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Everything from starts and speed to preparation and peak events was covered at the recent North Island Optimist clinic held at the Wakatere Boating Club.
The annual NZIODA clinic is normally held at Eastern Beaches, with the young sailors staying at Willow Park, but uncertainty around Auckland's Covid-19 status meant organisers opted to hold the event at Wakatere.
It saw 72 youngsters from around New Zealand descend on Wakatere, where they received tutelage from some of the country's best coaches, and followed on from last month's NZIODA South Island clinic hosted by the Queen Charlotte Yacht Club. Both were run with the support of the OWNZ Trust.
New ILCA 7 (Laser) world champion Tom Saunders was among the 12 coaches at Wakatere, along with New Zealand SailGP Team member Liv Mackay and Orestes Reyes, who has coached Optimist sailors to world and intercontinental titles.
"We had a fantastic week out on the water," said Yachting New Zealand youth and event manager Sam Mackay, who also doubles as NZIODA head coach. "We had a great group of coaches, so hopefully all of the sailors took something away from the week and are better prepared to get the best out of themselves.
"Orestes gave two very good talks about boat handling and boat speed and based it on what some of the top sailors around the world are doing, so it was great to hear what is happening overseas. It was pretty insightful and should have given everyone some things to work on with some big events coming up."
NZIODA hope to be able to send New Zealand teams to international regattas in 2022 after making the difficult decision to opt out of that in 2021 due to Covid-19. Those teams will be selected from results from next month's Interislander regatta in Picton and April's nationals in Napier.
NZIODA hope to return to Eastern Beaches next year for the North Island camp and find the live-in aspect of the week hugely appealling.
"It's a great experience for any young sailor," said Mackay, who was a participant at the camp in Optimist sailing days. "It helps foster friendships that can last a lifetime but also encourages independence because the youngsters need to be self-managed and work with team mates.
"We would love to go back to Eastern Beaches next January."
