Jamie recently scored 1,266 points in Horsham, winning him the county under-18 champion’s title. Before that he set a new Sussex record score of 1,274, winning the under-14 class and under-18 handicap categories at the Sheila Brown Memorial shoot at Mole Valley. He also came third in the UK championships, under-14 level, held at Lilleshall. Now the local archer is off to Northern Ireland and beyond.

“He is consistently setting himself new standards”, says proud dad Nick. You can also set yourself new standards by improving your archery skills at Cobnor Activities Centre. We offer many more outdoor activities as well, many of which can be sampled on our Summer Camps and Multi-activity Camps held during the Summer Holidays. Check out our Scheduled Courses page to see what’s still available.

We asked Carla Holcombe of a451 to give us her thoughts on time spent at Cobnor Activities Centre:

 “At Cobnor Activities Centre the a451 team took the BCU 1 Star Paddlesport Award over 5 sessions, which was a great team building activity.  

 ”The a451 team had mixed views on kayaking, from the excited to the petrified! However, Steve, our instructor, was brilliant at ensuring that we all felt safe and had fun. During the sessions Steve introduced games to help build confidence, I’m not sure he banked on the team being so competitive though!

 ”By the end of the course our spirits were high and confidence had grown. We had a great experience and really appreciated the time and skill that Steve and the team at Cobnor Activities Centre gave us. Maybe we’ll be back for the 2 star…”

We hope so Carla!

You can find out more about a451’s kayaking at Cobnor Activities Centre here.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the outdoor activities offered at Cobnor Activities Centre for corporate days and team building events please don’t hesitate to contact us today at: sail@cobnor.com.

You can even get 10% off corporate day bookings made for September when using the Cobnor Activities Centre Google Local Listings voucher.

Sussex Clubs for Young People had a fantastic time when kayaking at Cobnor Activities Centre and wrote us this lovely email to express their thanks:

 Dear Liz, Mark and Andy,

 Just a quick note to say thank you for a great day of kayaking at Cobnor, and especially, thank you for solving the booking problem!! That was a great relief.

 Our young people came from various groups around Sussex and they all loved the experience.

 We look forward to working with you again in the future,

 Kind regards,

 Yael Breuer

 Sussex Clubs for Young People

If you’d like to let us know how pleased you were with your outdoor activity session, whether you enjoyed sailing, kayaking, canoeing, climbing or archery, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can send us an email, comment on our blog or leave us a review on our Google Places page.

You can also keep up-to-date with what’s going on at Cobnor Activities Centre and chat to us via our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Did you know that Cobnor Activities Centre offers multi-activity corporate days and that all new customers who book a corporate day with us in September will receive 10% of their booking until the end of August? Well now you do! Just visit our Google Places page for the 10% discount coupon.

Your corporate day can include any outdoor activities that we offer. Raft building and low ropes are the most popular team-building activities because they rely on trust and team work. But, there is a whole range of activities you can choose from at Cobnor Activities Centre, including any combination of the following, with or without catering:

• Sailing
• Kayaking
• Canoeing
• Power boating
• Raft building
• Low ropes
• Archery
• Climbing
• Abseiling

Just look at how much fun these guys are having:

Want to book a corporate day at Cobnor Activities Centre? Contact us today to find out more about prices and availability.

The fun began on Friday night when guests arrived to listen to music from 7.00pm. but Saturday brought a whole day of activities including sailing, kayaking, canoeing, climbing, abseiling, archery and trips around Chichester Harbour in Cobnor Activities Centre’s specially designed Chairboat. The sun was shining and there was a little breeze, making it ideal weather to enjoy outdoor activities, both water and land-based.

We sent our roving reporter out on the Chairboat so that while those onboard enjoyed a relaxing cruise around the Harbour, almost as far as East Head, she could get some great shots of the passengers enjoying themselves and other guests partaking in Bosun sailing, sea kayaking and canoeing with Cobnor Activities Centre and Wayfarer sailing with CYE. Kate also went out for a spin on our largest patrolling powerboat, Jenny Boone, and while she cooled off with the sea-breeze through her hair she also got some fantastic action shots of families enjoying watersports.

On land, the climbing tower and archery field were popular attractions and those who were at Cobstock to enjoy the music didn’t have long to wait as it all kicked off at 2.00pm. Here are just some of the highlights from the billing:

The Kids Next Door, two local girls and a boy, got huge cheers of support for their great acoustic renditions of some KT Tunstall and Outcast chart-toppers. Redshift were another young  group, all lads this time, with an Indie-Rock edge that contributed to a particularly good cover of the Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody. The Dave Band with their folk vibe boasted two excellent female singers and bongos, which are always a winner in our opinion. They did some beautiful Gabriella Cilmi, hand-clapping Hard -Fi, and a Winehouse-esque Vallerie that rocked the field. 

Later on, there came hearty blues from Dolphin, which gave a chilled out start to the evening and was a favourite with young and old. Also worth a mention is strummer extraordinaire Duncan McKenzie; just one man and his acoustic guitar who impressed the crowd with his talents reminiscent of Rodrigo y Gabriella. The Naked Flames brought us some Feeder, Stereophonics and yet more Kings of Leon. Aimee Lee sang some chilled out classics including Florence and the Machine’s Raise it Up and later on came Tim Sturdy who Kate sadly missed but is guessing that he gave a great performance based on last year. See Cobstock 2009 blog entry.

All this fabulous music and those fun-packed outdoor activities washed down with a hearty organic burger, some delicious sate sticks from the Ca’noodle Thai Taste and a few refreshing ciders with a lot of sunshine (and only the tiniest hint of rain) made for a perfect local festival. Who’s looking forward to Cobstock 2011? We are!

Last Friday Cobnor Activities Centre held a launch event to present its new residential and educational facilities to teachers and youth leaders from local organisations.

