Booking for 2024 JHW will be open from 24th June until 21st July.

Junior Helm Week has been a major junior event in the club calendar for over 30 years, and was started in 1982 by the late Bob Ferguson, CMYC Commodore 1982-87. It used to take place at the Mill Lane end of the lake prior to our clubhouse being built, members used their own boats to introduce young people to sailing. In 1987 we started to hire boats. We are now fortunate enough to have a fleet of club Toppers and Oppies, which when combined with members own Toppers avoids the need to hire. The emphasis is on fun, together with informal instruction. Bob's Junior Helm Week continues to flourish and the Bob Ferguson trophy is awarded to the Oppie sailor who improves the most during the week. There is now an award for the most improved Topper sailor presented to the club in memory of Robin Ballam, who looked after and cared for our fleets of junior boats.

Junior Helm Week is open to children aged 6 to 10 years for Oppies and 10 to 15 years for Toppers.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!  Junior Helm Week has always relied on volunteer helpers which is why the costs are so favourable. Safety on and off the water is the highest priority. We need parents, grandparents, instructors, first aiders, and support boat helms. Even if you can only manage half a day it will be a great help. We need help with: rigging, launching, making tea and myriad other activities that go into making the week a success. We value the experience of those who have helped in previous years and welcome new volunteers who will be shown exactly what to do – no experience necessary! Volunteering helps you to get involved in the club and make new friends, it can also help you appreciate what a great time the children are having.

SESSION TIMES - You may book either morning or afternoon sessions but not both. Mornings - 10.00am to 12.30pm and Afternoons - 1.30pm to 4.00pm. Children of those helping all day can, of course, stay at the lake all day, but will not be able to take part in both organised sailing sessions, because of high numbers. Topper sailors will typically have four days sailing and one day of raft building. Presentations are made during the Friday lunch break, allowing both morning and afternoon session participants to attend. The BBQ will be lit lunchtime and at the end of the afternoon if required, for you to cook your own food.

BOOKING will open on 24th June and close on 21st July. Log into your WebCollect account and browse the Events to find Junior Helm Week. You will have to sign up for each child either for Toppers or Oppies, AM or PM. (There are separate bookings for those using their own Topper and those using club Toppers, this ensures that we do not overbook the club boats. The two sets of bookings will be merged before assigning children to groups.) We will use our knowledge of the children to assign them to appropriate groups within the Toppers and Oppies. If children from different families need to be in the same session (am or pm) because they are travelling together, please co-ordinate this yourselves by booking early and at the same time. WebCollect will automatically limit the number of bookings within groups. If you can only attend a specific session (e.g. afternoons and not mornings) then please book early to ensure you are able to book the desired session. Please do not expect us to accept late bookings after Sunday 23rd July, the booking process will be closed

BOOKING PROCEDURE - To book a place select the 'Junior Helm Week' event in the Events pane on the right of the web page. Select the session and check the £60 button, then click ‘Add to basket’, DO NOT go to ‘Checkout’ at this stage. Click ‘Next’, this brings you to the ‘Junior Helm Volunteer’ booking, check the 'Book places' check box, then click ‘Add to basket’. The progress bar showing stages 1 & 2 should then be coloured green. Now click ‘Checkout’. You will be presented with your membership details, if correct click ‘Save and proceed’. There are then two forms to complete, one for the attendee and for the parent or guardian to indicate how and when they will help. While filling in these forms please sign up for at least 2 adult volunteer slots. (Don’t worry if you are not a sailor, most tasks need no special skills whatsoever.)  Please remember a nominated responsible adult must remain at the club with all children under 10.

CANCELLATION AND CORRECTIONS - You are unable to cancel or modify your booking directly, if for any reason you need to cancel your booking or modify details of the booking, please email Jeff Smith (jeffnsmith76@gmail.com) as soon as possible.

PAYMENT - The fee for 2023 is £60 - please pay promptly, remember if you haven't paid you have not completed the process and may not get a place. All payments must be received by 30th July. Please pay by bank transfer, details are included in the WebCollect confirmation email, be sure to use the reference supplied. If you are unable to make a bank transfer please email Jeff Smith (jeffnsmith76@gmail.com).

WAITING LIST

"Junior Helm Week Wating List" registration will allow you to put your name down on a waiting list if the session that you were trying to book is full. You may also use this form to request a place for a member of your family who is not a member in their own right and is not covered by family membership. In the event of a place becoming available, those on the reserve list will be offered places based on priorities agreed by the CMYC Committee.