Flying Eleven’s to invade our Shores
by John Kennett on 21 Mar 2014
Action and concentration at the Flying 11 Australian Nationals in January 2014 Mark Long
The hull moulds are loaded and additional boats are on their way to boost the New Zealand fleet of Flying Eleven’s.
The Flying Eleven is a proven and popular Australian Junior class that has been growing steadily for several decades, supported by a very strong Australian Association. It is their Junior Two Handed dinghy of choice for preparing young sailors for the likes of the 29er and 420 classes.
The local NZ Class Association representative John Kennett says that when living in Australia he saw the boat in action and it looked perfect to fit the void that exists in NZ for Junior Two Handed sailing. Since then he took a NZ team to Australia for their Nationals in January and saw 166 sailors in action and they were having a ball. What was amazing about this boat was its performance and ability to be sailed by such a wide range of ages and weight combinations. Ages range from 10 to 18 years and crew weight combinations range from 75 to 115 kgs.
The key to the boat appears to be its light weight yet strong construction, making it manageable on shore and lively on the water, but without any nasty habits to catch young sailors out. It is an excellent follow on boat from the Optimist.
We believe it is perfect to catch sailors who might drop out of sailing because they would prefer to sail with someone else, are simply bored or are looking for the challenges and thrills of skiff type sailing. It’s incredible the change in motivation when two young sailors are put together into a boat like the Flying Eleven.
It appears to be Australia’s secret weapon and has produced some excellent sailors the likes of Iain Murray, Adam Beashel, Nathan Outteridge, Malcolm Page and too many others to list here, but who are sailing at a high level internationally.
The Association intends to have a boat on display at the NZ Boat Show in Auckland in May 2014.
For more information on the Flying Eleven go to:
www.facebook.com/pages/Flying-11s-Australia/173317192809454
www.flying11.org.nz
email: flying11nz@gmail.com
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