The British Universities Sailing Association (BUSA) is the governing body for university sailing in the U.K. It is affiliated to, and supported by, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and is recognized by, and works with, the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) to deliver BUCS sailing championships.
Our membership is composed of subscribing University Sailing Clubs (USCs).
Our activities are organised by a Committee, composed of volunteers, mostly students and recent student-members, elected by USC representatives at the AGM (usually at the Team Racing or Yachting Championships in March/April each year). There are also representatives of the RYA and BUCS.
The purpose of BUSA is to promote student sailing, encouraging participation, both recreationally and in competition in the sport, including fleet, team, match and keelboat racing.
We hold five Championships each year:
BUSA also selects teams for regular and occasional events. These include:
British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) and the RYA select and send teams to World Championships of FISU – the Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire – specifically the World Match Racing Championships, with support from BUSA. BUSA, from time to time supports teams competing in other international events.
Many USCs host their own inter-university events, as well as alumni, weekend events, mostly team racing, but sometimes fleet racing. BUSA seeks to support these, providing an Event Calendar and news.We do not list events which conflict with the annual BUCS Fleet Championships.
Social Media
BUSA uses Facebook,Twitter and Instagram. Many USCs also have their own accounts.
The British Universities' Sailing Association Facebook page (@BUSAMedia) is there to promote BUSA news and business. All university sailors are encouraged to follow it.
All current student sailors are encouraged to be members of the BUSA Facebook Group - so sign up to receive notifications.
Follow us also on Twitter - @BUSAsailing - generally used for blogging during events. Similarly, watch our Instagram - #busamedia.
Most University Sailing Clubs have Facebook Pages and/or Groups, generally publicly visible, so that all can see what is happening, as well as Twitter and Instagram accounts. All of us regularly create event pages for particular events,
Priority is given to communication about BUSA events, but posts about other student sailing events included on the BUSA Calendar and for discussion of student sailing matters are welcome.
At some periods of the year, there is a lot of BUSA business (e.g. in the run-up to entry closing dates, around BUCS-BUSA Championships and other events). Members are asked to exercise discretion and restraint in posting other items at these times, so as to ensure appropriate visibility of BUSA business.
The Group is not intended for personal communications, for general advertisements or for promoting events not included in the Calendar. Inappropriate language is not acceptable.
BUSA will remove inappropriate posts and reserves the right to withdraw membership privileges.
A little bit of history
BUSA was set up in the mid 1960s. It was separate from both the then British University Sports Association (now BUCS) and the RYA at that time, although it did have limited connections with both. The organisation was run by a small group of students from various universities. At the beginning this committee of students ran the annual University Team Racing Championships and organised and selected the team for the bi-annual American and European tours.
In 1991, when the whole of University sport structure was changing, BUSA remained independent from both the then British University Sports Federation (BUSF) and University Athletic Union (UAU) and was provided with a full time secretary by the RYA, then funded by the Eric Twiname Trust. At this time sailing within Universities was still chronically under-funded and many clubs were struggling to run an effective club.
The RYA saw student sailing as an important development area and was beginning to support it more strongly and provide coaching in various areas. The 1993 Team Racing Championships were the first for which regional qualifiers were run. With several of the polytechnics becoming universities, keen to compete in sailing, the number of entries to the Championships had become unmanageable. So, a series of four regional qualifiers were established prior to the Finals, together with League weekends in Scotland..
During this period BUSA sailing continued to liaise with UAU and BUSF with an ever-improving relationship and, by the time those two organisations merged to form the British University Sports Association (noe British Universities and Clleges Sport - BUCS), BUSA sailing was well-recognised. with a long established constitution and Championship structure.