Issue date
Maraetai Learn to Sail Holiday Programme 18th-21st April 2017
Coaches- Sara Dodds and Lisa Dartnall
We had ten eager kids for this holiday course, most of whom knew each other which definitely made things a lot easier. 2 kids had completed learn to sail in the past however wanted to brush up on some skills and repeat. From day one, our goal was to get the kids to enjoy sailing as much as possible and make them as confident in the water as possible.
On the first morning we began by giving them a brief run down on sailing and of ourselves also getting them to introduce themselves. We made a big effort to learn names to make it a more personal experience. On the first morning we began with doing the typical capsize, swim under the boat and sing twinkle twinkle and then the 50m swim in. We made this out to be an extremely fun activity and all the kids were very excited and loved it. Every kid, bar one, had no problem capsizing and going under the boat, and after a lot of encouragement from the other children the final kid did it, they all swam in. We found doing this first made it a lot easier when it came to sailing as no one was scared.
The first afternoon we had sunny weather and 5-8 knots which was perfect. We took out four boats and swapped kids in and out and just gave them a taste of sailing. This was definitely a good call having a 2:5 boat to Kid ratio as the kids didn't get bored and also were able to swap when they had had enough.
Everyday after that we were blessed with 5-10 knots and sunny skies. This made it a lot easier on us as no kids were scared and all wanted to have a go.
Our week included two destination sails, wharf jumps, beach activities and a lot of relays.
A few things that worked really well for us in building the kids confidence was:
- fun relay on second morning- separated the kids into 2 groups of five. Had to tie opposite team to chair to practice knots taught the day before, had to rig an optimist to practice rigging skills. Then had to swim out to an opti filled with water tied to patrol boat, bail it out and the use bailers to skull in. This showed the kids that Optis couldn't sink, no matter what, that they are stable and included fun activities to build water confidence without the kids knowing. All parents said this was a highlight for the kids and would highly recommend for an early in the season or course activity!
- Only ever took out 5 boats for the 10 kids. This allowed us to swap kids in and out and no one got sick of sailing and left them wanting more. Perfect for a holiday course. Also allowed us to swap more confident or larger kids when the wind became stronger. To do this successfully we paired kids up everyday, with one confident and one not so much, and swapped them fairly. It also made buddy launching a lot easier and didn't have any problems with kids wanting to go in early and could concentrate on what we wanted to achieve.
- We played wink murderer on and off the water throughout the week which the kids got really in to. We gave out prizes for best deaths and best murderer. This was just another thing to keep the kids interested in the course and added a little bit of fun.
- We found the best things to do at maraetai especially was destination sails as it was really exciting for the kids seeing new places and also allowed them to practise skills without them knowing it. All kids got really excited for these.
- Probably our best thing we did we found was a team relay. We again split the kids into pairs of confident and not confident and sailed over to a beach where we lay two marks just off the beach. The kids sailed upwind to the top mark and then reached to the next followed by downwind into the beach to swap with other kid. The winner did the most swaps. The day before not a single kid could go upwind but having a team environment and wanting to do well and someone to help them out they all sailed upwind perfectly from the start and didn't even realise they were doing it
Overall we found just making it fun and not serious made for one of the best learn to sails we've ever coached. All kids came away confidently sailing upwind, downwind, reaching and we're confident in and around the water.
One mother purchased an opti and a p class during the course for her children to carry on sailing and we had a lot of praise from the parents who said their kids came home absolutely fizzing so we feel like it was a successful week.
One thing that we found that we wouldn't do again is:
- allow the kids to make their own pairs. We did this once and it didn't end well, coaches definitely need to plan who will work well with who and avoid having sibling combinations.
Other than that, we wouldn't have changed anything about this clinic as we achieved just what we wanted and what yachting nz wanted, with all kids easily passing level one. We were blessed however with the weather and know that made it a lot easier for us.
We would've liked a second week to do learn to race straight after so kids would remember everything and still be on the buzz of sailing!
Well done Sara and Lisa, sounds like you did a fantastic job!
