2 February, 2011 : Last weekend saw the start of the junior sailing programme after the Christmas break. The Skyrider kids were straight out for a sail on some Trailer Yachts. Many thanks to Jim Curry for giving up his time and taking these kids and parents out for a sail. It was a good opportunity for them to have a steer of a bigger boat and ask many questions.
The racing juniors had a good morning practicing their starting techniques in preparation for the upcoming Youth Regatta. They had three short races all back to back.
We also used this opportunity for the Manly Junior sailors to practice their spinnaker work before the Youth Regatta in 3 weeks. All the juniors are gaining more experience every week and it will be their first regatta for all the PKSC juniors involved.
Thank you in advance to Hugh Lewis, who has offered to run the skippers meeting over the next 2 weeks whilst Todd, Hayden and I are away at sailing titles. And thanks also to the Marzano family who have offered to run the junior race this weekend coming and to Bob and Rob Porter for the weekend following that.
If any other people would be able to help out over the next two weeks would be greatly appreciated, just see any of the above mentioned on the day.
27 January, 2011 : Welcome back, this weekend sees the return of the junior sailing program after the Christmas break. I hope everyone enjoyed their time off and are ready for a good second half of the season.
It was great to see many of our junior sailors competing in titles over the Christmas period in Sharpies, MG’s and Flying ants, with some good results. Dante Olivieri and Lachlan Nardone finished 5th in the Flying Ants Nationals and John Richardson and Emmett Walsh finished with some good results in the MG’s.
Well done guys – great work!
The second half of the season is going to be very busy with the Youth Regatta held at our club followed by the junior camp, later in the season. Also, it will be a busy time for the coaches - as we will be missing several weeks due to our own sailing commitments. As a result I am looking for people to help out and run the juniors over the Saturdays 5th and 12th February as Todd, Hayden and I will be away at titles. If you are able to help out please come and see me this weekend. Thank you.
The youth regatta being held at our club on the weekend 19th and 20th February is shaping up to be a great event with many of our junior sailor competing in a regatta for their first time. It also could be a good money raiser for the club, so volunteers are required to make it a successful weekend and give all the junior sailors from around the region and Sydney a great experience.
The junior camp on the weekend 19th and 20th of March will be a good weekend, with a chance (has to be confirmed) of having some top coaches from Sydney coming down to run the Sunday session. It will be great for the juniors as well as myself and the other coaches to learn from these coaches.
See you on Saturday, I’m looking forward to getting back out on the water with you all
22 December, 2010 : Final Junior Report for 2010:
Firstly, I would like to wish everybody a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year. I would also like to wish all of those people competing in titles over this period the very best of luck.
Last Saturday the junior sailors had the best of the sailing conditions for the day and were well off the water before the 40 knot Westerly came through and cleaned up the afternoon fleet. I would like to congratulate all those people who helped with the rescues on Saturday afternoon and all the younger sailors that were having difficulties that chose to leave their boats behind. People’s safety comes before boats and equipment in these difficult times and I thought the club and its members did a great job in ensuring that everybody got home safely.
The junior race took the same theme as the seniors with a passage race around a buoy close to the club, then off around Gooseberry Island, too Dixie’s Reef and back to finish in front of the club. The junior sailors did a great job in getting around the longer coarse.
The early level sailors also tried something different by having to negotiate around a triangular coarse. They also coped very well in the unseasonable weather.
Congratulations go to Tynan Walsh and Roarke Curry for completing their level one certificates on the weekend. Keep up the good work boys !!!!
Don’t forget to check your calendars to see when Junior sailing starts again in late January.
Have a great Christmas and don’t eat too much chocolate.
15 December, 2010 : Junior sailing on the weekend was a bit tricky, with a gusty North Westerly breeze blowing. In typical westerly fashion the breeze would go from nothing to 15 knots in a split second. This frightened some of the early level juniors as there was many capsizes happening. It is great to see the team work of the juniors at righting their boats and making sure the other person was safe and OK. Excellent work to all involved! Well done.
With these conditions we decided to get the early level juniors back off the boats and onshore, where they practiced some knots and named the different parts of the boats.
The juniors out racing also found it difficult with these conditions. There was a few capsizes throughout the race, but nobody gave up and everybody finished the race. It is encouraging to see the growth in the juniors racing. Not only is their boat handling skills getting better, with a few boats starting to fly spinnakers but they are really trying hard to finish the races. If we had these conditions 3 weeks ago we probably would have had half the fleet withdraw.
Well done to everybody !!!!!
Remember Santa Claus is coming to the club this weekend and it would be great to see all the junior sailors there to greet him in the afternoon. Also remember to bring something to dress up in resembling Christmas for a group photo.
See you Saturday for the last sailing day before Christmas!
8 December, 2010 : This week was another good turn out of junior sailors with 29 kids in total coming to enjoy the light north easterly breeze.
Saturday saw the level one Skyrider kids were enjoying the light conditions practicing reaching across the breeze in between the buoys although once again with the large number of kids we had to roster the boats around. Maddi Markey and Bailey Sellers are becoming very capable in handling their Skyrider every week and have no trouble getting around the course. Portia, Niamh and Tallarah went three up on one of the Skyriders and were have a great time sharing the skipper’s duties. With the breeze fading and the water becoming glassy we decided to take the sails off three Skyriders and put four kids on each boat and have a paddling race out around one of the buoys and back. The kids had a bit of fun with this even when there wasn’t much wind for sailing.
In the race, Mitchell and Declan were on the club laser, Scott and Harrison on their MG and Jackson and Riley on their MJ - all got off to flying starts and with the breeze fading the rest of the fleet was able to run them in, with the lead then swapping several times through the shortened course. There have been some minor collisions over the last couple of weeks. I would like to see everyone be aware of the boats around them and abide by the rules of sailing, this will also prevent damage to your own equipment and the clubs.
Todd has been doing the results for the races and are up on the website, so don’t forget to have a look.
The Flying Ant states were held on our lake last weekend. I would like to congratulate all those who competed. Dante Oliveri and crew sailed very well and I believe they won a couple of races. In fact when I left on Saturday afternoon they were about half a leg in front of the rest of the fleet. Dante was one of our junior sailors from the morning program some years ago and also helps out when he can on Saturday mornings to this day. WELL DONE DANTE & CREW !!!!
There are only two weeks before we break for our Christmas rest. Don’t forget on the last sailing day to wear something resembling Christmas for a group photo and stay around for a Christmas Party/BBQ and a visit from Santa Claus himself after the seniors race in the afternoon. Please see me or the ladies in the canteen regarding the details of this day over the next couple of weeks.
