RYA OnBoard turns 20

The RYA celebrates 20 years of its OnBoard initiative, one of the UK’s largest grassroots programmes for encouraging children and young people to participate in watersports.

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OnBoard started small in 2005, with only two centres (Rockley Watersports in Poole and Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre in Rochdale) that focused on connecting schools with local sailing clubs and getting kids aged 8-18 out onto the water for the first time.

Now, OnBoard’s reach has expanded to include involvement from 336 centres and clubs, each offering children the opportunity to try sailing and windsurfing. To date, the initiative has introduced more than 1.3 million children to watersports.