Why Rockley holds a special place in her heart for Sarah

EARLIEST ROCKLEY MEMORIES

I first came to Rockley around 1988, when I was 10 years old. I was on a residential beginner sailing course - it was called Rockley Point Sailing School back then - and I remember the caravan we stayed in (with our house mum) was just up the slope from the beach. The course was so much fun - I was in the Oppy group and we were arch enemies with the Toppers. I can't remember many of the instructors' names but I can definitely remember Straw - he was everyone's favourite instructor, although we were all a bit scared of him as well! I remember sailing over to Arne for lunch and Straw started a massive mud fight between all the kids and instructors - we were all completely covered and I remember Straw picking us up and throwing us in the water one by one, which we LOVED!

ZERO TO HERO – ROCKLEY’S INTENSIVE TRAINING COURSE

I did the ITC (Intensive Training Course) at Rockley after sixth form. I had started at University but wasn't enjoying it so I quit and went to Rockley in January 1997. The course was three or four months long and the four of us on it came out with Kayak Instructor, Windsurfing Instructor, Dinghy Instructor (including PB2 and First Aid), Day Skipper Practical, Yachtmaster Theory, VHF Radio and Diesel Engine Maintenance. It was, as the course name suggests, pretty intense but it was an amazing experience and it was so brilliant to be trained by the same people who had taught me to sail when I was a kid: Straw was one of our main instructors, along with Gaz and Stewart.

SAIL FRANCE – PROBABLY THE BEST TIME OF MY LIFE

I stayed at Rockley in Poole for a bit after the course, and then I went out to Sail France for montage and to work the rest of the season.

My season at Sail France was probably one of the best times of my life! It was an amazing group of people and a beautiful place to spend a season. The comet Hale Bopp was in the sky at the time and I remember taking the children bivouacking in the forest each week. I always ended up on duty for bivouacking as I was one of the only female instructors - happily there are more girls becoming instructors now. The stars were incredible in the forest - there was pretty much no light pollution - I'd never seen anything like it.

There were two Rockley centres in France at the time - La Reserve and La Rive. I spent a bit of time at both but most of the time at La Rive. One of my favourite jobs was to take groups of kids out on the Hobie Cats - we would take snacks with us and have a picnic in the middle of the lake and then the all kids would jump in. However, the absolute best thing about my time out in France with Rockley, was meeting so many amazing people - many of whom are still some of my very best friends today!

STILL PASSIONATE ABOUT SAILING

The following summer I taught dinghy sailing for Sunworld out in Greece, and the summer after that I worked for PGL out in Spain. My love of sailing has continued throughout my life - I've done a few channel crossings and round the island races, and enjoy dinghy racing every week at my local sailing club in Lymington. I'm also still involved in junior sailing - I regularly drive rescue boats to support kids' sailing sessions and have volunteered at our local kids sailing club summer camps over the past few years. All three of my children sail regularly and my eldest, Oscar, just did his RYA Dinghy Instructor course at Rockley - with none other than Straw...