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!

Summer Camps, Multi-Activity Camps and Residential Sailing Camps run throughout the Summer Holidays at Cobnor Activities Centre. Campers get to take part in all sorts of outdoor activities, including sailing, kayaking and climbing throughout their stay at the Centre. We’re always striving to create the best experiences for Summer Campers so we regularly run evening trips to local highlights (great British weather permitting), such as East Head, and last Monday was no exception.

We thought it would be a great idea for our roving reporter to go out and about with the children and their watch-leaders to see what they get up to on a typical evening trip and here’s what she saw…

At around 19.00 a fleet of boats, including the Cobnor Chairboat and various other powerboats, left Cobnor for a leisurely cruise through Chichester Harbour in the late sunshine. All the time, we kept our eyes out for seals as the tide was fairly low and the conditions perfect but luck was not with us this time.

The boats arrived around 30 minutes later at beautiful East Head and the children were dropped off on the beach, where they were able to disembark safely and gather their belongings. Watch leaders then rounded up their troops and headed eagerly for the sand dunes to prepare for the games ahead.  

A sea mist came over, which added an air of mystery to events and, of course, made it all the more enjoyable for a bunch of thrill-seeking eight to thirteen year olds. Games of hide and seek and manhunt ensued then it was time for group photographs before everyone tucked into cake and drinks while watching the sunset – not at all bad, really!

After dark, the fleet made its way back to Cobnor HQ through the mist and the children were even involved in helping with night navigation. They helped the skipper spot the coloured lights and buoys that guided the group back to base and there were certainly a few keen navigators that the Centre is sure to meet again soon.

On arrival, the group trudged back up the slipway and made their way to their tents. It was most definitely time for bed and, we’re guessing, a very good sleep; the campers were spent on the freshest sea air and filled to the brim with satisfaction from their mini adventure.

Want to be a happy camper at Cobnor? Find out more about upcoming available camps and courses here or get in contact to discuss your options if you’d prefer something more bespoke.

The Cobnor Activities Centre team thought that all you sailing enthusiasts might want to know about an exciting creative Boat Project that’s occurring close by at Thornham Marina…

The Boat Project is a 30ft seafaring vessel that’s being lovingly crafted from wooden items donated by locals. It will become a living archive of people’s stories and memories and a really fascinating piece of West Sussex history.

Since February 2011, artists Gregg Whelan and Gary Winters of Lone Twin (one of Europe’s leading performance companies) have accepted wooden offerings of all shapes, sizes and varieties from people all over the South East.

Lone Twin have set up base at Thornham Marina in Chichester Harbour and, with the help of designer Simon Rogers and a team of keen volunteers, they have been using the latest yacht building methods to turn these wooden objects into a seaworthy archive that will set sail on a maiden voyage in May 2012.

Despite not knowing exactly what the boat will look like, the organisers tell us that it will resemble a 30ft day sailer, of contemporary design with a sleek and elegant shape. The boat will provide the crew of sailors, some novice some experienced, taking the boat around the South Coast with an excellent sailing experience.

The Boat Project is part of Artists Taking the Lead, a series of 12 public art commissions across the UK to celebrate the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. The Boat Project is the winning commission for the South East region and is funded by Arts Council England. Following its maiden voyage, the boat will be gifted back to the region as a permanent resource for the public.

There are various ways to you can get involved with The Boat Project: you can donate wood, become a boatyard volunteer, or become a member of the crew. From 15^th April – 2^nd May members of the public are welcome to bring donations to the build shed, Unit 2, Thornham Marina, on Fridays and Saturdays 13.00-19.00, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays 10.00-17.00. There are also some dedicated Donation Day events close to Cobnor Activities Centre:

•Portsmouth Donation Day Event: 22^nd May 2011, 10.00 – 16.30. Southsea Castle, Clarence Esplanade, Southsea, PO5 3PA.

•Havant Donation Day Event: 28^th May 2011, 10.00 – 17.00. The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre, 56 East Street, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 1BS.

• Chichester Donation Day Event: 4^th June 2011, 10.00 – 16.30. Marquee in Oakland’s Park at Chichester Festival Theatre, PO19 6AP.

Find out more about The Boat Project at: http://www.theboatproject.com/.

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.