Learn to Sail

1. Learn to Sail Yachting New Zealand (Insert your Club logo here)

2. Meet the Crew (Edit as Necessary) • The Commodore is the most senior person in the Committee that runs this voluntary organisation. His/Her name is………. • Learn to Sail is run by………… His/Her job is to deal with all the administration but not the stuff on the water. That is done by: • The Instructors, who are……… You will normally see them wearing an Instructor Cap. • Safety Boats are looked after by……..

3. Introduction • This club is affiliated to Yachting New Zealand. It is a voluntary organisation like many other sports clubs, day to day administration and running of training, competition and social events run by members with a minimum of employed staff. • While the club is able to access external Community Funds and Gaming Trusts for equipment, the running is paid for by revenue from hall hire (functions), the bar and membership fees. • We see it as our role to support sailing within a National framework, and to introduce as many people as we can to the sport we love.

4. Overview • We are here to help you help your children get the most out of the sport and to develop general life skills. We as individuals can do a lot of the work, but to be truly effective, we as holders of the knowledge can only do the job of teaching your children if we and you operate as a team in a Club environment. This talk is about how you can help do your part.

5. What is Learn to Sail? Benefits of sailing for your child How parents can help Hydration and snacks Clothing Safety standards Club equipment When and what boat to buy Timetable Non Sailing days Costs Sport for Life Agenda

6. What is Learn to Sail? • We use the Learn to Sail Syllabus that has been developed by Yachting New Zealand over many years to provide a fun and safe learning environment. • Your children will learn how to sail a boat safely and competently in moderate conditions. On bad weather days land teaching modules will replace sailing on the water. • 12 Sessions of 2 hours each will be run weekly, plus a “Summer Camp” at the club in January. (Edit as necessary)

7. Benefits of sailing for your child • Sailing is a sport like any other. Sport promotes a healthy body, provides a break from school routines and gives opportunities to make new friends. • Any sport represents a challenge – a new thing to learn and master. Meeting the challenge helps develop brain neural pathways. Success in meeting the challenge develops confidence and Personal Development. • Your child will learn organisational and risk management skills useful in their day to day life now and as an adult. • Later on they will learn to race. Racing puts pressure on knowledge and cements the learning process.

8. How parents can help • Help your child • Set your goals realistically, and for the benefit of your child. Don’t put pressure on the child to “win” until they have learned how to “do” properly. • Be organised (snack before leaving home, sailing clothing packed and in the car the night before) and punctual, so your child is in the right frame of mind to learn and enjoy. • Be knowledgeable - read and ask the Instructors questions. • Help get the Boat out of storage and put away at the end of the session, and get it rigged before lesson time. • In summary, set a good example for the life skills you want them to learn.

9. Help the Group • Learn how to get the safety boats out of storage and launched when it is time to sail, and put away at the end of the session. • Those of you that have boating experience, whether in powerboats or sailing have extremely valuable skills and can really make a difference. Not only can you help the group function better, you can help transfer skills to those without experience. • Help tidy up.

10. Hydration and Snacks • Just like in the classroom at school, your child will learn quicker and concentrate for longer if the body and brain are supplied with the right amount of energy (fed, but not stuffed). • The body can only convert food to energy and clear waste products from using muscles if it has enough water. • The best food is a bun, pasta or fruit, not chocolate or lollies. • The best drink is water. • Snack and drink straight after school, and bring a spare snack and a drink for straight after sailing.

11. Clothing • The object is to make sure the sailor is warm but not too hot. Bring plenty of layers. Don’t put them on until the boat is rigged and ready to go. It is always colder on the water than on land so don’t make the sailor sweat while getting rigged. • Make up a gear list and pack into a plastic bin or gear bag the night before. • Hot weather: Sunblock, hat with a peak & sun glasses • Cold Weather: warm hat, extra layers • Buy a personal buoyancy aid now.

12. Personal Buoyancy Aid (PBA) • A Lifejacket is designed to provide a high level of buoyancy to a fully clothed person at sea in all conditions. • A Personal Buoyancy Aid is a slimmer version that is adequate for small boat sailing and permits freedom of movement. A full lifejacket restricts movement and can be uncomfortable, thus slowing the sailors learning and reducing enjoyment. We recommend the use of PBAs. • No one sails without one!

