BNYA was formed with the primary intention of ensuring that information about the sport of sailing is preserved, where sailing is construed in the widest possible sense. It boils down to two main objectives: - to identify the existence of any source material or artefacts and - to capture people’s knowledge not otherwise documented. It is a virtual archive in that it does not want to hold archival material (although it will help find homes if needed) but be an on-line resource which points to the sources with a long-term aim to digitise material and deliver it online. Registered Charity status was obtained at the end of last year since when efforts have been made to obtain funding to develop the tools required, so far unsuccessfully.