23 November, 2010 : We had another great turnout of juniors last Saturday, with 30 sailors in total. I would also like to welcome to the club new junior sailors Breana Walsh and Thomas Knight. We hope that you have a great time and enjoy the sport of sailing!
I would like to thank Paul Leaudais, Rob and Bobby Porter for their assistance in putting the rescue boats in last weekend. On Saturday, I had a number of junior parents come up to me offering their assistance in putting the rescue boats in each week. These offers are greatly appreciated and with enough helpers we might be able to organise a roster so you don’t have to do it each week. Thank you to all involved – it gives us coaches more time with the juniors.
On the sailing front it was a good day. With a light south easterly breeze blowing, increasing slightly and shifting to the east as the morning went on, all the sailors seem to handle it with ease. The Skyriders practised close to shore going around the buoys.
In the race, everyone is starting to get the hang of the full Olympic coarse. Sailing very well this week was Zoe and Jessica Ellem on the club spiral, Scott East on his Hobie Hawk and Erin and Riley Curry who finished their first race sailing together.
What I would like to see, is the sailors looking at the boats around them, especially at the starts and avoid collisions using your Port and Starboard rules. There were some minor incidents that could have been avoided by just thinking ahead and looking out for boats when on Port tack. I would also encourage the kids to have something to eat and go to the toilet before they go out sailing, this way we can run the morning with limited breaks.
Don’t forget there is no sailing this Saturday, as the club is running its annual Kembla Klassic weekend. I wish those members competing all the very best.
See you back at junior sailing on the 4th of December.
17 November, 2010 : We had a great turn out of junior sailors last Saturday with 35 juniors attending, with about four new starters in this group. I welcome to the club Tallarah Curry, Niamh Curry, Aiden Walsh and Joel Reason.
The breeze started off a nice hot north easterly, and with all the new starters this was a good opportunity for the new sailors to carry out their 50m swim test fully clothed with all their sailing gear on. The kids enjoyed this so much we ended up doing it a couple of times. Due to the large numbers last Saturday and with the limited number of boats, we had to roster the kids on the boats, as all the juniors (including the new starters) were required to go out around the buoys. It was my first time this season with the level one sailors and I was surprised to see how much skill and confidence the kids have gained in a short period of time. Excellent work guys!
The older more experienced kids out racing were having a great time with some very close racing. The North Easter started to kick in a little more, with a few of the boats coming back to shore with a choc top on their sails after being stuck in the mud. With a few retirements the pointscore results from the weekend were 1st Emmett and Tynan Walsh, 2nd Jackson Walsh and Riley Curry, 3rd Josh Villa-Porter and Declan Ward and 4th was Zoe and Jessica Ellem on the club spiral. Awesome sailing to all that took part.
I would like to thank Bobby and Rob Porter whom on the weekend put the extra rescue boat in the water. This not only helps with coaching the kids but also ensures the kids safety on the water with extra manning. I believe that we should be doing this every week and I would like to encourage one of the parents to learn how to launch the second rescue boat, and this can be their job every Saturday morning. This then frees up the coaches to spend time with the juniors instead of running around launching boats. I would also like to encourage the senior duty crew to put the main rescue boat in early for us. It is only once a year. Come down early put the boat in, have a cup of coffee/tea and watch the juniors race. Sounds like a great morning .... And it is greatly appreciated by the juniors, parents and coaches.
With the junior program growing again this year, it is also getting a lot harder to roster the boats around. I would like to encourage the kids who have their own boats to bring them down and also the sailors who have been there for some time to look at buying their own boats and give the new sailors arriving the same opportunity that you have had. I am happy to help with advice when purchasing your own boat, so come and talk to me.
See you all on Saturday for another great day.
10 November, 2010 : Last Saturday, I saw a different perspective of the junior sailing program, as I missed the early part of the programme. Saturday saw a nice South Easterly breeze blowing, when I arrived I sat on the rocks to watch all the juniors. I was impressed to see the younger kids, in the Skyriders, coming along well. These kids are striking up some good friendships and combinations, and seem to be getting around the buoys with ease. It is my intention to get some of these juniors filling in on the Manly Juniors as crew, when people are away.
Watching the kids race on the weekend was a pleasure. They all seem to progressed over just the last couple of weeks, since the racing started.
This season, Todd will be doing the results for the junior racing, so keep an eye out as they will be posted on the website in the next few weeks.
One thing I also noticed on the weekend, was all the helpers involved in getting the juniors on the water. I would like to thank all these people from parents, senior members and past juniors. It makes our jobs as junior coaches so much easier with so many active people, and also allow the juniors to progress with assistance from such a broad group of people.
On Sunday we had the “Try Sail Day” at the club. Once again we had a lot of helpers on the day, with loads of kids coming to try the sport of sailing. Tony Sanderson has done a great job organising this day over the last few years and it has been a great success at attracting new members to the club. On behalf of all the Junior coaches – thank you Tony.
After talking to the families and kids throughout the day, I think we will probably gain five to six new junior members.
25 October, 2010 : Last weekend we welcomed new junior members Olivia Chaffer and Elliot Winn with a total of 28 junior sailors participating on Saturday's programme. Welcome to Olivia, Elliot and their families.
Hayden and Bobby took the Level 1 sailors on the Skyriders, with several of the new juniors showing a lot of potential for their first time. With Saturdays light winds and warm weather it was also a good opportunity for the early level juniors to perform their 50m swim test, which is performed with all their sailing clothes on.
In the junior race on the weekend, we had five Manly Juniors, one Flying ant, one Laser, one Spiral and a Manly Graduate. We started the race in a light westerly and most got away to a good start. The breeze then slowly died out and went around in circles for the remainder of the race. This proved very frustrating for the sailors as they all opted for a comfortable position towards the back of the boat, instead of getting their weight forward and concentrating. Unfortunately due to the conditions the race was going to go over the time limit, so we decided to abandon the race. It is very encouraging to see that these kids are starting to develop their competitive racing edge as places were swapped regularly, with some sledging to be heard.
I would like to thank in advance: Bobby Porter, Andrew Curry, Hugh Lewis and Jason Chaffer who have all offered their assistance to help this weekend, as Todd, Hayden and myself will be away at the ACT Dinghy Championships. Thanks guys.
20 October, 2010 : Last weekend we had another good turn out of junior's, considering the windy cold conditions. A total of 21 juniors turned up on the day including new junior sailors, Joseph and Christopher Smith and Holly Mills. Please join with me in welcoming these new members.
