It’s been a few years since we had the opportunity to show the wider community what we’ve got – and the community reciprocated!
We had an amazing 96 pre-registrations before the day and accepted walk-ins, resulting in an additional 60 people!

The day was organised into 6 sessions, each one lasting 45 minutes. We offered Kids Sailing in RS Feva’s, Adult Sailing in Corsairs, Family Sailing in Hobie 16’s, Windsurfing, Paddle Boarding, Blow Karting (organised by the Capricornia Blow Kart Club) and even an opportunity to crew in a Sharpie!
As Keppel Bay often has difficult conditions, we had organised the activities to vary during the day. We offered Paddle Boarding, Windsurfing and Kids Sailing in the morning sessions, but they stopped in the afternoon as the swell and wind became too much. Family Sailing and Adult Sailing continued all day. With the Blow Karting, starting late morning and continuing in the afternoon. Since we had such beautiful weather, we were able to accept walk-ins and double ups and keep Paddle Boarding and Windsurfing going longer. Safety boat rides were offered to parents to watch their children and we had a Sausage Sizzle going all day available to anyone for a gold coin donation.

We set up the Discover Sailing Day event through Rev Sport to make it easy for everyone to register to attend the day. We used the ‘Registration Types’ to put in all our sessions and activities separately. We ensured that we had a max number of participants for each activity and that they all cost $0.
See below for an example.

For more information on how to set up events and Discount Codes: System Support - Australian Sailing - Resources

With the help and support of 20 Volunteers and 7 Boat Buddies, we had it well under control! We organised these volunteers so that they would either be helping in the morning or afternoon. We also had no activities between 12-1pm to ensure everyone had a break. 3 volunteers acted as Greeters and were set up in a marquee on the rigging lawn where the participants would arrive. The Greeters task was to sign them in, take their details, fit with a life jacket, give directions to the activity and then radio to the Beach Marshall who was coming and where they are going. The Beach Marshall would direct the participants and introduce them to their skipper. The skipper would do their safety briefing and go for a sail. When the participants’ activity was finished, the Greeters would take the life jackets back and offer a brochure or flyer about our upcoming courses.

This organisational system meant that the day remained fluid and smooth. The skippers did not have to go up and down the beach and ramp – it was low tide, so we had over 30m of beach between the club and ocean. We also had 2 safety boats operating all day with a couple of volunteers on them. The Greeters would radio the safety boats when it was time for the boats to head in and they would inform the skippers.

To promote the Discover Sailing Day, we started marketing about a month before the event. Here is a list of the avenues used for promoting our event;

• Promotion through the KBSC Business Facebook page
• Promotion through the KBSC Sailing Members Facebook page
• Promotion through some of the local Facebook pages; Yeppoon Families, Youth in Livingstone, Yeppoon Girl Guides.
• Promotion through our Weekly What’s On for all sailing members
• Promotion through an interview with ABC Capricornia on the morning of the event
• Signage at the front of the club