Issue date
The Optimist class provides opportunities for many young sailors to travel and compete overseas, representing New Zealand in four major overseas regattas - these being Optimist Worlds, Optimist Europeans, Optimist North Americans and Optimist Asian Championship Regattas.
Over recent years these teams have operated as separate entities for the build-up and training to these regattas… it was felt there is a better way to do this.
The Optimist Class Association (NZIODA) has been focusing the past few years on building a ‘club’ culture with sailors supporting their clubs and their programmes and building a sense of pride from representing the clubs.
This approach has really gone well and is still continuing; but this year has seen a real shift in strategy for travelling team training by creating a ‘squad’ of New Zealand’s top 32 ranked sailors. This includes not only the sailors that are travelling, but sailors that just missed a team or were selected, but for other circumstances can’t travel.
Since the first weekend in May (three weeks after the Optimist National Championships) this Squad kicked off training. The training continues until 28th June when the North American and the European teams head away. The rest of the squad breaks for school holidays, however we have provided a coach in Brisbane for two events there (Queensland Youth Week and Sail Brisbane).
The Squad training then resumes on July 25th and runs through until mid September when clubs start opening their doors and the New Zealand Optimist team to the World Championship departs.
All sounds easy! But there has been some major logistics involved. Training is Auckland based with three to five coaches per day, and runs every weekend (with only two weekends off). There are 12 sailors from outside Auckland for which the Auckland families collect/drop off to the airport, shift two trailers with their boats around to each sailing session and house the sailors. Their travel costs to and from Auckland are all shared by the group.
It’s a big commitment for the sailors having to travel to Auckland and missing their own families every weekend.
Why go to all this trouble?
- Build a CULTURE – As a coaching group we are building a strong team culture, these guys and girls are going to go through yachting together for life and they are becoming very good team mates.
- Top sailors training together – Lifting the standard by having a top standard. Being able to do more race focused training. We expect the sailors to come to us with good boat-handling and sailing technique, but we can refine their racing in these groups. We help with the boat-handling and the technique, but a great tack won’t help you if you have started from the third row of the startlineJ
- Combining knowledge resource - Circulation of coaches through the group – guest speakers, guest coaches can impact the full group not just individual teams
- Commitment – The sailors and coaches have had to put a commitment forward to be involved in the Squad.
- Sailor expectations – Coaches have taken a step back this season in the Optimist and have been coaching the sailors, but it is up to the sailors to perform; and the more the sailor puts in the more they will get out of their programme.
The Squad will only operate after the National Championships are completed in April to encourage club based coaching through the summer season.
This is the first year of the Squad concept and we have taken plenty of learning already this year. It will be improved each year, but the consensus on the ground is that it is a great concept and a vast improvement on past years.