The major £1million building and refurbishment project has not only seen two fully refurbished residential buildings and a brand new state- of-the-art building but also a large classroom, equipped with the latest data communications.

This relaunch was our opportunity to show representatives from youth groups who have used Cobnor Activities Centre’s outdoor education resources before what we now have on offer and also show new customers what we’re all about.

Staff gave tours of the new residential facilities with increased sleeping space, two rooms designated to course leaders and improved shower and toilet facilities. Guests were also shown our 2 classrooms offering full IT facilities and support, a big screen for presentations and WIFI access to broadband.  

The Adur Activities Centre, Shoreham, were impressed that we have made “very good improvements all round.” In fact, the general consensus was that Cobnor Activities Centre is looking great and that teachers and youth leaders are very much looking forward to making use of the new facilities when visiting us for sailing, canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking, archery and climbing with their youth groups in the future.

Climping School’s thoughts on the new-look Cobnor Activities Centre were:

“It all looks very good. It’s great to have everything in one place so that the teachers can stay with the kids and the kitchenette being close by is very handy too.

“The new classroom facilities are great as well. I love the idea that space is available for hire out of season for revision etc.”

We also received praise from a former member of staff, Dan Jaspers, who now works for the International Sailing Federation:

“It was great to see how far Cobnor Activities Centre has come and the vision of so many people realised. West Sussex now has an excellent resource for training young people in outdoor education activities.”

The major building and refurbishment project, costing almost £1million, has not only seen two fully refurbished residential buildings and a brand new state- of-the-art building but also a large classroom, equipped with the latest data communications.

These new educational facilities make Cobnor Activities Centre even better as a base for outdoor education. They offer increased sleeping space, with two rooms designated to course leaders, as well as improved shower and toilet facilities. The facilities also have enhanced educational and meeting rooms as well as a quiet space for revision, courses and workshops. This makes them ideal for teachers and students, all year round.

What’s new at Cobnor Activities Centre?

• Large meeting spaces
• 2 Classrooms with full IT facilities and support
• Big screen for presentations and films
• WIFI access to broadband
• Separate facilities for teachers on request
• Quiet space to use as revision location out of season – October-April
• Tea/Coffee facilities on request

All those teachers and youth workers who received an invitation to our launch event are welcome to come along, have a glass of wine and take a wander around our new facilities where our staff will be on hand to answer any questions. We hope to see you there!

For more information or to book our educational facilities please call: 01243 572791 or email: sail@cobnor.com.

From the end of April for 8 weeks we are running a range of RYA Youth Sailing Scheme courses in the evenings. Stage 1 for 9 to 12 year olds introduces novice sailors who are eager to find out how a boat sails, experience some steering and get a chance to handle the boat. The RYA Stage 2 course offers 10 to 16 year old sailors a chance to build their skills and background knowledge as well as build their confidence in a small boat. Those taking stage 3 master sailing in all directions as well as rigging and launching their boats. The weather held out (just about) for all sessions so far and we’ve seen much improvement throughout the ranks, giving us a great start to the season’s evening sails.  Read more about our sailing fleet.

Last weekend we started our powerboat courses for those aged 14 plus who want to become competent behind the wheel of a powerboat. We use a combination of our 5.5 metre Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) our diesel launch and Commando craft to give all-round experience of the different types of powerboat. Don’t worry if you missed out on the RYA Powerboat Level 2, there are courses running in June and September: http://www.cobnor.com/scheduled-courses/.

In other news, Cobnor Activities Centre’s trusty Jenny Boone is getting her inflatable tubes replaced after 12 years of hard use. This will see the Centre’s largest Rigid Inflatable Boat, and an important part of the powerboating fleet, set in good stead for the summer. Pete Davies, the Centre’s Chief Bosun takes great care to make sure that our 7 metre RIB is always in optimum working order as the Queen of our powerboats, providing safety and rescue cover for our sailing fleet during sailing lessons and races.

In two weeks Cobnor Activities Centre will launch their new and improved residential facilities to teachers and youth leaders from local schools and youth groups who have received their VIP invitations in the post. Read more about the Residential Relaunch here.

Building work started in October and will see Cobnor Activities Centre transformed, with two fully refurbished residential buildings capable of taking up to 58 people. There will also be a brand new state- of-the-art building to house changing facilities, showers, toilets and a huge classroom, equipped with the latest data communication. Our many disabled users can enjoy brand new facilities as well.

We open after Easter and are looking forward to welcoming you. If you would like to support our Appeal please see: http://www.cobnor.com/blog/will-you-help-cobnor-activities-centre-to-buy-a-bunk-bed-please/

Spring has most definitely sprung down at Cobnor with the birth of beautiful black lambs on the local farm and splashes of yellow daffodils all over the boat park. Soon the weather will be getting warm enough for us to get all of our water-based activities in full swing yet again, because let’s face it sailing lessons, kayaking, canoeing and power boating are all that little bit more fun when the sun is shining and the water’s not nipping at your bits and bobs!

Are you ready to spring into action with Cobnor Activities Centre’s new season? Our evening courses kick off in just 3 weeks time with RYA Youth Sailing Scheme – Stages 1, 2 and 3. There are still a few places remaining if you fancy learning to sail or brushing up on your existing sailing skills. Check booking information online and then contact us to book your place today.

Our RYA Youth Sailing Scheme courses will continue throughout the spring and summer and then, as the weather gets even warmer, our Expedition Camps, Summer Camps, Residential Sailing Weeks and Multi-Activity Weeks begin. Find out more details about the courses here.

Want to join the fun, meet new people and learn new outdoor activity skills? Book your place on a Cobnor Activities Centre session, course or camp today.

Here’s some more Cobnor lambs: