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Senior School

Senior School

Sailing

Sailing is a key focus offered to all, from novice to advanced sailors. We participate in a wide range of racing formats and events at local, national and international levels. We take great pride in being one of the few schools in the country to offer sailing as part of the curriculum, allowing all pupils from Prep to Sixth form, beginner to elite, to experience and develop sailing.

We don’t just develop great sailors; we develop confident and capable young people, shaped by the challenge and beauty of the Solent.

Through strategic partnerships with prominent organisations across the Island, we seek to maximise opportunities for our sailors and leverage our exceptional location at the heart of the UK’s sailing community and ensure our students receive the highest level of instruction.

We work with partners across the Island to maximise opportunities for our sailing pupils, beginner and elite alike: Tackt-Isle, Royal Thames Yacht Club via Cowes, Sea View Yacht Club, and Tuesday night racing with the Island Sailing Club.

In addition to our sailing programme children can enjoy all year alongside whilst studying at Ryde School we also offer an exciting Summer Camp for young people wanting to have fun, sail, learn new skills alongside like minded individuals.

Our Mission

Our mission is to provide an exceptional sports programme, encompassing a diverse range of opportunities suited to all ability levels.  We strive for excellence, foster character and inspire a lifelong passion for sport, physical activity and health.  We are proud of our island and we embrace its unique challenges to ensure our community can access and succeed in a wide range of sports at all levels.

From beginner to elite: Pathways of Excellence

  • In conjunction with traditional sports, sailing is incorporated into the weekly timetable during the Autumn and Summer terms.
  • National competitions and regatta entries
  • Swallows and Amazons trip for adventure/exploration sailing

  • Year round sailing with specialist coaches within the weekly timetable
  • Continuation of team racing in both training and national competitions
  • Summer Term after school training
  • Introduction to keelboat racing in the school’s J70
  • ILCA training for the elite squad
  • International keelboat events (match racing and J70s)

ILCA Elite Pathway

This package is for students pursuing a ‘dual career’ who want to combine elite sailing with academically rigorous education. This personalised programme will develop individuals skills in ILCA sailing, racing technique and strength and conditioning:

  • Thursday afternoon ILCA coaching with Martin Evans, Head Sailing Coach
  • Two Saturdays a month ILCA coaching with GP watercraft coaches
  • Entry, accommodation, transport, supervision and coaching at 4 National Opens
  • One 4 day training camp to be held in a school holiday
  • Kit including branded buoyancy aid
  • Development of an individual Strength and Conditioning plan for focus in our onsite gym with sports staff, with two sessions during the year to monitor technique and progress with a British Sailing coach.

This personalised programme attracts an additional fee of £5,500 payable in addition to the school fee. For more information contact the admissions team to arrange a conversation with our sailing team.

With the Solent as our classroom, sailing at Ryde is about far more than learning to handle a boat, it is about building resilience, tactical thinking, and lifelong confidence on the water. Whether stepping into a dinghy for the first time or competing at national championship level, we provide every pupil with the coaching time within the curriculum needed to thrive in one of the world’s finest sailing grounds.

Claudia Manser – Director of Sailing

Professional Coaching Team

Chris Grube

3 x Olympian, 470 World Championship Silver Medalist, J70 World Champion

Ted Blowers

3 x National match Racing Champion, 2 x Etchells Youth European Champion

Martin Evans

Head Sailing Coach

Claudia Manser

Director of Sailing

Chris Grube
3 x Olympian, 470 World Championship Silver Medalist, J70 World Champion
Chris Grube is one of the most successful British sailors in history who first joined the British Sailing Team in 2004 and has built a prominent career in the 470 dinghy class. He represented Great Britain at three Olympic Games, competing in Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and Paris 2024. During his campaigns in Rio and Tokyo, Grube secured fifth-place finishes in the Men’s Two Person Dinghy (470) event. After a brief retirement, he returned to the sport to partner with Vita Heathcote in the newly formed Mixed 470 class. The duo won a silver medal at the 470 World Championships in February 2024 to qualify for the Paris Games, where they ultimately finished eleventh. Outside of his Olympic endeavors, his notable achievements include winning the J70 World Championship in 2023.
Ted Blowers
3 x National match Racing Champion, 2 x Etchells Youth European Champion
Ted Blowers has worked and competed as a professional sailor for the last 8 years, specialising in Match Racing and the highly regarded one-design Etchells class. He and his team have been ranked in the top 15 in the Match Racing World Rankings, crowned British match racing national champions three times, as well as in 2026 winning the overall British Etchells season championship. Alongside his own professional sailing, he has been involved with coaching and team management for Etchells and Match racing within the UK.
Martin Evans
Head Sailing Coach
Martin is a former British Sailing Team athlete in the ILCA, winning several world and european medals at U21 level and a UK Senior National title. From there, he went on to race professionally in keelboats and branched into sailing management, working and racing on the Extreme Sailing Series.
After an extended honeymoon, which included sailing from Cowes to the Caribbean and back on his own boat over a year, Martin returned to professional coaching and took up post as the Global Class Manager for WASZP, delivering some of the biggest foiling events in history. Alongside his post at Ryde, Martin is the Racing Manager for JOG Yacht Racing, where he is responsible for the delivery of 17 offshore and coastal yacht races from Cowes to various destinations along the south coast and across the channel. Alongside his other work, Martin has coached in a schools and charity environment since 2016 with the Scaramouche Sailing Trust, helping talented sailors from underrepresented groups excel in the sport.
Martin draws on his vast experience from across all sections of the sport to lead the Ryde coaching team. Through the unique opportunities that Ryde’s Solent location offers, Martin is passionate about creating lifelong sailors and helping students achieve their very best in a challenging and rewarding environment.
Claudia Manser
Director of Sailing
Claudia’s childhood was spent sailing around the south coast of the UK, where she enjoyed both competitive dinghy sailing as well as yacht racing and cruising.  Coming from a family of sailors a love of the water and an appreciation of the independence and resilience that sailing creates were instilled from an early age.
Since joining Ryde School ten years ago Claudia has created the sailing programme and worked to ensure Ryde students experience all the benefits our location affords.  Claudia believes that a combination of elite level coaching and wide ranging experiences is the key to progression in our students at every level of sailing.

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