Bury Lake Young Mariners is an

RYA Rya or RYA may refer to: Biology * Rya sheep, breed of sheep native to Sweden * ''Rya'', a genus in subfamily Blennocampinae People * Rya Kihlstedt (born 1970), American actress * Rya W. Zobel (born 1931), judge of the United States District Cou ...

certified sailing school and training centre for people of ages 7+ that has been in operation since 1983 at Bury Lake in

Rickmansworth Aquadrome Rickmansworth Aquadrome is a public park and Local Nature Reserve in Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire. It is owned and managed by Three Rivers District Council. There are two lakes, which were created by the extraction of gravel for the original W ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England. The charity has more than 100 boats and each year enables around 7,500 mostly young people to go sailing. BLYM is unique in that it has no paid staff. It is run entirely by over 300 volunteers.

Award-winning youth charity

2013

In 2013, Bury Lake Young Mariners won the prestigious

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, also known as The Queen's Golden Jubilee Award for Voluntary Service by Groups in the Community and The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award is an annual award given to groups in the voluntary sect ...

. The award is equivalent to the MBE and is the highest award that can be made to a voluntary group. The award was made for "assisting with youth development through accessible and affordable sailing and sail training activities".

2015

The charity was one of five finalists for Club of the Year, awarded by the

Royal Yachting Association The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is a United Kingdom national governing body for sailing, dinghy sailing, yacht and motor cruising, sail racing, RIBs and sportsboats, windsurfing and personal watercraft and a leading representative for inl ...

New Building Development

General information

The Original Clubhouse is now being replaced by three new buildings. The Boathouse, the 'Wetzone' and the New Clubhouse. The ongoing development started in 2017/8 and as of March 2023, The Boathouse and the Wetzone have been completed whilst the New Clubhouse is yet to be started.

Boathouse

The new boathouse has replaced the old 'green crate', which was a shipping container that held the club's sailing equipment. This new development has allowed for fleet expansion. The new boathouse also stores BLYM's 9 safety boats.

Wetzone

This building currently sits next to the clubhouse, on the opposite side of the site to the boathouse - running alongside Bury Lake. It holds all age changing rooms, bathrooms and a 'Wetstore', holding all of the BLYM owned sailing clothing - Buoyancy aids, Wetsuits e.t.c.

The Future

Bury Lake Young Mariners will soon build the final building in the project, which will be the new clubhouse. It will sit facing the 'Wetzone' and consist of classrooms, a galley and more. This will mean that the old club house will be demolished to make room for more boats to be housed and a larger rigging area.

Fleet

Sail boats

Currently, the club consists of; *9 Oppies *9 "Funboats" *12 Toppers *29 RS Zests - Successor to the Pico fleet. *2

Vagos Vagos () is a town and a List of municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Aveiro District, belonging to Centro Region, Centro Region of Portugal. The district capital, Aveiro, Portugal, Aveiro, is its nearest large city. Its population in 2011 ...

*2 RS200s *6 RS Quests - Successor to the Bahia fleet. *6 Wayfarer Mk IVs *12

Lasers A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

*9 Coypus, which are the only remaining boats that were part of the original fleet and one of only two clubs in the UK that still sail them today.

Powered Craft

BLYM has a designated fleet of 9 Safety Boats. These are primarily for the safety of sailors and are used to assist and coach people on the water. The fleet consists of; *1 Dell Quay Dory 13 with a

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

F25

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

, *1 Jenneau Rigiflex 370 with a

F20 engine, *1 Jenneau Rigiflex 370 with a

F8 engine (WATCH II), *2 Highfield 380

RIBs The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels. The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...

with

F9.9 engines, *2 XS 360 RIBs with

F9.9 engines, *2 Avon Rover 340s with

F9.9 engines *1 Tod Launch with a

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, Heavy equipment, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasu ...

Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

Inboard engine Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a watercraft through water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting of an electr ...

. This is the only

powerboat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...

that remains of the original fleet.

Instructor Team

Chairman

The current chairman is David Rideout. The first

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the club was Dr. Ken Smith, a

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

teacher at

Rickmansworth School Rickmansworth School in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, is a coeducational secondary school and a sixth form with Academy status (England), academy status for 1,400 pupils. Rickmansworth is a secondary school for boys and girls aged 11 to 18 of al ...

Chief Instructor/Club Principal

*Club Principal - Ben Constable (RYA Senior Instructor). *Chief Instructor - Edward Bourton (RYA Senior Instructor). They replaced Robert Arthur in the summer of 2022, who was previous joint Chief Instructor/Principal.

Youth Team

BLYM has an active youth team consisting of a few young instructors to discuss issues of the younger generations and to also ensure that young members of the club and instructors are represented properly.

References

{{Reflist Yacht clubs in England Rickmansworth Sailing