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The world’s best junior sailors are in Torbay this week for the Aon Youth Sailing World Championships and the message to aspiring kids enrolled for the Volvo Sailing... Have A Go! programme is that the top sailors all started in the same boats they get to try out.
(Olympic bronze medallist Sam Meech with some Have A Go! sailors)
The Have A Go! programme has been running for 11 years, having been set up by the Sir Peter Blake Trust with the aim of every Kiwi kid having the opportunity to try sailing. As many as 3500 children aged between 8 and 12 are put through the programme each year and around 180 from local North Shore schools are converging on Torbay during the youth world championships.
It’s the first time a programme has been run in the school holidays but is the perfect time to try to inspire the next generation of sailors.
“What we have been telling them is that every single sailor competing in the youth worlds started in an Optimist at some point,” Volvo Sailing... Have A Go! co-ordinator Danika Mowlem said. “All Olympic sailors started in an Opti. We tell them that if they like it and it’s fun, this is where it can take you.
“The main focus is having fun. We teach them the basics, let them sail around, capsize, go swimming and have water fights. It’s a really positive experience about sailing. Ideally, they might think it’s a sport they might want to get into.
“The kids love it, especially capsizing, and 95 percent say they want to sail again.”
Yachting New Zealand now have three trailers that travel the country, complete with six Optimists, one Weta (trimaran), two Topper Taz and a RIB. They also provide all the gear like wetsuits and lifejackets. Each child needs to be able to swim 50m with a buoyancy aid.
Olympic bronze medallist Sam Meech was on hand at Torbay over the weekend to share some of his experiences as a young sailor.
Interested schools can find out more information about the Have A Go! programme on the Yachting New Zealand website (yachtingnz.or.nz) or email danika@yachtingnz.org.nz.
