Hi Bryn and all at Cobnor,

Just a quick message to say thanks for Phoebe’s great course, which finished on Thursday (RYA level 2).  Hugh was absolutely fantastic with the children and is a great instructor.  Phoebe loved his enthusiasm and fabulous knowledge – what a star!  We really appreciate his excellent tuition.

Many thanks and see you all soon,

Mags Duncan-Duggal

It’s lovely to receive praise about our sailing courses and, most importantly, our sailing instructors (well done Hugh!) from the parents of children who are learning to sail. Phoebe was just one of the 9-12 year olds taking part in the RYA Youth Sailing Scheme (Stage 2) evening courses that we started in April, ran throughout May and finished just last Thursday.

This course, which took place during four hour sessions on Thursday evenings over eight weeks, taught Phoebe and the others a range of sailing skills and background knowledge, to get them well on their way to being confident small boat sailors.

Cobnor Activities Centre’s evening sailing sessions give those who don’t have the opportunity to learn to sail at the weekends or in the school holidays a chance to get some excellent sailing practice; they also have the added bonus of walking away with an RYA (Royal Yachting Association) certificate.

Our next available sailing courses are the RYA Youth Sailing Scheme – Stages 3 and 4, both running in August. Our evening sailing sessions will resume next April. Find out more about our courses, sessions and camps here or call 01243 572791 to book a place today.

The Royal Observatory is home of the Prime Meridian of the World and of Greenwich Mean Time, both essential to planning and coordinating sailing trips. Here Pete got to learn more about longitude, latitude and how sailors used to navigate with the stars. He saw the world famous Meridian Line; the red Time Ball on top of Flamsteed house, one of the world’s earliest public time signals that still falls at 13.00 every day; the 28-inch refracting telescope, the largest of its kind in the UK; a meteorite that is over 4.5 million years old and John Harrison’s invention of a timekeeper that could withstand the unstable motions of sea going vessels. Pete also attended two planetarium shows: Secrets of the Sun and Visions of Saturn.

Secrets of the Sun involved a look at the role the sun plays in the life of our solar system. From the nuclear forces churning at the heart of the sun to the mass ejections of solar material in to surrounding space, experiencing the power of the sun and its impact on the planets and ultimately life on Earth. The show also revealed the life cycle of the sun itself, going back to its beginnings and moving forward in time to its eventual death. This was accompanied by Solar Story, an exhibition of striking images that help us to understand the nature of our closest star and its effects on Earth.

Visions of Saturn followed the Cassini spacecraft by taking a virtual trip to Saturn and discovering the amazing secrets of its clouds, rings and moons. This was a fascinating visual spectacular, which actually made you feel like you were on Saturn and gave insight into the planet that has been so easily valuable from the South Coast just lately.

Then after a spot of lunch it was off to the National Maritime Museum where the highlights included antique sea vessels to modern maritime marvels. On the ground floor Pete enjoyed the exquisitely-gilded Prince Frederick’s barge, built for King George II’s eldest son and used for royal occasions on the Thames until 1846 as well as Miss Britain III, the first single-engine powerboat to exceed 100mph on open water and for several years remained the fastest in the world.

There was even a touch of interactivity to be enjoyed, such as taking control of the Bridge Gallery where it was possible to steer a ship into port using a state-of-the-art simulator. But the queues were quite lengthy and Pete was more than satisfied with having real boats to steer around Chichester Harbour when he returned home.

Pete says, “The Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum make a great family day out and I could see a number of the people who attend sailing courses and activity camps at Cobnor Activities Centre really appreciating the fun activities and educational resources available there.”