PHOTOS:
Kelly shows her sailing skills
Kelly Mayhew
A little too close for comfort or an optical illusion
One of Kelly's deserved awards
 

 
When Kelly Mayhew became the youngest-ever life member in the history of Neyland Yacht Club it was a fitting tribute for a young lady who is a more than useful sailor but has devoted a huge amount of her spare time to coaching others at the club.
 
Kelly’s tremendous work, especially with regard to helping youngsters with a disability, saw her nominated for, and winning, the Welsh Yachting Association Coach of the Year in 2012. She was one of 200 nominations for this special award and was amazed, and rightly thrilled, when her name was announced at the National Water Sports Centre at Plas Menai in North Wales, as the winner. She received the trophy from Steve Morgans, the chief executive of the Welsh Yachting Association, and was given a standing ovation on a night she is never likely to forget.
 

Huge recognition fully deserved

 
Not content with that success, Kelly’s terrific work was again recognised in 2013 when she was short-listed for the Royal Yacht Association ‘Volunteer of the Year’ and after attending the prestigious awards’ ceremony in London once again was over the moon at being chosen as the winner.
 
She was also runner-up in the ‘Sport Pembrokeshire’ awards a couple of years ago and again in 2013 she was runner up in the Young Coach of the Year’ organised by BBC Wales as their main event of the year where all the top Welsh sports people are in attendance.
 
Throughout the winter Kelly has been heavily involved at the club on the administrative side, helping to fill in applications for grant-aid so that they can regenerate their GP14 fleet for newcomers to sailing and is already looking forward to the spring so that she can get out and coach sailors on the water-front at Neyland, and much farther afield.
 
This week we were finally able to catch up with Kelly and we are delighted she could fill us in with some of the details around her work in sailing:
 
“I started sailing as an eight year old at Neyland Yacht Club, the only member of my family to sail to date, apart from when I taught mum Christine her Level One sailing award four years ago, but let’s just say she didn't take to it like a duck to water! I can’t even get dad Martin out on the water – but that’s another story!
“At the age of nine I had my first boat, a yellow topper, which I sailed within the club, and on the county youth race circuit (CYRC) for two year until she sadly sank on me and was no longer sea worthy.
 

Tip-top topper and lightning laser!

 
“My next boat was another topper, a red one which again I competed in at club and county level, and I also competed for Sir Thomas Picton at the same time. I had this boat for three years. And then aged13 I bought a laser dinghy and competed at the same level, but never really wanting to become well known in the competitive side of sailing.
 “This time I would say was my more social time in sailing, involving camping and travelling with other family friends, once at the Welsh Youth Championships in Pwllheli, where we had eight of us in one caravan.
“This was to be my last major event in my laser, selling it early last year to buy my current and final boat, a Blaze, which I am slowly adjusting to with major swimming lessons as I fall in the water, and trips to the chandlery to replace parts lost overboard or damaged!

Early start to coaching

 
“At 14 I started coaching within Neyland Yacht Club, gaining my RYA Assistant Instructor qualification alongside my fellow instructors at the time including Phil Leggett, Colin Johns and Martyn York. I continued to coach at club level until aged 16 alongside my own laser sailing.
“It was at this time I completed my RYA Dinghy Instructor Certification at Pembrokeshire Activity Centre in Llanion, where I later became a freelance instructor on and off, fitting it in whilst studying for my A-levels at Sir Thomas Picton School. 
 
“As well as these coaching experiences locally I was lucky enough to be selected by the Welsh Yachting Association to be lead coach on the regatta fleet at the South and West Wales On-Board Regatta, held on Llangorse Lake.

Welsh Yachting Association Coach

 
“From the age of 16 to the present time I have coached in conjunction with other WYA coaches including Chris Jeffries, Ben Smith, Steve Small, and Richard Owens, all of whom have helped expand my knowledge of sailing, activities surrounding the sport and getting me to events to coach, even when I couldn't drive or get transport. This has had a major impact on my role to date as a coach.

“As a club we have had many young people come through us gaining RYA qualifications recognised world-wide. This year five people alone from my racing group have got through to regional, Welsh and GBR squads, which is fantastic news for our club!

Star students for Kelly

 
“The first time I met two of our longest junior sailors was about five years ago,  when Morgan Bugler and Sam Gwilliam, caught my eye. They had witty banter along with infectious smiles, and both would compete for the club at the West CYRC's. To many of our sailors this would be considered no small achievement.

“Sam has a hearing impairment so when he is on the water he removes his hearing aid and cochlear implant so his only means of communication is lip reading. This proved difficult when coaching which got us all thinking outside the box, using a buzzer, lights and white boards and any other means. Quickly we worked out basic signs along with help from his dad and Sam himself for basic sailing terminology such as sheeting, tacking, gybing and direction.

“Morgan also had his own personal challenges as he has cerebral palsy, which led to small adjustments to the boat and setting himself small goals such as independent movement within the boat, smoothing out movement as best as possible to get the boat to go as well as anyone else.
“There is definitely no holding back for Morgan, competing all over Britain at national events and being selected for the South and West Regional Squad for two years running!
“This year Morgan didn't stop at sailing to compete, but has started his Assistant Sailing Instructor qualification at Neyland Yacht Club, alongside Steve Small on a weekly basis. Morgan's hopes for the near future are to get a Paralympic rating and trial some Paralympic boats, with big dreams for the future!

Real encouragement from family and friends

 
“As well as having brilliant parents in Christine and Martin, I have also received every encouragement from Ben Ford, principle of the yacht club, secretary Gwyn Phillips and Commodore Richard (Dick) Wooding, all helping me to reach where I am today, along with Chris Jefferies, Ben Smith and Steve Morgan of the Welsh Yachting Association. 

“My other qualifications to date are:
· Assistant dinghy instructor and instructor
· Power boat level 2/ Safety boat
· Power boat and safety boat instructor
· VHF / First aid
 

Looking forward this year

 
“Although I have been lucky to have my work highlighted in so many ways I am just happy to be involved at Neyland Yacht Club, which is a brilliant place to be involved and now that spring is upon us it will be great to get back out on the water.

I also have another job in trying to acquire funding to replenish our stock of GP14 boats in our area and on a wider base I will be part of the National Water Sports Conference which meets at Plas Menai, where we are looking to highlight the need for more coaches and get youngsters involved in our sport.
“Both are challenges but I am looking forward to it.”
 

And finally . . .

 
We were delighted to chat to Kelly for a short while and it is easy to see the energy and enthusiasm she brings to her sailing, both locally and nationally.
We were very impressed by all that Kelly does and can only say, long may Kelly Mayhew continue to do such great work at Neyland Yacht Club!