West Sussex Schools & Youth Sailing Association Regatta to be hosted by Felpham Sailing Club – September 2026
Felpham Sailing Club (FSC) will host the 32nd annual West Sussex Schools & Youth Sailing Association (WSSYSA) Regatta in September 2026. This event attracts teams of young people from across Sussex to compete in the sport of dinghy racing on the sea, in a weekend regatta.
We are expecting 150 youth participants from over 12 clubs and schools from across Sussex. We will host a series of events and speakers that will be inspirational for all participants and their families, and some fun stuff too.
The event is for sailors aged under 19 on the last day of the event. We will have three race areas and four racing fleets (Fast, Medium, & Slow handicap, and a Rookie Fleet). The Rookie Fleet is aimed at encouraging youngsters into the sport of dinghy racing by making it fun and exciting.
Programme
Thursday 17th September – a talk & video presentation by the Sussex Underwater team about the wealth of sea life in the sea off Bognor Regis
Friday 18th September – talks by Jazz Turner (award winning para sailor) about her sailing round Britain solo record in 2025, and Hannah Mountain about her participation in the 2025 Fastnet race on the yacht Boracic.
Saturday 19th September – Regatta Day 1 + evening karaoke
Sunday 20th September – Regatta Day 2 with prizegiving hosted by Jess Breach, England Ladies Red Roses Rugby World Cup top try scorer in the 2025 Womens’ Rugby World Cup, and former member of Felpham Sailing Club.
Besides the coaching & Regatta racing we hope to inspire the youngsters through several talks and activities.
On Thursday 17th September, Sussex Underwater, led by Bognor resident Eric Smith, will give a presentation with video informing and inspiring our young people about life underwater on the Bognor Rocks, just off our beach. Eric lobbied for many years to create the Sussex in-shore trawling ban. This has created a resurgence of sea life and kelp right in our playground. Eric was featured in David Attenborough’s 2025 film and book “Ocean”. Their video gives an amazing insight into what is below the waves, out of sight for most. https://sussexunderwater.uk/
On Friday 18th September there will be a talk given by Jazz Turner. Jazz is a world recognised para-inclusive sailor, having sailed around the UK singlehanded in June 2025, and in doing so became the first female solo disabled wheelchair-bound sailor to achieve this feat. She was recently nominated for the Rolex World Sailor Award. In February 2026 Jazz was awarded the Yachtsman of the Year award for 2025 by the Yachting Journalist Association. Her story is both humbling and inspirational.
Also, on that evening, Hannah Mountain (Felpham Sailing Club member) will tell us about her exciting and exhausting experience taking part in the 100th Fastnet race in 2025.
Over the Regatta weekend, a team of national race coaches will be offering race coaching, free to participants, using video recording of racing action, and delivering feedback on a large screen. By providing coaching at the Regatta we aim to inspire and develop dinghy racing skills.
This is a community event with visiting clubs and volunteers participating to make the event happen. To ensure safety we will need a fleet of at least 12 safety boats. Felpham SC has four. The Felpham Sea Scouts will help by bringing two, and the balance will come from visiting clubs bringing a further six crewed powerboats.
To help support the event, and such a large group of people (many families will come along supporting their children), we will erect a marquee at the Sailing Club. This will form the focal point of land side activity.
The talks by Jazz, Hannah and Sussex Underwater will be held in the marquee. We anticipate well over 300 people attending.
The event will be a huge effort by club members volunteering to ensure that it is safe and fun.
On the Saturday there will be a free karaoke evening for all.
After racing each day all participants will receive free, a pot of hot pasta and cakes to refresh tired bodies.
This event is planned to inspire participants and be a celebration of youth sailing. Each participant will receive a medal, a certificate and a branded gift (a baseball cap). There will be about 60 trophies to present. Jess Breach will present the prizes at the Prize giving on Sunday. Jess is a former youth sailor at Felpham SC and was a regular WSSYSA Regatta participant. She plays rugby for Saracens & England Ladies Red Roses team playing every match for England in the recent Rugby World Cup (September 2025), and was the top try scorer in the victorious team. She has 57 caps for England and is currently the all-time joint third top try scorer for England.
This plan of course depends on good weather. In the event of adverse weather preventing sailing we will offer, on the day(s) lost to sailing, Plan B. Rather than abandoning the day(s) and the event, Plan B will offer shoreside competitions such as relay races, team games, beach games and individual challenges, as well as board games, quizzes, treasure hunts and non-competitive activities.
Offering Plan B has never been done before in the history of this regatta, in fact this approach to any sailing regatta is unique.
Whatever the weather visiting families can enjoy crazy golf, tennis courts, and self-cook BBQ on the adjacent council run facilities, as well as enjoying the facilities of the club, its hospitality and a wonderful beach. Refreshments will be available from the
Club and neighbouring cafes including Boathouse, Lobster Pot and Beachcroft Hotel.