How to earn your badge
Top tips
How to earn your badge
Before you attempt Stage 2, you need to have completed all the steps for Sailing Stage 1. You then need to complete all the tasks outlined.
If you have achieved the RYA Youth Sailing Scheme Stage 2 you can automatically gain this badge.
How to earn your badge
Before you attempt Stage 3, you need to have completed all the steps for Sailing Stage 2.
You then need to complete all the tasks outlined, ideally in a different boat to Stage 2.
If you’re using a keelboat, you don’t have to complete steps 1-3.
If you have achieved The Scout Association Personal Activity Permit for Dinghy Sailing or hold the RYA Youth Sailing Scheme Stage 3 you can automatically gain this badge.
How to earn your badge
If you hold the RYA Youth Sailing Scheme Stage 4 you can automatically gain this badge.
See the A-Z of Activities at scouts.org.uk/a-z, for information on taking your section sailing or dinghy sailing. For further support with this activity, contact your local Assistant County Commissioner (Activities), District Adviser (Activities/Water Activities) or your Regional Adviser (Activities) in Scotland. There may also be a County Team or Scout Active Support Unit that can provide support.
Each young person who participates in the Programme, including badges and awards, should face a similar degree of challenge, and requirements can be adapted according to each young person’s abilities. For more information and practical tips see our guidance on flexibility.
As with all of the Staged Activity Badges, the stages are progressive to allow young people an ongoing challenge. Although the requirements for Stage 1 can completed without actually being on the water, it’s best to complete them as part of a sailing activity. As well as being more fun, this will give young people a head start when they start working towards Stage 2.
For centres that run sailing, we have a useful list of water facilities and training centres to refer to. Some Scout Adventures and Scout Scotland National Activity Centres also run this activity.
If running this activity yourself on class C waters, you don’t need a permit for sailing, just someone who has the appropriate skills and knowledge to lead the activity, and to complete a risk assessment. Class C waters are ‘safe inland waters which are less than 100m wide where flow causes little effect (including swimming pools)’. If on other waters, you can find a local permit holder for this activity, via a permit holder search on Compass (for guidance click here) or by contacting your local Manager of the Activity Permit Scheme. Take a look at this directory which shows classifications of waterways in UK.
If you have a local Sea Scout Group or Unit , why not see if you can join in with some of their activities, or even arrange a time for their permit holder(s) to take your section out on the water.
By the time young people reach Stage 4, taking part in a sail training experience may be really beneficial in working towards some of the elements of the badge. There are some great opportunities for Explorers to really challenge themselves that are offered by organisations such as the Discovery Sailing Project and Adventures Offshore are perfect for Explorers to get involved with.