Junior Sailing Report Saturday 23rd May With heavy rain squalls forecast and winds up to 35-40 knots it was easy to make the decision on Friday to hold the Junior Sailing session indoors and cover some theory. A keen group of six youngsters turned up, one from playing Netball, and absolutely soaking wet, and two from Karate, who were relatively dry. We started off by discovering how many parts of the boat could be recognized and named, and then everyone was asked to showcase their artistic skills by drawing, labeling and coloring their picture of an Optimist. They were also asked to give it a name, as we are looking to name the only un-named Opti in the fleet. All six entries are on facebook - please vote for the one you like most!! Next came knot tying, and the grown ups were keen to join in too. They (kids and parents) all learnt to tie a Reef knot, a Figure of Eight, and a Bowline. People ended up in quite a pickle and Corin appeared trussed up a bit like a turkey ready for Christmas dinner! We had some knot tying races and even did some with our eyes shut. Two and a half hours flew by very quickly. Just a reminder that the next Junior Sailing is on 13th June at 2.30pm, which is a two week break, which means we won't clash with any of the morning sports activities. Look forward to seeing you all out on the water. The Junior fleet now consists of five Optimists and two Sunbursts, the latter two dinghies bought recently off Ponsonby YC thanks to a joint effort by Gary Matthews and Niall. Yachting New Zealand have offered the club the loan of two Omega dinghies, which will be great to teach adults to dinghy sail. Our next major outlay will be to purchase a decent Safety Boat, which is vital for safe management of a dinghy fleet. We were quite challenged to rescue one of our Optis that capsized a few weeks ago, using a very rigid and unforgiving safety boat. However skillful driving by Stuart Wills and safe handling of the upside down Opti, and it's proud but wet helm, by the rescuers, ensured there were no dramas. Gill Moore Dinghy Sailing Coordinator dinghysailing@hycnz.org.nz |
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