Christmas is just around the corner and the Cobnor team, like you, plan ahead for the coming year so that we know what’s what. Now, you’ll find our new Course Programme online so whether you’re looking to brush up on your sailing skills or your New Year’s resolution will be to get outdoors more, take a look at our new brochure and see what tickles your fancy. Here are some of the highlights from the 2012 Course Programme to whet your appetite:

Holiday Activities

Throughout the Summer Holidays Cobnor Activities Centre offers a range of camps and activity weeks: Summer Camps, Expedition Camps, Residential Sailing Weeks and Multi-Activity Weeks. These fully supervised programmes are designed to help further the outdoor education and outdoor activity skills of children aged 8-16 years.

Children will not only get to enjoy their favourite activities, from canoeing and sailing to archery and mountain biking, but will also benefit from the expertise of our qualified instructors. They will have the opportunity to try new things and meet new people, away from home in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Our Expedition Camps, for 14-16 year olds, also include spending nights away from the Centre’s base and taking part in activities further afield. This encourages independence as well as focussed learning about the outdoors.

We are also offering Multi-Activity day programmes over the Easter Holidays and October Half Term.

Sailing

We offer a variety of sailing courses for you and your children, from the Youth Sailing Scheme to the Adult Sailing Scheme. Whether you are beginners or improvers, our qualified and experienced instructors will certainly maximise your confidence on the water and improve your sailing skills.

As a RYA recognised sailing centre, with a full fleet including Laser Picos, RS Fevas and Bosun Dinghies, we’ll make sure you gain experience in varying wind and sea conditions, as well as knowledge of the boats and your surroundings.

Paddlesports

Paddlesports offered at Cobnor Activities Centre include canoeing and kayaking. Our paddlesport fleet includes something for everyone, regardless of ability or level: open canoes, kayaks, sit-on kayaks and sea kayaks.

We now run informal sessions on a series of evenings and weekends with the option to complete your way through the Paddle Power or National Paddlesport Scheme.

Powerboating

Would you like to get behind the wheel of a powerboat and learn a new skill? Cobnor offers RYA Powerboat Level 2 for those aged 14 years onwards, a course which provides the skills and background knowledge essential for any competent powerboat driver.

We also offer the RYA Safety Boat Course, which introduces the techniques used in powerboats escorting racing fleets of dinghies and windsurfers, providing safety and rescue cover for training fleets and assisting in race management for those aged 16 and over.

VHF and First Aid

Cobnor Activities Centre offers RYA First Aid Certificates and RYA VHF Short Range Certificates, meaning you can gain working knowledge of first aid for people using small craft, support skippers and learn the procedures for operation of VHF short-range radio.

Saturday Sessions

New to Cobnor for 2012 are Saturday Sessions. These include our popular Informal Kayaking on a Saturday morning and an additional bi-weekly Informal Sailing session, designed to give you the opportunity to progress your skills, without the pressure and structure of a certificated course.

Why don’t you come along to try a new activity? Come once, or come along every week, to really brush up on your skills. As well as the Informal Sessions we are running a Saturday Afternoon Club for under 16s, which will run for 6 weeks and include multi-activities such as: sailing, kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking, climbing, archery and raft building.

Instructor Courses

Cobnor Activities Centre has all you need to become an RYA sailing instructor, a BCU paddlesport coach or a British Schools Cycling Association Mountain Bike Leader. A career in the outdoors is not only a lot of fun but it’s also extremely challenging and rewarding.

You should be competent in the discipline you are training for before you sign up for a course and once there you will be provided with practical experience as well as in-depth theory to allow you to succeed as an activity instructor at Cobnor and beyond.

Bespoke Bookings

Our bespoke bookings are designed to meet your exact outdoor activity requirements. We can offer bookings to school groups, community groups, corporate groups, birthday party groups, Hen and Stag groups and many others too. It really is up to you!

