RYCT Sail School registration now open

by Peter Campbell on 13 Aug 2011 RYCT Sail School, organised by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, will begin on Saturday 3 September and continue through to Tuesday 6 September.

The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania each year makes a significant contribution to the development of young sailors when it conducts the RYCT Sail School over the first days of the September school holidays, introducing newcomers to sailing and lifting the skills of more advanced and elite dinghy sailors.

Registrations are now open for the 2011 RYCT Dinghy Group Sail School to be held from 3-6 September, with club sailing manager Richard Scarr expecting up to 200 young sailors from around the State.

'This sailing camp is an all-level event for young sailors, from the beginner to the advanced,' Scarr said. 'All of our most successful Tasmanian dinghy sailors have come out of this program, competing in Sabots and other junior classes. All have benefitted greatly from the expert coaching they have received at the RYCT Sail School.'

The link to the information page and online registration is here or phone the RYCT on 03 6223 4599.

The success of the RYCT Dinghy Group Sail School, the largest in Tasmania and sponsored by Peter Johnston Shipchandlers, can been gauged by the recent and current performances of so many young Tasmanian sailors on the international circuit, in Lasers, Laser 4.7s, International 420s and International Cadets, as well as at regattas and national championships in Australia.

For this year’s Sail School, Scarr have secured four prominent national coaches and a coach from Singapore to pass on their skills and knowledge to promising young Tasmanian sailors.

Classes expected to participate include Lasers, Laser 4.7s, 420s, 470s, Windsurfers, Sabots, Optimists, Mirrors, NS14s, Flying Elevens, Hobie 16s, 29ers, Lightweight Sharpies and International Cadets.

While sailors in these classes are mostly well advanced in these classes, an important part of the Sail School is the Beginner – Learn to Sail category. Last year the maximum 50 youngsters enrolled in this limited group for which the RYCT supplies all the Optimists and Sabots.

Using the club owned training fleet they will be taught the basics behind sailing, letting them experience this wonderful sport at first hand. Early registrations are essential. Participants must be at least eight years old and be able to swim 25 metres unaided.

Weather permitting, the beginners will be taken for a sail on keel yachts on the second last day of the Sail School to experience boat handling.

Visiting coaches for the RYCT Dinghy Group Sail School in September will be:
• Two-times Olympian Karyjn Gojnich, from NSW, who sailed with Nicky Bethwaite in the women’s 470 class at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 in what was the first specific sailing event for women at the Olympic Games. She and Nicky went on to also represent Australia in the Yngling keelboat class at the Athens Games.
• Andrew Chapman, from NSW, a past national champion in the Cherub, Flying Eleven who also gained a fifth place in a 29er world championship. More recently, he has been sailing nationally and internationally in 49ers.
• Susie Ferris, the Singapore national sailing coach.
• Penny Kendall, a NSW sailing coach.
• Brendon Todd, the Australian Sailing Team windsurfing coach who will conduct an advanced windsurfing clinic on 5, 6 and 7 September.

They will be supported by a raft of local coaches, including Richard Scarr, Tasmanian State high performance coach and Australian Paralympics 2.4 coach; Sam Edmunds, Sabot coach; Rob Moreton, Launceston coach; Ben Price, Hobart coach; Scott Price, Hobart coach and head coach of the junior program at the Dinghy Group; Philippa Calvert, Dinghy Group chairperson and coach, along with other Hobart-based coaches Jeremy Coles, Zac Pettard, Hugh Jones and Oisin Stimson.

Event website