2nd Inter-Club Commodores’ Forum, part III

by Sail World Asia on 2 Jun 2006 The Forum consisted of two days of panel discussions, which brought together Commodores from the Europe, North America, Australasia, South Africa and Asia.

Tuesday’s panel discussion concerned 'Sail Training and Youth Development.' The Moderator was Sam McBride (Rear Commodore ((Club), RHKYC) and the panellists were Paul Dalton, John Anderson, Alistair Skinner, David Charlesworth, David Jennings and Chris Otorowski.

First up for the day’s presentations was Paul Dalton, RHKYC Youth Sailing Class. Paul outlined the structure and operation of the YCS, noting that the Club presently employs a Sailing Manager, a Sail Training Manager, a Senior Instructor, and 49 Instructors and Assistant Instructors – not all of whom are ‘operational’ at the same time. Junior Sail Training at the RHKYC begins in Optimists, continues in Topaz dinghies, and progresses to Lasers and then Laser 3000s. The programme recognises that at the ‘top end’ a junior programme needs to include a fast and exciting boat (the 3000) to retain the interest of young teenagers.

Adult Sail Training starts with Laser Stratos dinghies, and is very often constitutes the skills-acquisition programme needed before a new sailor heads straight for the keelboats and cruising boats. RHKYC courses are not restricted to Club members, but Dalton noted that (sadly) the number of non-members subsequently joining the RHKYC was very small. A contingent of RHKYC Juniors members recently competed at the Asian Sailing Championships in Doha, Qatar, and there will be an RHKYC presence at the forthcoming ISAF Youth World Championships in Weymouth, UK.

Commodore John Anderson of the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club (Perth, Australia) followed on with information about the RFBYC’s High Performance Programme. Perth is 'a very long way' from Sydney, home of the Australian Institute of Sport. The HPP was set up in 2004 to assess this problem, and is a joint initiative between the Royal Freshwater Bay, Yachting Western Australia, Yachting Australia and the Western Australia Institute of Sport. The objective of the HPP is to increase the numbers of Western Australians participating in Australian national squads and teams, to provide the facilities and training for WA athletes to be able to compete in international events, and to provide career education and personal development counselling in the important formative years for youth sailors.

On-water infrastructure and facilities are provided for the HPP by Royal Freshwater and other WA-based clubs in an endeavour to spread the programme as widely as possible. Off-water support resources are provided by WAIS, and the four partners in the programme provide funding equally. After only two years of operation the programme has produced the winners of three national dinghy championships, put six WA sailors into the National Squad, scored a second place in the Australian Laser rankings, first and second places for selection for the ISAF Youth Worlds 2006, and begun to identify youth sailors for possible participation in the London Olympics (2012).

Alistair Skinner, founding Commodore of the Shanghai Boat and Yacht Club, has been obliged to approach sail training from an entirely different angle. 'The China Yachting Association only addresses the elite sector of sailing. We are the grass-roots end of sailing in China.'

The SBYC was founded in 2002 with six Wanderer dinghies purchased from the RHKYC, and has since acquired three more boats. With a membership of more than 100, the SBYC runs monthly Open Days to introduce sailing to absolutely anyone who is interested, and was delighted to be the busiest stand of all at the recent China International Boat Show 2006 in Shanghai. 'We are promoting a passion, not a product,' said Skinner.

David Charlesworth, Commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, took the panel presentations back to the more ‘top end’ of the sport. RNZYS’s Match Racing programme trains young sailors in a very specific discipline. Charlesworth pointed out that with an ISAF Grade 1 event costing something in the order of US$400,000 to run, attracting sponsorship is an essential part of a development programme. As is recruiting volunteers: 'At a G1 event there will be more Race Officials and helpers than there are competitors' he noted. 'There were no SE Asian participants in this year’s ISAF Nations Cup Regional Finals,' he pointed out, 'but we look forward to some regional entries for our Youth Match Racing Series in February 2007'.

The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club has ‘created sailing programmes for the very young progressing through to support for sailors racing at the international level,’ explained RVYC Commodore David Jennings. ‘And for the majority of young sailors – who do not necessarily have Olympic aspirations – the RVYC strives to encourage participation in the life-long sport of sailing.’ RVYC programmes begin with ‘Wet Feet’ at age five, through Optimists and on to 420s and Lasers (8-16 years). 'The 65 members of the Club’s youth racing team also sail the 29er, 49er, 470 and RS:X windsurfers, and compete at the highest levels.' The Club has a Junior Executive with a Commodore, Vice-Commodore etc responsible for social events, fundraisers, and junior cruises to the RVYC outstations, with the intention of integrating young members into the mainstream of all Club events and activities. Junior members are strongly encouraged to crew on keelboats and ‘big’ boats.

Four Martin 242s form the core of the Club’s ‘Active Intermediates’, a programme designed to retain and foster the sailing interests of the 19 to 36 years’ age group. 'We found that during the period when a young person started university until they became settled in their career, many of them would lose interest in yacht club life as they did not have the means of the opportunity to stay involved.' At the very top of the programme, RVYC crews have competed in no less than 19 Olympic Games since 1932, winning medals five times, including Ross MacDonald’s silver medal (Star class) in 2004. Politics and geography conspire to leave Western Canada short of national-level coaching resources, so the RVYC attempts to fill the knowledge gap by sending Club coaches to elite international events. 'In this way our athletes get continued support, and our coaches get to maintain their learning curve.'

Chris Otorowski, Commodore of the Seattle Yacht Club, described the ‘principally cruising’ activities of the SYC members, and provided an overview of the geography of sailing in the USA. 'We have 60 committees at the Seattle YC,' he quipped, 'so there’s not much for the Commodore to do.'

Discussion from the floor was active, interesting, and intense. Subjects raised included ways to bring into line different sailing and boating qualifications/certificates from around the world, the establishment of Junior Interport regattas, increased communication between Australian and Asian clubs, the grass-roots junior sailing programme created by the Puerto Galera Yacht Club, insurance, safety and risk management, the promotion of sailing in schools, and the promotion of junior or youth sailing programmes through the media.

The lasting and overwhelming impression created by the Panel Presentations and the ensuing Q&A was one of a committed and focussed collection of people, determined to make the most of an opportunity to exchange views and expertise on the subjects under discussion. As David Jennings, Commodore RVYC put it, 'as Clubs, we only compete on the race course.'

At the end of the Forum a show of hands decided that further Forums should be held on an annual basis. Marseilles, Freshwater Bay, Natal and Seattle offered to host in 2007 (Chris Otorowski said that his 61st committee needed something to do), and another show of hands gave it to the Societe Nautique de Marseille. If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/24446