We can put together a package comprising any of the following activities:

• Sailing

• Kayaking

• Canoeing

• Climbing

• Mountain Biking

• Archery

• Low Ropes

• Problem Solving and Initiative Games

• Raft Building

Whether you want fun-packed team building or group chill-out time, contact us with your requirements or let us know the gist and we’ll put together the perfect activities schedule. You can stay in our newly refurbished accommodation over night or join us for the day, you can choose to self-cater or we’ll provide food for you; the beauty is in the flexibility!

Residential Facilities

Our residential facilities are ideal as a base as we are easily accessible from many areas along the South Coast, including Chichester and Portsmouth.

There are three residential options for you to choose from: Log Cabins, The Jubilee Building and Camping. Any of our residential facilities can be combined with a Bespoke Booking or rented as standalone accommodation.

We also have excellent educational and meeting room facilities, including two classrooms with full IT access and support.

Cobnor Chairboat

The Cobnor Chairboat is specially designed for wheelchair users and others with limited mobility so that getting out and about on the water is accessible to all, but it has much more than this to offer…

Our Chairboat offers a comfortable ride, no matter what your age or ability. It is ideal for those interested in nature and photography. It would even make the perfect vessel for a special occasion, such as showing off the bride and groom on their big day.

The boat is wide and stable as well as being closer to the water than traditional tour boats, allowing passengers to make the most of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

You can download the full 2012 Course Programme here. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Royal Yachting Association (RYA) qualifications are known and respected the world over and designed for all ages and abilities. Cobnor Activities Centre is an RYA recognised centre, specialising in both RYA sailing and RYA powerboat courses including:  RYA Dinghy Instructors and pre-entry assessment, RYA Youth Sailing Scheme Level 1- 4, RYA Powerboat Instructors and pre-entry assessment and Level 2 and RYA Safety Boat RYA. Read more about Cobnor as an RYA recognised centre.

Cobnor Activities Centre is also a British Canoe Union (BCU) centre, meaning that it’s affiliated with the lead body for canoeing and kayaking in the UK.  With Cobnor’s chief instructor Andy Hall you can brush up on your paddle sport skills or gain new qualifications through our list of BCU approved courses, including: BCU 1 Star and 2 Star, BCU 3 Star Sea Kayak and BCU 3 Star White Water Kayak, UKCC BCU Level 1 Coach Training & Assessment and UKCC BCU Level 2 Coach Training & Assessment.  Read more about Cobnor as a BCU centre.

British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the national governing body for cycle sport in the UK. The organisation is known for encouraging and developing children’s cycling talents and Cobnor Activities Centre offers British Schools Cycling Association – Mountain Bike/Off Road Leaders’ Course, in affiliation with British Cycling over a range of dates.  Read more about Cobnor as a British Cycling centre.

Please see our Scheduled Courses for availability on any of our courses and contact us to make a booking or find out more.

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.

It’s been decided that the South Downs will gain National Park status, which is great news seeing as it’s such a beautiful place to visit and a wonderful natural location for outdoor education. Cobnor is ideally located down on the South Coast, near Chichester, to take advantage of the South Downs and all it offers.

The Sussex Wildlife Trust Youth Council has organised a special event to mark the occasion of the South Downs becoming a National Park with a youth walk. They’re calling on all young people aged 10-18 years to join a five mile walk along the South Downs Way, where they’ll have the chance to discover a range of fascinating landscapes and wildlife and get involved in some outdoor education en route.

As we’ve a lot of 10-18 year olds from the local area visiting Cobnor Activities Centre to attend everything from Summer Camps to sailing lessons we thought you might be interested in joining in with the South Downs National Park celebrations. There are three walks to choose from:

• Western Sussex (near Amberley)
• Central Sussex (near Brighton)
• Eastern Sussex (Seven Sisters Country Park)

All walkers should register online by Sunday 27th June 2010. Under 16s should be accompanied by an adult or book onto a guided walk.

Find out more about orienteering, mountain biking and the other land-based offered by Cobnor Activities Centre here.