Here's the thing...

by John Curnow, Editor, Sail World AUS on 30 May 2017 There’s some serious racing going on. It’s in Bermuda, and you can get all the hot intel about it, right here on Sail-World.com. For others, it is not the be all and end all, so then as to not to alienate anyone, we’ll move on. Save for one thing, however. Should the Kiwis win with their Aussie legend, it will be good for the region.

How so? Well consider the superyachts. They will have to come here to the region, and that will most likely be through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific. There’s also Tokyo 2020 to consider, and with any superyacht coming to the PacRim region presently having to commit to a minimum two-year programme, we could well see a greater influx of vessels, staying for much longer, and that means jobs! So yes. Swallowing the unpalatable for a second, this will be very good for us from a tourism, as well as a refit and maintenance point of view. Bring it on!

Here at Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, it was great to see people like the hard-working Kevin Barr, Harken, Flagstaff Marine/Beneteau, Ensign/Bavaria, Richard Pacific, and the deeply committed Poppy Moore. What she’s doing is terrific and all for a registered charity, so it is little wonder that many great companies have helped her out. Carl and Grant Amor from Aqualuma gave here $2500 dollars worth of product to auction off, Peter Staalsmid from Sevenstar Yacht Transport gave a significant cash donation, and Pantaenius paid off her premium for the year.

Others have donated her wonderful products like a new bimini, which will be invaluable as she continues to head North, and Muir’s provided a new anchor winch. Poppy is only six weeks into her circumnavigation of our island, and you can be part of it. She needs crew from Hervey Bay to Airlie Beach. If it sounds like you, then check out Poppy’s Facebook page

So then here’s another thing. Many talk about it. Plenty are passionate about it, and loads contribute with coaching and so forth. Now here’s one guy aiming to return real dollars into kids sailing. It’s called Sails for Kids, and it is coming to your yacht club on the Eastern Seaboard this Winter. Other States will follow…

www.sailsforkids.com.au is a legendary programme from a legendary sailor, and industry icon. Carl Crafoord’s business, Sail Exchange is known to many all around the globe, as the place to either sell, or procure your next sail. www.sailexchange.com.au is constantly evolving in the digital age and already includes clothing, safety gear, and hardware, with many new and interesting elements about to be launched soon.

Yet before all of that, you can make a real difference to youth junior sailing at your own club. All you need to do is ensure your club becomes part of the drive by accepting the invitations that have been sent out. You’ll drop your surplus to requirements sails at the club on the arranged day, Sail Exchange will collect them, and then when they sell, your club will get the majority of the proceeds returned exclusively for use as funding for our young sailors. Awesome stuff, huh?!

Crafoord said of it all, “The idea is to give back to sailing as a whole. What we want is for skippers to donate the sails sitting in their garage to their club’s junior sailing programmes, which is something I am really passionate about. We want to get them into our system on consignment, and then get the 60% of the sale figure back to the clubs, as quickly as we can!”

“I am pretty sure every club around Australia needs help getting kids out sailing, so we are totally committed to this and look forward to getting the clubs locked into the calendar! It will be great for the betterment of the sport on the whole, and what could be a greater goal than that?”

“So I am asking all the owners to go to their clubs and get them to take up this opportunity, and then promote it to the entire membership. It is all about the sails and the money goes to the kids, hence the name, www.sailsforkids.com.au. Please ensure your club accepts the invitation, and we’ll sort out collection, grading, posting to our site, all logistics, and then finally, the transfer of the money directly back to your club’s junior programme”, said Crafoord in closing.

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