As a result of a challenging financial environment, the board of directors of The Scottish Sailing Institute (SSI) has agreed to merge the SSI with the sportscotland National Centre Cumbrae in order to sustain a Scotland wide event resource for the future. The new arrangements will ensure the SSI continues to work closely with RYA Scotland, clubs and classes to provide world class event support through out Scotland.
Utilising the marketing support available through Inverclyde and RYA Scotland, the SSI will continue to seek to bring sailing events to Scotland making the most of Scotland’s naturally varied locations and the world class championship facilities in Largs.
In 1999 the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) chose Largs as the location for the Scottish “Centre of Excellence” and the Scottish Sailing Institute (SSI) was created to attract events to Scotland, coordinate large championship events and race training activity and promote Largs as a major International championship venue.
Since then the SSI has successfully organised over 200 events from World Championships to Class Championships which have hosted over 25,000 competitors on the Clyde.
Continued support will include race management training, event consultancy and physical resources to enable clubs all across Scotland to benefit from the world class water sports event management experience held within the SSI. Coordination of race management training will be undertaken by RYA Scotland and will enable more courses to be delivered across Scotland. The physical resources will be accommodated by sportscotland in its facilities at Cumbrae & Inverclyde, in Largs and will be available for hire in 2017.
The SSI Board is confident that these changes will secure the skills, experience and resources of the SSI for the future and will ensure Scotland continues to attract events to our shores.
Quote from John Kent – Principal sportscotland National Centre Inverclyde & Cumbrae.
The merger is a great opportunity for Scottish sailing to take advantage of the skills & equipment developed over 17 years of operation. By joining the SSI with sportscotland and working closely with RYA Scotland the SSI will be able to offer a truly Scottish service in 2017. sportscotland, Event Scotland and the RYA& RYA(S) will be working closely together to also attract major sailing event s to Scotland and Largs. 2017 sees the SSI expanding its horizons for the benefit of Scottish sailing.
Quote James Allan of RYA Scotland
The SSI has been a key element in securing major sailing events for Scotland over the years. I am pleased that the partners have been able to come together and find an arrangement that keeps the core elements of the SSI available for everyone to benefit from and maintains the commitment to Largs as the premier location in Scotland for major national and international sailing events.
Quote Ewan Macpherson Commodore of Largs Sailing Club.
Largs Sailing Club looks forward to continuing to work closely with RYA Scotland, sportscotland, the Scottish Sailing Institute, Largs Yacht Haven and other partners, building upon almost two decades of success in the hosting and delivering almost 200 major Scottish, UK and World Championship sailing events. Together with contributions from across Scotland we have forged a world class team with a reputation which extends across the oceans. We look forward to working closely with all of our partners to build upon this success into the future.’
Quote from Carolyn Elder of Largs Yacht Haven (Scottish Sailing Institute Board member).
Largs Yacht Haven will continue to work with the Scottish Sailing Institute, RYA Scotland and sportscotland to attract sailing events to Largs. The facilities at Largs are world class and we will continue to work collectively to ensure we remain on the world stage.
