will help keep the riff raff out.

 

[dunedin]

Since GBR sailing is all about East German style 'olympic medal farming', it seems to me that Cwmbrae is not very well placed.
It's on an Island, facing the mainland shore about 1km away? Looks like a nice location for cruising, but poor training for Olympic venues.
Possibly it would be fair practice for Garda?
The RYA has been moderately successful at harvesting medals, to do that you need the best people from Team GBR training together, and that's focused on Portland. Quicker to get Flybe (yes, I know, but policy will lag reality....) to Southampton and down the road to Weymouth than get ferries etc.
But OTOH the RYA was supposed to be going more 'regional' with youth squads?
RYA announces ground-breaking junior racing developments

Not true. Cumbrae has been very successful as the training venue for turning young and enthusiastic sailors into elite Olympic squad racers (as well as many many more very skilled sailors and club / regional level racers).
Lots of Cumbrae graduates have won Olympic medals, from Shirley Robertson onwards (and perhaps before) - and quite a few in the current GBR team for Tokyo Olympics.
And yes Cumbrae squads were complemented by a lot of FlyBe flights to Southampton and onto Waymoulth or Hayling (whilst some long suffering parent bashed up and down the M6 with multi-boat trailer).
So both sides of a very successful system look to now be lost. Very sad.
And this was not just about racing skills. All the squad sailors learnt a lot of other life skills, including the discipline of training for fitness, teamwork, doing exam study and logistics as well as unmatched boat handling skills.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

The relatively sheltered water between Cumbrae and the mainland also provided an excellent venue for national and international championships. The Optimist championships were held there a few years back; at the time I took an interest because one of my colleagues was the father of one of the top junior sailors. I know they were facing some difficult decisions because he was getting to the stage where to progress he needed to move into much more expensive classes of dinghy!