The conditions on the weekend didn't allow us to get out on the water, however it was a good opportunity to work through the juniors log books. We set up a Skyrider and a Manly Junior inside the sailing club out of the wind. The level one sailors practised rigging the Skyrider and naming the parts of the boat. The level two sailors rigged the Manly Junior and practised putting the Spinnaker up, gybeing it, then pulling it back down. We also had another station set up so the kids could practise the required knots listed in their log book levels.
It was great to see so many junior sailors show up on Saturday and even though the conditions don't allow us on the water, the junior programme still goes ahead. I encourage everyone to still attend with their log books. The sailors progressed through their log books on the weekend with Emmett Walsh completing his level two certificate. Congratulations Emmett.
On the weekend Tony Sanderson and myself sat down and completed an application to Yachting NSW for eight ‘Optimist’ sailing dinghies. On speaking with Yachting NSW we believe our club has a very good chance of receiving these boats, as we seem to meet the required criteria. There is one thing that could assist our application, and that is if we could get some local sponsors. If you have any contacts of people or businesses who you think might be keen to sponsor a boat, please forward them on to myself or Tony. One boat cost $2800.00 and is a great way to advertise your business and keep in mind these boats will be used for several years, each Saturday with the advertisement on the boats.
Looking forward to better conditions this Saturday..... Brad Curry
11 October, 2010 : Last weekend saw the commencement of the junior sailing programme for 2010-2011. We had a good turn out of junior sailors with 19 kids attending and another two families showing up during the day stating that they will come next week. This year, I welcome back to the Juniors previous juniors, Roarke Curry and Jackson Walsh and also welcome new junior Michael Marzano. We hope you all enjoy your season.
This week was a bit relaxed with the coaching team unsure on the numbers we would get for the first week. Once all the juniors had arrived, we did a start of season introduction and outlined our objectives are for the new season ahead. Next the coaches split all the sailors up into two groups. Hayden and Bobby took all the level one sailors and Skyrider sailors. They rigged a couple of skyriders and hit the water for some fun and games. With the breeze being pretty light it was a good opportunity for these early level sailors to go through their towing techniques.
Todd and myself took aside the juniors who are going to start racing from next week. We refreshed them on the starting procedures, the sailing course and the rules of saling. We then rigged the Manly Juniors and headed out onto the water to get the feel of the boats again.
The first week is a bit hard to organise as the coaches are unsure of how many sailors we will get. However, starting from this week the programme will be a lot more structured. I urge everyone to be there no later then 9.15am as the programme will start whether your there or not and being late may result in you missing out.
I also have one final request: could the duty crew for each Saturday have the rescue boat in the water for 10am, or possibly have somebody take on this position every week? This takes time away from the coaches spending time with the kids, assisting them onshore prior to going onto the water. This will be greatly appreciated by all involved – thanks in advance!
5 October, 2010 : Well, that time of year has come around again, with the start of the 2010/2011 junior sailing programme. I am pleased to be elected as the head junior coach this year and am happy to have the same team - Bobby Porter, Todd Curry and Hayden Sellers - all offering their assistance to coaching as well. Last year we had many senior members, older juniors and parents offering assistance, I am hoping again to have this kind of assistance this year, as it makes it a lot easier for myself and the other coaches to attend to our own sailing commitments.
I would also like to encourage all parents to assist with the juniors or become involved with the club. The canteen is always looking for help and there are many jobs around the club that could be carried out also, if you aren't that confident in helping on the water.
This year, my main focus will be on getting as many juniors as possible into racing. This will start from the very first week and hopefully the junior sailors will learn every week and be competitive at the Illawarra Youth Regatta held at our club in 2011. In the off season many families have bought their kids boats. It is our goal to race at least six Manly Juniors, a couple of Flying Ants, a Hobie Hawk, a Northbridge Senior, a Spiral/Laser and a Flying Eleven every week. It is critical that parents do start to buy their kids their own boats as they progress through the levels. This allows the club boats to be free for new juniors to try sailing, as we just don't have enough boats to support the growth in numbers.
I would like to thank out going President Paul Leaudais for his assistance with the juniors during his term in the top job. I would also like to congratulate Richard Hipsley on his election as President of PKSC for this year. Richard has been involved with the juniors over the years and, like Paul, is very keen to see a growth in junior membership and seeing the junior racing programme re-commence.
As mentioned earlier, this season the club is hosting the Illawarra Youth Regatta. I urge everyone within the club to help to make it a successful event and give the junior sailors a good racing experience. It will be the first regatta for many of our Juniors.
See you all on Saturday.
18 August, 2010 : The junior program for this season is now available on the Calendar tab
10 August, 2010 : A big thank you to all the helpers at the Junior Working Bee on the weekend Saturday August 7th, 2010. We had a great mixture of senior members, junior parents and junior members helping out on the day, around 30 people in total. With the season fast approaching, it was great to see all these people assisting and getting the boats ready for the junior program.
Firstly, we got all the boats and equipment from out of the boatshed, until it was completely empty. We then took stock of everything that was in the shed and paired it up with the respective boats. There was a lot of junk that has accumulated over the years that doesn’t get used, so a lot of things will be thrown out and/or sold.
Many repairs were carried out over the day that could of been fixed there and then. A further job list was prepared, of issues that need to be carried out on the boats prior to the season (probably the next working bee).
The start of the season should see all eight skyriders on the water, two club Manly Juniors (with the club also looking to buy one more), two Flying Elevens, a Spiral and a Laser. It is shaping up to be a good season as the club tries to consolidate our strong junior sailing program. This season we will start racing, right from the start of the junior season. This is where the kids will start to learn a lot more about the finer points of sailing.
It has been great to see many of the families starting to buy their own boats. Firstly, the Ellem girls purchased their NS 14, followed by the Lewis family purchasing their Manly Junior in the following weeks. Recently Erin and Riley Curry bought a Manly Junior and the Walsh boys also looking to purchase one prior to the season starting. These boats along with the Porter families Manly Junior should see around eight to ten boats racing every week.
Once again, I would like to thank everybody who assisted on the day and those who have also offered their assistance in the coming weeks. It is very much appreciated.
Brad Curry
Junior Sailing Head Coach
email : Brad Curry
14 July, 2010 : Please see the notice under club news about a working bee for the junior boats
27 May, 2010 : It was great to see a good turn out of junior sailors and their families at the club presentation night for the year 09/10. The night started with the junior presentation and I spoke about the past year. The junior programme had a total of 42 kids compete throughout the year with a average of 21 kids sailing each week. The kids then received their gift bags which included a disc of the photo PowerPoint presentation, a water bottle, a club hat, some pens and pencils, a notepad and a lollypop. After the bags were presented, 11 encouragement trophies were presented to the juniors who started racing towards the end of the sailing season.
