Issue date
Young sailors rarely get the chance to represent their schools and it's one of the reasons why the numbers competing in yachting has grown significantly at the Anchor AIMS Games.
Photo: Jamie Troughton / Dscribe Media Services.
This year's instalment will be the fourth year sailing has been included on the programme and it's expected close to 100 11-13-year-olds will take part. It's one of 22 sports included in the AIMS Games and the rundown is as varied as golf to gymnastics and rugby sevens to rock climbing.
Entries for sailing, which will be contested in Optimists on September 8-11, close on June 13 - late entries might be accepted by incur a 50 percent penalty fee - and it will once again be run out of the Tauranga Yacht & Power Boat Club.
The AIMS Games (Association of Intermediate and Middle Schools) has grown markedly from the first instalment in 2004 when 760 competitors representing 17 schools took part in four sports. Last year, close to 10,000 children from 303 schools from as far afield as Indonesia and the Cook Islands competed, making it bigger than the Commonwealth Games in terms of participants.
As many as 94 youngsters aged 11-13 competed in sailing with Takapuna Normal Intermediate taking out the team's award - the top two sailors from each school are counted.
George Lee Rush of Kristin School took both overall and year eight boys' honours by the narrowest of margins, beating Takapuna Normal Intermediate's Mason Mulcahy on countback. Robbie Wooldridge of Takapuna Normal Intermediate won the year seven boys' section ahead and Amelia Angus won the year eight girls' category and was first girl overall.
The AIMS Games yachting event is open to students who are in years 7 and 8 of their schooling, so are typically 11-13 years of age by the time the event is run in early September each year. Students can place overall in the regatta, or by year and gender and also earn points for their school as a team within the overall results.
See here for more on the sailing at the AIMS Games.