13. Safety Standards 1 As in any sport there are risks that can be mitigated by using the right equipment and procedures. To participate in the course your child should be able to swim 50m in light clothing and a PBA/Lifejacket, and feel comfortable in deep water. This shows that your child is not afraid of the water, although he/she won’t actually be expected to swim that far. No one is allowed to leave the shore in his or her yacht until told to do so by the instructor.

14. Capsizing is Normal The golden rule in a capsize is to stay with the boat. Your child will be made to capsize during the course and learn to right the boat, and have fun doing it. 

15. Safety Standards 2 • Club Instructors have all passed a course in yacht instructing. • There will be a maximum of 6 skippers to each Instructor who will be out on the water in an inflatable safety boat. • PBAs/Lifejackets will be worn at all times on the water. • Sailors (and parents) will obey Instructors without discussion until after the event in question has been resolved. Safety is achieved through Instructors experience and training and not through parental or student negotiations.

16. Club Equipment • The Club (Your Club) owns equipment (Your Equipment) which is there for the safety of your child. Treat it as your own. • Learn to Sail boats – lift them onto trollies carefully, give yourself plenty of space to rig up so you don’t hit other boats or people, help your child launch and retrieve. If an accident happens, notify an Instructor so the damage can be fixed. • Rescue Boats – help launch and retrieve them. Offer to go out in them so you learn how to operate them. Do the training course the club runs.

17. When and What Boat to buy • Opinions vary from club to club, but here are some guidelines: • Learn to Sail Level 1 – use a club supplied boat if available, if not, buy a cheap wooden boat that you don’t mind if it gets bumped by other boats • Learn to Sail Level 2 – buy wooden boat if not already bought at Level 1. • Learn to race – buy an old second hand fibreglass boat that is faster than LTS boats, but you don’t mind the occasional mild bump or scrape. Bumps will happen so don’t go wild with your money and then get upset when it gets damaged. • Replace any really tired kit once racing gets serious. • Top level competition – buy new or nearly new

18. Timetable (Edit as necessary) • Here is a sample timetable. Refer to your joining instructions from the Learn to Sail Coordinator for actual times and adapt for your distance to the club: • 3.30 back from school. Snack, drink. Change out of school uniform. Check all gear in in the car • 3.45 Homework/reading/TV – rest time, no running around. • 4.30 Leave home • 4.40 Get to club – rig boat. • 4.50 Get dressed. • 5.00 Ready to take instruction • 6.45 Boats off the water. Pack up own boat. Help put rescue boats away. Put on dry clothes. • 7.00 Leave for home

19. Non Sailing Days • When the weather is beyond the sailor’s capabilities, or there is no wind at all, please still turn up. There is essential land based tuition that needs to be covered in order to pass up to the next grade.

20. Costs • For your first year you should budget on a Learn to Sail fee (varies club to club), PBA/lifejacket $50-$100, sailing clothes $200, and if your sailor shows commitment and wants to progress from Level 1 to Level 2, $500-$1,000 for a wooden Optimist.

21. Sport for Life • Sailing is a sport that carries many people through to retirement age. This is just the first step. • And if you are not a sailor yourself, it is never to late to start. • Many parents learned to sail after their children. • Sailing is universal, and you will have something in common with sailors from all around the world.

22. Where does this lead to? Single Handed Immediate Progression: • Level 2 Learn to Sail, • Learn to Race, • Green Fleet then • Open Fleet in Optimists. Sailors either move on from the Optimist when they get too heavy (about 50kg) or when they are too old (15 years). The Opti has a sail area of 2.5 square metres.

23. Club Racing

24. Regatta Racing (Source: Andrew Brown)

25. Time to Move on • Sailors have to move on from the Optimist when they get too heavy (about 50kg) or when they are too old (15 years). • It is a good idea to run an overlap period sailing a P Class in the first part of the last season you expect to be in the Opti. The track record of many of today’s top youth sailors shows this is a real headstart to youth class success. • There is debate over the value of the P Class, but evidence seems to show that those who skip the P are at a disadvantage in the youth classes.