A club shirt was also presented to Hugh Lewis for his assistance throughout the year. Hugh was in the water helping out all year and also ran the breifings when we were away at regattas/titles. Thanks again Hugh, your efforts are much appreciated.
The final trophy for the night was the "Junior Sailor Of The Year" trophy. This was awarded to Dylan Zanin. Dylan sails forwardhand on Sharpie "Maniac" with Ian Richardson and Alex Marzano. Dylan was awarded this trophy not only on his sailing performances for the year but also the help he offers to myself and the other coaches every Saturday morning. It is great to see kids like Dylan (who participated in the junior programme some years ago) get involved in the club and help with the new crew of juniors.
Once again I would like to thank everyone that helped with the juniors this year, together we made it a success. The other coaches and I look forward to building on this next year and start Junior racing every week.
12 May, 2010 : With the sailing season over for the year and the presentation drawing closer, it hasn't stopped our junior sailors and their families from thinking about next year already.
I would like to congratulate Zoe and Jessica Ellem on the purchase of their NS and also Jared and Alanah Lewis on the purchase of their Manly junior for next season. It is great to see that these families have enjoyed sailing the past year and are going to make it their families chosen summer sport. Also talking to these families they have enjoyed the hospitality of Port Kembla Sailing Club and its members. I hope you all enjoy your new boats and look forward to assisting you guys next year
I would like to wish everyone a enjoyable and safe off season and look forward to seeing everyone at the presentation night.
20 April, 2010 : Last weekend was the last week of sailing for this season, I can't believe how quick it has gone and how much progress can be seen across the Juniors.
With the numbers down on the weekend (due to the school holidays), the coaches decided to simply set some buoys out and let the juniors sail around them practising the skills they have learnt throughout the year.
Congratulations to Zoe and Jessica Ellem on the purchase of their new N/S 14. The girls are really keen on their sailing and plan to do some training during the winter months as well, I hope you both enjoy your time with your new boat and look forward to seeing how much you have progressed at the start of next season. Awesome work girls! I would still like to offer my assistance to all parents who are thinking of buying their kids a boat in the off season. My contact details are in the junior sailors folders and I would love to help out where possible.
Also, in the winter months I plan to make repairs to the club boats, sell some that aren't being used and hopefully buy some more pending on funds. If you are willing to help out please let me know, as the many hands make light work in having the kids ready for next season. I will e-mail the date's that I plan to carry out these working bee's at a later date so people can check their calendars and see if it fits in with their schedules.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank some people. Firstly Todd Curry, Hayden Sellers, Bobby Porter, Ralf Steyer, Rob Porter and Hugh Lewis. These guys have been a great help to myself over the past season, helping to organise things and coaching the junior sailors as well. Secondly, to all the older junior sailors that have gone through this program before who have offered their assistance - week in, week out. I know that the younger kids look up to you and dream of sailing at the same standard in the next few years. Also, to all those members that have helped out during the year when myself and the other coaches are away at our own sailing titles/regattas. It is very much appreciated.
I would also like to thank Gail Grant and Tony Sanderson for their help and assistance through out the year. A lot of their work goes un-noticed and they both do a great job.
Next, I would like to thank all the junior sailors and their families for joining the club through the year. I have met some great people who I really think that not only the kids will benefit from being involved in the club, but the club will benefit from these families involvement. The kids have been an absolute pleasure to coach and the parents should be very proud of their behaviours and their achievements.
Lastly, I would like to thank my wife Kylie and my kids for allowing me to have the time to carry out the junior coaching position within the club. Kylie has been a great help over the season, proof reading/re-writing my junior stories such as this one. She has also set up the spreedsheet that I use at home to record all the details from week to week and also designed the certificates that the kids recieved through the year.
As you can see there are a lot of people that have helped throughout the season to make it probably the most successful junior sailing season the club has held. Thank you to all involved.
Enjoy your off season and I look forward to seeing everyone at the presentation night for a celebration of such a successful season.
13 April, 2010 : Last Saturday we had a good turnout, considering it was the school holidays, it was the second last week of sailing and that some of the junior sailors have started their winter sports.
We bought all the juniors into the club for the briefing, giving them a hand out and discussing the "Man Overboard Drill". We thought that this would be a good opportunity given the beautiful weather out. Mitchell Gulic approached me and said that we should of done this drill three weeks ago as three weeks back when he was sailing in the afternoon on Andrew Curry's Castle and fell off and Andrew’s crew had to sail back and pick him up.
Once we were out on the water we started doing the "Man Overboard Drill", all the kids were given the opportunity to perform the drill and swapped over with their partner once they have had their go. All the kids showed great confidence and skill whilst performing this drill.
After the "Man Overboard Drill", the coaches gave the kids the opportunity to have a go on a Manly Junior, attempting to sail it around some buoys, then capsize it, get it back up and continue sailing. The juniors really enjoyed sailing on the bigger boat as it has a bit more room and it goes a bit faster.
I can’t believe how much the junior sailors have come on this year. If you were down at the club to see the kids on the weekend, you would of seen a great bunch of kids sailing around with great confidence avoiding collisions whilst trying to pick up their mates in the water. It’s amazing to see how much these kids have advanced this season. Great work to you all!
This week coming is the last week of sailing. I am already looking forward to next season with some of the parents telling me that they are going to buy boats for their own kids. This is great to hear as this is when they will start to learn more as they will be sailing the same boat every week.
Don't forget to get your presentation tickets this week. A lot of people payed over the weekend and I urge all others to pay this weekend as it is going to be a great night and a celebration of the season.
7 April, 2010 : I welcome back everyone to the junior sailing programme this Saturday after the Easter break. I trust everyone enjoyed their time off.
The last junior sailing day was held in very light wind conditions. The south easterly breeze never really filled in until after the junior sailing was finished. This made it very frustrating for the sailors, however the coaches were very impressed with the concentration levels of all the sailors.
In the race Mitchell Gulic and Jared Lewis sailed two up on the club laser, they sailed well to be first across the line. Second place was a great dual between Josh Villa-Porter and Erin Curry in their Manly Junior against Scott East and Riley Curry in their Hobie Hawk, with Josh and Erin eventually getting up to beat them by a small margin. Third place went to Emmett and Jackson Walsh followed by April Jaque and Zoe Ellem in the club Manly Juniors. Great racing was done by all.
The level 1 juniors continued their boat handling skills closer to shore with some games and around the buoys’ sailing. There are some great improvements being developed by all the juniors.
