The RYA Eastern Region is an affiliation of area associations and clubs and is itself affiliated to the RYA. The region is managed through the Eastern Regional Committee, its members being representatives of area associations and individuals with specialist skills or interests.

The Eastern Region (RYA East) covers the area from The Wash to the Thames Barrier, and from the coast to the M1 corridor with a spur down into Buckinghamshire. It is the largest of the home regions, with 176 clubs and 95 Training Centres and 14,000 personal members. In all RYA East could be said to represent over half a million-leisure boaters.

Clubs affiliate to an area association, which in turn sends one or two representatives (depending on the number of clubs it represents) to the Regional Committee, which meets four times a year. The regional committee receives a grant from headquarters to meet its expenses. The chairman, represents the region on the RYA Council.

Sub-committees of the Regional Committee include the Regional Training Panel, which oversees the running of the regional training fleet and supports the Regional Development Officer (RDO) and the Zone High Performance Manager (HPM).

Ad-hoc committees form to run conferences and special events.

The region has just about every form of watersport – dinghy sailing, dinghy racing, sailboat cruising, powerboat racing, motorboat cruising, windsurfing, personal water craft (jetskis), and water skiing. The region has the longest coastline of any of the RYA regions and it also boasts some of the best inland waterways and lake boating of any area. It also includes Britain’s only water-based National Park – the Broads.

The region is recognised as one the liveliest and forward thinking in the RYA structure.

Royal Yachting Association

The RYA is the UK's national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, power boating and motor boating. It is the National Authority for racing in sailing dinghies, keelboats, yachts, windsurfers, and powerboats. Its training schemes are recognised and emulated all over the world. It looks after the interests of its growing personal membership of over 110,000 and 1,600 affiliated clubs, making sure their voice is heard in Parliament, in government departments, agencies, local and harbour authorities, as well as (indirectly) in Europe and at the International Maritime Organisation, IMO.

Over 3,500,000 people in the UK regularly participate in competition or activities within the RYA's remit. Sailing is the country's most successful Olympic sport, and GB is the world's top Olympic sailing nation. Like many other sports the RYA has benefited from the lottery funded World Class Performance Programme.