26. P Class (45kg to 60kg, sail area 3.5 sq.m.) (overlaps with the end of time in the Opti), (Source: oceanphotography.co.nz)

27. 2 Handed Learn to Sail Mistral Sunburst

28. Starling (55kg to 70 kg, sail area 4.5 sq.m) (Source: John van der Kaay) (Source: Murray de Lues)

29. Splash (60kg to 75kg – sail area 5.5 sq.m) (Source: Murray deLues)

30. Laser (75kg to 85 kg, sail area 5.7 sq.m.) (source: John Van der Kaay)

31. Single Handed Skiff or Foil boat (Source: subzero images) (Source: Murray deLues)

32. Finn 90kg+ Mens heavy singlehanded Olympic Class (Source: Dan Slater)

33. Windsurfing (Source: Andrew Brown)

34. Barbara Kendall (Source: Barbara Kendall MBE)

35. Teams Racing in 2 handed boats Great fun for the kids and they learn to operate as a team, not just as individuals. (Source: David Pierce)

36. Further down the line… Multi Handed • 2 handed fleet racing in traditional spinnaker boats , starting with the 420, international youth 2 handed class (Source: Andrew Brown)

37. …progressing to high performance boats such as the 470- Mens 2 handed Olympic class (Source: Andrew Brown)

38. Modern high performance skiffs with Gennaker (29er, Javelin) 29er Javelin

39. 49er Mens 2 handed High Performance Olympic Class (Source: Dan Slater)

40. 18ft Skiff (Source: Murray deLues)

41. Catamarans such as Paper Tiger, Hobie and Tornado (Source: David Pierce) (Source: Jill Nickerson)

42. Crewing in keelboats. (Source: Murray deLues)

43. Americas Cup • Appreciation of an outdoor sport in which New Zealand leads the world (Source: Chris Cameron/ ETNZ)

44. Even sailing for another team….Most of the crew here are Kiwis! (Source: BMWOracle Racing/Gilles Martin-Raget)

45. Sailing Seascape ISAF Olympics America’s Cup Volvo Ocean Race Round the World Racing Rules of Sailing Olympic Team Cape Horn Louis Vuitton Cup Vendee Globe YNZ World Championships Trans Atlantic Atlantic Rally for Cruisers World Match Racing Tour ISAF Sailing World Cup Judges Sydney Hobart Umpires ISAF World Teams Racing Champs Olympic Squad South Pacific Cruising Congressional Cup Race Officers Sail Auckland Coaches NZ Match Racing Champs South Pacific Cup Overseas Deliveries National Championships Sailing Committees Overseas Charters Governor's Cup Auckland Fiji Race YNZ HP Academy Regional Yachting Ass. Hauraki Gulf RNZYS & RPNYC Youth Programmes Coastal Classic ISAF Youth Worlds Harbour Racing Clubs Club Regattas YNZ Youth Squad Club Racing Youth Sail Secondary Schools/Open Teams Racing Day Sailing Classes Junior Class Worlds Starling Nationals & Match Racing Tanner & Tauranga Cups Mucking about In boats Members Optimist Sail for Life Windsurfer Two Handed Classes Sailing Schools Optimist Greens Learn to Sail NCEA Families Sailing...Have a Go! NZ Schools Waterwise SailSafe

46. In the Long Term • Career opportunities as coaches or in the boat construction industry • Most importantly the development of individual decision making capability, learning team skills, personal confidence, social contacts around the country and organisational skills

47. Further Reading • The companion text to this module is “How to be a Succesful Optiparent” by David Pierce. This will guide you from starting sailing through to the time to move to the next class. • “Dinghy Sailing – The Essential guide to equipment and techniques” by Sarah Ell. Good introduction for non sailing parents. • “Optimist Racing Guide” by Roger Kitchen. Easy to follow no nonsense guide to learning to race. Well illustrated.

48. Summary • Sailing has a wide range of benefits for children. • The success and enjoyment your child gets out of the sport depends directly on your effort both as a supporter of your sailor and as a club member helping each other. • Sailing is fun and safe while carried out in a controlled environment with experienced sailors who are only too willing to share their sport.

49. Any Questions? • Please feel free to ask – there are no dumb questions! (Source: David Pierce)

50. Thank You for Coming! • Thank you for your time. Please remember to put those time entries in your diaries and go shopping for a lifejacket and a few extra layers of warm clothing. (Source: Murray de Lues)