I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage all the juniors and their families to come to the presentation night held on the evening of May 22. It will be a great night with all the juniors receiving a prize for their participation throughout the year. Please see myself on the weekend or the ladies in the canteen for your tickets. There is only two weeks left of sailing and we need to know numbers for catering.
24 March, 2010 : The Junior Sailing Camp was held over 2 days at PKSC, last weekend.
Firstly, I would like to thank all the members for supporting this weekend and for giving up their competitive Saturday racing for a more relaxed "Round The Lake Race" with some junior sailors and parents onboard. The coaches talked to the juniors that night about their experiences, finding they all really enjoyed themselves, still had smiles on their faces and seemed to learn a bit from our senior sailors as well.
I would also like to thank Glenda Curry, Hayley Walsh and Rebecca Curry for organising the food for the weekend, along with all of the parents who helped out with serving and cooking during the weekend. The kids enjoyed their food and seemed to be eating all weekend. If they keep eating like this they will be out of the junior boats in no time at all!
Lastly but by no means least, I would like to thank the kids and the parents for a great weekend. The parents were a great help for myself and the other coaches trying to co-ordinate activities to keep the kids happy all weekend. The biggest pleasure of the weekend was just seeing the kids getting to know each other and having a great time. All of the parents should be very proud of their kids, as their behaviour and manners were excellent over the weekend.
Now a quick summary of the weekend, we had normal junior sailing on the Saturday morning with the level 1's on the Skyriders navigating their way around the buoys closer to shore and the level 2's competing in their race a little further out. Four boats competed in the race with Josh Villa-Porter and Erin Curry winning from Amanda East (Scott's sister) and Riley Curry in the Hobie Hawk. Unfortunately, Scott has broken his hand through the week and was very disappointed that he was not going to be able to sail with Riley, and that he felt sorry that Riley was going to miss out as well. Scott's sister Amanda said to him, "Don’t worry Scott, I will sail with Riley and keep him out on the water". I thought this was a great gesture from a really great family. Good on you, Amanda.
Saturday afternoon saw the Juniors and parent split up onto the seniors boats including TY's, Cats and Mono's. Everyone really enjoyed themselves, especially those trying a trapeze for the first time on the Sharpies and Cats. After the race Saturday we got all the kids together and played some games where the kids got to know each other better, watched a slideshow of all the junior photos for the year that Gail had put together (thank you Gail!), had dinner and watched some movies with the kids, before heading off to sleep.
Sunday morning we woke, packed up all our sleeping gear and had breakfast. With the forecast looking very light for Sunday, we did some log book training and showed everyone the towing procedure. This was very handy as the breeze never filled in. So we sailed and towed all the junior boats on a bit of a adventure out around Goosebery Island and back. When we arrived back to shore we packed up the boats had some lunch and discussed the weekends activities with everyone, with everyone getting away in the early afternoon.
Once again, I would like to thank all the helpers over the weekend to make the junior camp a success and thank you again to a great bunch of Junior Sailors!
17 March, 2010 : Last week the level 2 juniors competed in their first race for the season. We had seven boats racing including Manly Juniors, Flying Ant, Sabot, Hobie Hawk and a Laser. Alex and Jacina sailed really well to win the race on their Flying Ant. Second place was a great dual between Scott and Riley on the Hobie Hawk and Josh V-P and Josh T on their Manly Junior. They continually swapped places all race with the 2 josh's finally getting up by about 2 boat lengths. 4th place was taken out by Stephen and Brian sailing their Sabot. Unfortunately the rest of the fleet didn't finish with some gear failure. Mitch sailing the laser capsized with his mast getting stuck in the mud. Whilst trying to right his boat the mast broke. A big thank you to Dylan Zanin who was able to help Mitch and also one of the Manly Juniors who's rudder fell off.
The level 1 juniors continued to get the feel sailing the Skyriders closer to shore. The level 1 juniors are all progressing very well and having lots of fun along the way.
Awards this week went to Declan Ward and Tynan Walsh for their continual improvement throughout the season. Well done boys and keep up the good work.
This weekend is the junior sailing camp. Normal junior sailing in the morning, then the juniors get the opportunity to sail on some of the seniors boats in the afternoon. Saturday night we will do a little log book work and play some games with kids getting to know each other better. On Sunday we will do some further log book work, play some more games then go on a adventure sailing out around the island (weather permitting). Make sure you bring your log books this weekend as we will be doing some training and it will be a good opportunity for you to go up a level.
See you all Saturday
9 March, 2010 : This week’s junior sailing programme was once again carried out in beautiful conditions with a light N/NE breeze blowing. One new member arrived this week, I welcome to the club Jessica Ellem (Zoe’s older sister). Zoe and Jessica are looking to buy a NS and sail together, this will be great for them and the club. Good luck and happy buying girls.
After the kids had all rigged up their boats, they were called in for the briefing. Here we split the juniors up into 2 groups (level 1 and level 2).
The level one juniors played a game of tip and chase on the Skyriders. This game is carried out in a square marked out by buoys. The boats aren't allowed to sail out of this square, while one boat has a tennis ball and chases them. The boat chasing has to throw the tennis ball at the other boats sails. Once you get hit then you have to pick up the ball from the water and start chasing the other boats. The level 1 juniors really enjoyed themselves playing this game as well as learning boat handling skills and also skills to avoid collision.
The level 2 juniors sat down in the club with Todd and myself and learnt about some rules of racing. First we showed the juniors the port and starboard sides of boats. We explained that PORT, LEFT and RED (shorter words) go together and STARBOARD, RIGHT and GREEN (longer words) go together. We then showed them the difference between Port and Starboard tacks and which boats has right of way, options that the Port tack boat has to avoid collision and which way to round the buoys if the start boat has set a Port or Starboard hand coarse. We then set a short windward/leeward coarse for the level 2 juniors to sail around and practise avoiding collision using the rules of sailing (using Port and Starboard rules).
This week’s awards went to the Fischbeck brothers Sam, James and Thomas. These boys have showed great dedication to the Junior sailing programme this year and have only missed one week since joining. It’s great to see the dedication of the entire family. Well done to all three of you!
This week coming we are going run our first race of the season with our Level 2 juniors. These juniors have progressed really well over the last couple of weeks and are ready and keen to start racing of a Saturday morning. The coaches are also very keen to start the racing as they will start to learn a lot more through racing. I will start to focus a lot of my time with these Level 2 juniors for the remainder of the season to ensure that the racing takes off and the kids will be ready to start racing from week one next year.
Don’t forget the junior sailing camp on the March 20th-21st (I need the permission slips returned to me) and the Presentation on the 22nd of May.
