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Bright Future for Young B.C. Sailors

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Bright Future for Young B.C. Sailors

Written by Dale Miller

Great programs and coaching give local sailors a strong presence on the national level. Sailing tends to be overlooked by most parents and children in favour of more “mainstream” team sports like soccer and hockey. Many don’t know that young sailors can learn sportsmanship, decision-making and self-reliance, while developing skills on the same racecourse as some of the best athletes in the world and with some of the best coaches anywhere.

There are plenty of affordable ways for adults and especially children to access the sport, and most yacht clubs do not require membership to participate in their learn-to-sail programs.

For the very youngest boaters, the “Wet Feet” program was developed to give young children the experience of being in and around the water. Children, four to seven years old, have the opportunity to enjoy the water while learning about safety and being comfortable around the water in addition to basic sailing skills. This program is being expanded with a formal instructor manual and improved curriculum. It is currently being offered at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, West Vancouver Yacht Club, Deep Cove Yacht Club and Royal Victoria Yacht Club.

A recent initiative, the Mobile Optimist Sailing School, will bring boating and sailing programs for kids, ages six to 15, to smaller communities through member clubs and organizations. Two highly qualified instructors will be taking a trailer with six Optimist dinghies and six kayaks to communities all over the province to teach sailing and kayaking. The fees are reasonable at $235 plus GST for a week of instruction, and several bursaries for qualifying families are available through KidSport, an initiative by Sport B.C. that provides sporting opportunities for children from low-income families. The initial response has been overwhelming, with 200 kids spending their first week on the water in 2007, and with funding from Participation B.C. and 2010 Legacies Now, plans are in the works to expand the program with an additional fully equipped trailer with boats and coaches for 2008.

The B.C. Sailing Circuit is a series of nine regattas held all over B.C. for dinghy sailors. The circuit is open to sailors from any club, and there is no age limit to any class except Optimist dinghies, where sailors can be no older than 15 years. The main participating dinghy classes are Optimist, Byte, Laser, Laser Radial, Club 420 and 29er. Participants range from beginners, adults and children to top international competitors and grand masters.

B.C. Sailing strongly encourages and supports developing sailors through various teams and events. Support is provided for sailors who are members of the provincial and national Canadian Sport Centres, Canadian Youth and the Canadian Sailing teams. Support includes fitness passes to selected fitness centres, medical monitoring for prevention and treatment of injuries, and performance enhancement and personal development seminars as well as funding for training and travel to regattas. Some of the best sailors in Canada are from B.C., and continuing support of athlete development has been a big part of this result.

All of the effort spent promoting sailing at the entry and development levels has been important to B.C.’s success in the sport of sailing. About 40 percent of the current Canadian National Sailing Team members are from B.C. This is, in part, the result of a lot of support and funding for promising young sailors who are working hard to improve their skill levels. —Bill Grierson

Nikola Girke
Age: 29
Club Affiliation: RVYC
Classes Sailed: 470, RSX Olympic Class Windsurfing
Top Three Results:
13th, 2004 Athens Olympic Games; 470 sailing 1st, 2005 Formula Experience World Championships, Windsurfing
Five-time Canadian Windsurf Champion
How did you get involved in sailing?
My dad was an avid sailor, and when I was nine years old I went to sailing summer camp at Eagle Harbour Yacht Club, which became what I did every summer.

What made sailing the sport you selected to focus on?
I loved sailing and competing. I got to travel with the sport, met lots of people, I did well in competitions and was having fun. I liked that sailing was a sport that was very strategic, physical, technical and super exciting when the breeze was up.

What are your goals in sailing in the next year, five years and lifetime?
My goal is to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympics by being top Canadian at the 2008 RSX World Championships in Auckland, New Zealand (January 10–20, 2008). Once I am qualified,
I will work towards my ultimate goal of sailing to a podium finish at the Beijing Olympics. After Beijing I’ll decide whether to continue on doing another RSX campaign for London 2012 or help establish a windsurf team on the West Coast with the hopes of recruiting young girls, as there are currently no up-and-coming female windsurfers in Canada.

Michael Leigh
Age: 22
Club Affiliation: RVYC
Class Sailed: Laser
Top Three Results:
4th, 2006 Laser World Championship
3rd, 2006 French Olympic Week
3rd, 2007 Laser European Championship
Current ISAF World Ranking: 7th

How did you get involved in sailing?
I started taking learn-to-sail lessons in the summer when I was seven, and joined the RVYC race team that fall.

What made sailing the sport you selected to focus on?
I started to focus on sailing when I switched from the Byte to the Laser class. The sailors I was training with and racing against on the RVYC race team were quite a bit older than me, but they were kind enough to let me tag along, which allowed me to attend a lot of events that I normally wouldn’t have been able to. I had a lot of fun and figured I’d be able to do even more events if I took my sailing seriously.

What are your goals in sailing in the next year, five years and lifetime?
Next Year: Podium at the 2008 World Championships.

Five Years: To qualify for the Canadian Olympic team and medal at the Olympics.

Lifetime: Continuing to enjoy sailing is my main goal. If I could make a career out of sailing, I would jump at the opportunity—I would love to do the Volvo and the America’s Cup. I couldn’t think of anything better then racing with and against the best sailors in the world.

For more info
www.bcsailing.bc.ca
www.sport.bc.ca