The Play Pen

by Ian Grant on 14 Jan 2004 Mooloolaba Yacht Club dinghy skipper Sean O’Rourke proved the value of spending time as a junior in the ‘Play Pen’ by setting the foundation for him to record a fine win in the Australian Sabot championship in Bowen.

Sean’s floating Play Pen the Sydney 38 one-design ocean racing sloop of the same name was an enclosed educational unit where he had the opportunity to absorb the important tactical issues involved with sailing to win.

The smile on the teenagers face said it all when he spent an important sailing education session with the senior members of the Play Pen crew when the sloop contested the international Hog’s Breath Race Week at Airlie Beach followed by the Hahn Premium Australian championship at Hamilton Island last August.

Young O’Rourke enjoyed being called ‘the kid in the play pen’ and being known as a sanctioned truant from classes at Matthew Flinders College because it allowed him to think look and listen in a different educational environment.

He still had to cover the important subjects of English, mathematics, discipline and the environment in a much larger open air class room.

However there were no normal lectures or school books just the exposure to leaning how other high profile one design skippers and tacticians race their yachts.

Sean had a number of ‘masters’ to respect and admire including his father Vince his Sabot coach Michael Grieve, Olympian Greg Torpy and Play Pen part owner Dean Kurz.

All four Play Pen seniors made sure the young student took full value away from a different education unit.

Sailing a Sabot is completely different to being a team player on a high performance racing sloop like Play Pen.

Sean O’Rourke showing the sailing maturity well beyond his 14 years cleverly applied his special educational experience to steer Rapid Fire to her impressive Australian Title win over the Christmas-New Year period.

He was alone in the dinghy and had to cope with making all of the important sail fast decisions on where to start, provide the strength and bodyweight to hike in the leaning straps besides constantly adjusting the sail trim to ensure Rapid Fire held the necessary boat speed to sail ahead of the opposition.

His result was a deserved reward for being an attentive student and the success could open a new role when Play Pen contests the major Sydney 38 class regattas later this year.

Sean has graduated with distinction following his Sabot championship success and he is now ready to be tested in a far more demanding role as the trio of Play Pen owners Dean Kurz, Vince O’Rourke and Michael Grieve select their crew to contest the Australian championship at Hamilton Island later this year.

However just being part of their crew will expose him to another important learning curve when Play Pen matches her pace against the 2003 Hahn Premium Australian Champion Rush skippered by former World Etchells title winner Cameron Miles and dual Hog’s Breath Australian title winner Lou Abrahams in Another Challenge.