See you on Saturday
3 March, 2010 : This week saw sailing conditions that were a carbon copy of the previous week with a light north/north easterly breeze blowing, once again the Juniors contested a triangular coarse. It was great to see good numbers attending and the juniors are really starting to grow in confidence, with the talk of some parents going to buy Manly Juniors. I can see them starting to do some racing before the end of the season, which is great. Once again I would like to offer any assistance to the parents who are considering on buy their kids a boat.
This week’s awards went to Riley Curry and Scott East for their teamwork at rigging and sailing Scott's Hobie class training boat. Scott and Riley have been sailing really well together over the past 4 weeks. Keep up the good work boys.
Don’t forget that the Junior Sailing Training Camp is on the weekend of March 20-21st, 2010. I have handed out permission slips last week that the Juniors need to return to me the week before the camp March 13, 2010. If you haven't received this form yet or if you were away from sailing last week, come and see me on Saturday and I will give you one. The camp is a great fun weekend for the kids, will give them confidence around the club and improve sailing skills. Please be aware we need parents to assist the coaches with supervision when sleeping in the club, preparing dinners and helping out at breakfast time, please let us know if you can help out.
On the Saturday of the camp weekend, after Junior sailing, all juniors will also be given the opportunity to race on some larger boats in the afternoon seniors race. Over the next couple of weeks I would like the junior sailors to look at all the boats that sail in the afternoon and let me know what type of boat they would like to get a ride on if possible.
23 February, 2010 : Last weekend’s junior sailing programme saw 25 sailors attend. The wind was fantastic for the junior sailors as it improved on their learning to sail with a light N/NE breeze blowing.
The coaches decided to introduce the juniors to a triangular coarse, which was positioned out in the middle of the bay. At first we sat down inside the club and discussed where the coarse would be and how to negotiate around it. It was encouraging to see most of the kids having input in the discussions. All of the coaches are very proud of the way the junior sailors are progressing and they seemed to get around the coarse with little fuss. We had all boats participating including Manly Juniors, Sabot's, Skyriders and a Hobie training class.
At one stage Emmett Walsh and Erin Curry in their Manly Junior sailed straight over the top of ex-Flying Ant National Champion Dean Souter, who was also in a Manly Junior while teaching some juniors the finer points of sailing. Well done to you both! Saturday also saw Ralf Steyer competing in his Skyrider, with a little bit more training Ralf, we should see you start to progress up into a Manly Junior soon. J
Once again I would like to thank all the helpers on the weekend for making our job as coaches so much easier. It is also great to see some of the junior sailors buying their own boats and bringing them down to the club. This makes it a lot easier to free up the club boats for those who at this stage have been unable to make the commitment of buying their own boat.
The weekend awards went to Maddi Markey and Amelia Savage for competing in their Skyrider around the triangle coarse and also to Josh Villa-Porter for his confidence and ability in sailing his own Sabot. Well done to all three of you, well deserved awards!
The junior camp has also been rescheduled to the weekend 20th/21st of March. I will be sending out some junior camp notices in the next few weeks, so remember to keep this weekend free.
22 February, 2010 : The junior sailing camp will be held on the weekend March 20th/21st. A preliminary agenda is listed below.
| Saturday | - Morning | - Junior Training at PKSC (including log book work) |
| - Afternoon | - Juniors to crew on Open Monos/Trailer Yachts/Cats | |
| - Evening | - BBQ, sailing theory/games, videos, sleepover | |
| Sunday | - Morning | - Breakfast at PKSC |
| - Log Book assessments, coaching and sail adventure around Gooseberry Is. | ||
| - Sausage sizzle lunch |
19 February, 2010 : A NEW EXPERIENCE : This week will see one of our junior sailors, 15 year old Mitchell Gulic sail sheethand on Ian Richardson's Sharpie "Maniac". Ian's normal crew are competing in the Youth regatta this weekend and he was kind enough to take Mitchell onboard.
We wish Mitchell all the best for his first ride on a Sharpie.
19 February, 2010 : Due to our sailing commitments over the last two weeks, Todd, Hayden and myself were unable to attend and coach the junior sailing programme. We would like to thank all the helpers over the last two weeks that have helped to ensure that the programme kept running and the kids were having fun. We thank Bobby Porter, Rob Porter, Hugh Lewis, Ralf Steyer, Ian Richardson, Frank Marzano, Wayne Eager, Dylan Zanin, John Richardson, Nicholas Marzano, Alex Marzano, all junior sailing parents and other PKSC members who I may have missed.
It is great to see so many helpers offering assistance within the club. This makes our job as coaches easier and also allows us to continue with our own sailing aspirations. Once again a big thank you to all the helpers.
Brad Curry
Junior coach
18 February, 2010 : This week saw a cloudy day with a few showers and a light SSW breeze at times almost calm. A good turnout of twenty six kids came along. Initially we setup 6 sky riders (last 2 need a few repairs/some gear) then 1 laser, 4 sabot's and a hobie hawk making up the junior fleet. We also brought out 1 sky rider without sail or mast to practice turns and tiller control and body position. We didn't end up taking out the Manly juniors. Someone advised the need to fix up the drain flaps at the back of manly junior as they tend to take on water rather than let it out so we decided to leave them till next week.
A couple of the kids saw an octopus in near the rocks (approx 300mm). Unfortunately it looked a bit life less. With plenty of helpers such as Frank, Nick, Porter's, Ralf and John (to name a few) we were able to give the kids plenty of water time on board of boats. This week the kids experienced the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of lighter conditions.
A few of the kids mixed around so that they got some experience on the other boats. They tended to perform a bit better in the light conditions. Some light rain when we pulled out the boats and packed them away allowed the kids to have a drain pipe shower and fill the life jacket bucket. The kids appeared to get enjoyment from hosing themselves down as much as the gear.
A few of the kids expressed an interest in trying the manly juniors.
Reminded the kids to review their theory. Also will have to remind kids next week to leave their wet gear outside, otherwise floor slip hazards.
All in all the kids appeared to enjoy themselves. Looking forward to return of Brad and the boys next week.
Regards Hugh Lewis
9 February, 2010 : With Brad, Todd and some of the other regulars away sailing this weekend. I was asked to fill in and with assistance of Ian and some of the other club members Ralf, the Porters etc we focused on continuing to have fun and building up sailing experience.
A major turn around from the previous weeks fine sunny and very light wind last week. This week we had some light rain, 12 to 15 knot southerly wind (reading care of Ralf's wind meter) and some wind chop waves in a now brown lake. This saw a smaller turn out of kids. Also providing more challenging conditions.
