Issue date
“Sailing is actually pretty Awesome!!” Eden, Inglewood Primary school
With the end of the school year comes the end of the Volvo Sailing…Have a Go! programme for term 4, and what a successful term it has been! Yachting New Zealand’s national participation initiative has given 1435 students from 47 schools across the country an opportunity to experience sailing.
Over 90% of these students expressed interest in continuing on with sailing, and reports are coming in from yacht clubs about their Learn to Sail programmes filling up as a result of hosting the Volvo Sailing…Have a go! programme.
Gale force winds, rain, hail and other typical New Zealand spring conditions didn’t diminish the excitement of students experiencing sailing for the first time, although the instructors may feel differently! South Island instructor Henry reported he has never been so cold in his life as he was at Lake Rotoiti (which is saying something as he hails from England) and windy Wellington has certainly lived up to its reputation, keeping life interesting for the central instructor Milly over the past few weeks! But with approximately 90% of kids rating the day as “awesome”, evaluations filled out by the participants reveal what the students enjoy about Having a go! - “going fast”, “Capsizing” “going far out from the shore” and “when the strong wind tipped the boat” are some examples of comments received.
The Volvo Sailing…Have a Go! programme is offered to schools throughout the country and hosted out of Yachting New Zealand affiliated Yacht clubs, providing the first connection between kids and their local sailing club. With a focus on water safety and building confidence in and around the water, kids are taught the importance of wearing adequate clothing and correctly fitted life jackets, rigging and parts of the boat, and the basic ideas behind how to make a boat sail. All this education is disguised by fun activities, capsizing and often a sneaky waterfight!
Schools really value being able to offer sailing as an activity for their students, and regard the experience as worthwhile and beneficial to the students’ education. Teachers enjoy watching the children be challenged and experience something often well outside their comfort zone, and then to learn new skills, grow in confidence and feel a sense of achievement, all while having fun in the process.
The Sailing…Have a Go! programme was launched in 2006, with one trailer, looking to fulfil Sir Peter Blake’s idea that all children should get a chance to go Sailing. The Team New Zealand 2000 trust provided the original funding to get the programme started and with the continued support of The Lion Foundation, and Volvo coming on as the naming rights sponsor in 2013, the Volvo Sailing…Have a Go! programme now has three trailers traversing the country, and spreading sailing joy!
A huge thanks to the Yacht clubs and volunteers who have supported the Volvo Sailing…Have a Go! programme run so successfully this year. The programme will be back in term 1 next year, to give more kids a fantastic day sailing.
If you are interested in having the Volvo Sailing… Have a go! programme visit your yacht club or school in 2016, please contact Danika
Danika Mowlem | Programmes and Services Coordinator | Yachting New Zealand
DDI (09) 361 4028 | E danika@yachtingnz.org.nz
http://www.yachtingnz.org.nz/learn-to-sail/volvo-sailing-have-a-go
