A BEMBRIDGE sailor will be presented with one of the Royal Yachting Association’s (RYA) most prestigious awards by the Princess Royal, president of the RYA, in recognition of his commitment to the RYA’s South Region.

Mike Samuelson has been nominated for the regional volunteer award by the RYA’s South Region Volunteer Team and has been selected as a winner by the RYA Honours and Awards Panel.

Mike joined Bembridge Sailing Club in 1960 as a cadet and after a distinguished career in the Royal Marines, took over as the club secretary in early 1996.

He has fulfilled many key club and IW roles and has been the East Wight RYA representative for more than six years, providing valuable local knowledge to the RYA on Marine Conservation Zone issues.

As the secretary of the Bembridge Harbour Users Group since it was founded 15 years ago, he has represented the concerns of leisure boaters, helping to preserve access for boaters to Bembridge and as Bembridge Sailing Club’s club secretary, he introduced and ran training courses, engaged instructors, ensured that there were sufficient RIBs and support boats to safeguard young sailors and insisted that all sailors, however experienced, wore buoyancy aids when necessary.

He was the club’s chief instructor from 2000 to 2014 and the Royal Ocean co-ordinator for the club’s keelboat and Illusion racing, ensuring a high quality of courses much appreciated by all those involved.

Mike also found time to be a deputy launching authority for Bembridge Lifeboat from 2004 to 2012, and the lifeboat operations manager from 2012 to 2017.

He is currently the lifeboat press officer, a member of the local visits team, education team and community safety team.

As a new task this year he has also become a visits guide at the Inshore Lifeboat Centre in East Cowes.

Throughout his long and extremely valuable service to sailing in Bembridge and East Wight, Mike’s endeavours have helped countless people to learn to sail safely and enjoy the sport at all levels.

Mike said: “I was very surprised but of course delighted when I heard that I had been nominated for an RYA Volunteer Award.

“I have always enjoyed being involved in training and being able to pass on my boating knowledge & experiences to others. The East Wight is a brilliant sailing area and I have always felt very privileged to have settled so happily in the area.”