Just after 9am things were looking pretty quiet however by around 9:30am 11 keen junior sailors had come along to brave the conditions. The kids hopped in and setup their sky riders. This week we decided to launch just the rubber ducky to put out the buoys and rescue.
During briefing the when asked all replied they wanted to sail. A special reminder was made to beware of the boom in the stronger wind conditions. With no complaints regards sore heads it appears the kids took heed.
With lower numbers we had plenty of boats. Also special thanks to Wayne who took one of the tillers home last week repaired it and brought it back this week.
A triangular course was set out front of the club with intent more confident junior could round the furthers buoy and less confident could stay in closer.
Initially in trepidation was felt when the boats reacted more strongly in the stronger wind conditions and chop. Initially causing some to forget what they had been taught.
We had a couple of excursions over near the rock wall keeping Bob Porter Jnr and Snr busy. Where by a couple of the kids learnt/ were taught that you need boat speed before tacking or jibing. This lesson was shared/emphasized with the other kids.
After a couple of capsizes with some direction from the experienced sailor(s) like Ian, Ralf, Porter Jnr & Snr, Wayne etc (apologies I can't remember all the helpers names) the kids started to shine in the conditions as they settled down. With helpers we had close to a 1 on 1 session with the closer to shore boats which maximized instruction/ direction to help the kids maintain confidence and conquer the conditions. The kids rapidly adjusted to better boat balance, tiller and sail control.
An example of this was Christa after a capsize and loosing a bit of interest. Ian took Christa and Jared under his wing for a while. At the end when we went back to shore she came over and told me she had her best day sailing ever and had learnt lots.
In summary all the kids had a great day. The stronger wind conditions pushed them a little and allowed them to feel the exhilaration of going a bit quicker.
Thanks to all the people who helped and made it an enjoyable experience for the kids.
Hugh Lewis
4 February, 2010 : This week saw the return of the junior sailing programme after breaking for the Christmas holidays. We also welcomed 3 new junior sailors this week, I welcome to the club Maddi Markey, Amelia Savage and Ellie Anstee. We hope that you all enjoy the remainder of the season.
Last weekend was a bit frustrating for the juniors as the breeze never really filled in, making it difficult to learn. The juniors still had fun playing in the water with some of the level 1 juniors completing their swim test. It was also a good lesson for the higher level juniors about patience and have to still concentrate even when the breeze is light.
This weeks awards went to Stephen Richardson and Becky Eager for their work they have been doing on their log books away from sailing.
The junior Programme this year has seen a total of 38 sailors. With the current amount of juniors sailing it is very difficult for the club to supply boats for all the sailors. The best way for the kids to learn more about sailing is if they do purchase their own boats. This way they will be guaranteed to be out sailing every week. I would be more then happy to assist anybody with advice on the purchase of a boat, should they need any help. This would then free up the club boats for other kids to try the bigger club boats. If anybody would like to discuss the purchase of a boat give me a call or come and see me on the Saturdays. There is a lot of good inexpensive boats currently for sale on the Manly Junior website.
I would like to thank all the parents and members for there offers of help and running the juniors over the next 2 weekends as the coaches are away competing at other sailing regattas.
27 January, 2010 : The Port Kembla Sailing Club coaching staff would like to welcome back all of the junior sailors for the second half of the season, starting this Saturday 30th of January. We hope that everyone had a great Christmas and holiday period and is fresh to start learning more about sailing.
I wonder if Santa Claus bought some of our junior sailors any sailing gear for Christmas ?
The second half of the season the coaching staff will be concentrating on moving the higher level junior sailors into the bigger boats and commence racing. This will give them a better understanding of boat handling, rules of sailing and tactics, as well as allowing more skyriders for the lower level juniors.
My family and I had a great time sailing and travelling in Tasmania over the Christmas period and I am looking forward to hearing about everyone else’s Christmas and holidays stories in the coming weeks.
Also please note that the current date of the Junior Sailing training camp ( February 6th) clashes with the junior coaches sailing commitments, we have decided to postpone the camp to a later date which is yet to be announced. I will keep you all posted on the new date as soon as one is available.
Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday.
16 December, 2009 : Last Saturday saw the last week of the junior sailing programme before Christmas, including a late in the afternoon visit from Santa himself. Junior sailing will now have a break over the school holidays and resume on January 30th.
This week we had 30 junior sailors attend, making it our busiest week so far this season. The juniors are all growing in confidence and are keen on trying their hand at sailing the Manly Juniors. This is looking very promising to start some racing after the Christmas break.
Awards on the weekend went to Zoe Ellem and April Jaque for their sailing skills on the Manly Junior and also their dedication at helping pack away all the sailing equipment.
Once again I would like to thank all the Parents/Grandparents along with the club members for their assistance over the first half of the season. It is very much appreciated by myself and the other coaches. I would also like to thank the junior sailors for their efforts over the year, it has been a pleasure to coach this current group of sailors, as they have all been very well behaved and keen to learn sailing.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the members a Merry Christmas and a safe New Year. Good luck to all those members who are competing in titles over the Christmas period.
8 December, 2009 : This week saw the return of the junior sailing programme after a two week break. The club also welcomed five new junior sailors this week, I welcome to the club Brendan Carr, Matthew Lech, Becky Eager, Megan Willis-Chan and Brian Dawes. With the addition of these new junior members it brings the total of juniors registered this year to 34. As a result it is making it very difficult for the coach’s to roster the kids to club boats, so they all get equal opportunity.
The sailors are progressing very well, with Mitchell Gulic having some good rides on the laser until his mast fell out after capsizing. This week we also rigged up both Club Manly Juniors with Emmett Walsh and and Josh Towle leading the way and flying a spinnaker for their first time. The other Manly Junior saw Erin Curry and Jacina Olivieri take turns with Zoe Ellem and April Jaque for their first time out on the bigger boat. Unfortunately a couple of capsizes cut short their experiences.
Awards this week went to Jared and Alanah Lewis for their constant improvement in sailing the Skyrider. Jared and Alanah are both very keen sailors and haven't missed a week this year.
I would like to thank club members Ian Richardson and Mark Jents for helping out Todd with the coaching of the older Juniors, and Paul Leaudais for putting in the rescue boats. I would also like to thank Parents/Grandparents Hugh Lewis, Ralf Steyer, Rob Porter and Rebecca Curry for their assistance in helping out with the juniors in the water. It makes our job as coaches alot easier with the efforts of these people. If any parents or grandparents can offer some time during the junior programme, please let myself or any of the other coaches know, as with such a high number of junior sailors, we can do with all the help we can get.
A couple of disappointing things on the weekend were the sailors taking off their covered footwear before leaving the water. The shoreline has sharp rocks, glass and oysters and it is my recommendation that all people sailing or helping wear cover footwear. The other disappointing thing on the weekend was the sailors showering before the boats were washed and put away. The problem with this sort of behaviour is that it leaves the workload greater on the remaining juniors, parents and coaches that are packing away. I will be keeping my eye on these issues over the remainder of the season to ensure that it does not happen again.
Don't forget Santa is coming this week. Parents/grandparents, if you need any information about the day give me a call and I can fill you in.
See you on Saturday for the last sailing week before the Christmas break.
1 December, 2009 : Due to PKSC hosting the Kembla Klassic last weekend, Junior sailing again was not held. However the junior sailing programme will re-commence this week after a two week break. Remember to bring your sailing folders with you as this week we will be doing some more log sheet assessments.
The final week for the junior sailing Christmas break will be on the December 12th. This is a fun day as Santa arrives after the seniors race in the afternoon, at approximately 4.30 - 5 pm. I would love to see many junior sailors bringing their families back to the club for this event. The club will also be having a BBQ after Santa has had his visit. This is a great way to meet the people in the club and allows the kids have a play together and get to know each other away from the sailing programme. If you are interested in attending, I ask that the parents come and see me on Saturday and I will explain how the day is run.
Congratulations to all the older junior sailors that competed in the Kembla Klassic on the weekend. It is great to see how these kids sailing skills have developed over the years and are now becoming very competitive in their chosen classes.
I would like to also take this opportunity to thank all the Kembla Klassic organisers and volunteers from the race committee, the ladies in the canteen and people just helping out around the club. It was a very successful weekend for the club and every bit of help made the weekend run smoothly.
PS A personal thanks to my family and all the other people that helped out babysitting my kids while I was out sailing and Kylie working. It is very much appreciated.
24 November, 2009 : There was no junior sailing last week and already the season is nearly half through. However, with the increase in junior sailors each week, it is becoming very difficult to get all the sailors some time on the club boats. Unfortunately PKSC has only a limited number of boats that are to be shared between all junior sailors. Currently there are 29 junior sailors that are participating in the programme this season.
On speaking with the other coaches, we are considering starting up the Manly Junior class within the club again. In the past, the club sailed Manly Juniors as part of their junior programme and this was very successful. The Manly Junior Association is a very strong association within NSW and nationally. The association are estimating that at the next state title heats they should have around 60 boats competing. The Manly Junior has produced some of the country’s top sailors including Olympic Gold medallists. This is the Manly Junior website if you would like to have a look. All of the junior coaching team, Hayden Sellers, Bobby Porter, Todd Curry and myself were all Manly Junior sailors whilst in our junior years.
I would love some parents to consider buying their kids their own boats. This would guarantee that their kids will do a lot more time on the water and start learning more about sailing. After Christmas I would like to start racing for the sailors that are progressing well. This is when the kids will learn more as they will be interacting more with the coaches, other boats and sailors. To see a list of Manly Juniors for sale please follow this link. I would be happy to discuss Manly Juniors, the website or help any of the parents with questions or queries regarding the purchase of a boat for their kids if needed.
Remember no junior sailing this week as the club is hosting the Kembla Klassic over two days. I encourage all junior sailors to come to the club and see what they will be involved in over the next few years.
Junior sailing resumes the December 5th.
18 November, 2009 : This week again saw the arrival of some new junior sailors. We welcome to the club Sam, James and Thomas Fischbeck. We all hope that you enjoy your sailing throughout the year. Every week when I write this report I seem to be welcoming new people to the club. It goes to show how successful the junior sailing programme is becoming with all the new arrivals and how much fun the kids are having that they keep coming back.
The juniors sat down as a group with Hayden before entering the water and to learn their knots. Everyone successfully completed their Figure Eights with another small group mastering their Round Turn Two Half Hitches and Bowlines. With the completion of learning these knots, Mitchell Gulic complete his level one certificate. Well done Mitchell !
Several other juniors sailors are very close to completing their level one certificates also.
It was time to enter the water and with a light North/North Easterly blowing, it was ideal for the junior sailors. Everyone is growing in confidence and venturing out further onto the lake and around the buoys.
Certificates this week went to Emmett Walsh for his commitment in learning how to sail the Manly junior and to Isabella Jaque for her confidence in sailing a Skyrider all by herself. Congratulations to you both.
Due to the Flying Ant state titles this weekend and the Kembla Klassic the following week there will be no junior sailing for two weeks. I would like to encourage all the junior sailors to still visit the club over these two weekends and see the state’s top sailors in their chosen class. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish the best of luck to all the clubs Flying Ant sailors this weekend.
The junior sailing programme will resume on the 5th of December. Enjoy the break.
11 November, 2009 : Another great week was had by all the junior sailors with a light East/North Easterly breeze blowing. This was great for all the sailors to get out onto the water and get the feel for steering. Dylan Zanin took Mitchell Gulic out on the Flying Eleven and showed him all the different angles of sailing. Emmett Walsh, Harry Callaway and Josh Villa-Porter took one of the Manly Juniors out and with some coaching from Todd, were comfortably negotiating their way around the buoys. In closer to the shore the Skyriders were also having a lot of fun with everyone starting to get the hang of going around some buoys.
Merit awards this week went to Erin Curry and Jacina Olivieri for their great teamwork in rigging and sailing on their Skyrider. Well done to you both!
This week we saw the arrival of seven new juniors as a result of the "Try Sail Day" and have joined the junior sailing programme for the remainder of the year. I welcome to the club Eeli Tilocca, Jordan Reason, Thomas Richardson, Stephen Richardson, Zoe Ellem, April Jaques and Isabella Jaques. We hope that you enjoy the rest of the season with us. These new members were able to have a sail on the Skyriders after receiving their log book folders and also completing their 50 meter swim test, with sailing gear on.
With all these new juniors showing up the morning is becoming very busy for all the coaches. I would like to encourage all the parents or club members to assist the coaches in some way. Assistance could be in the form of putting in the rescue boat, putting in the rubber ducky, helping the kids get their boats off the racks and carrying them to the shore line for them to rig up or assisting in the shallow water with the new sailors. Currently the coaches are getting overloaded with these tasks, therefore not allowing enough time with the sailors as we would like to.
There will be no junior sailing for the two weeks after this weekend due to the Flying Ant State titles followed by the Kembla Klassic. However I would encourage all the junior sailors to come down to the club on both these weekends to see these regattas will have the all top sailors in their classes and would be good for the juniors to watch all the action.
See you on Saturday.
3 November, 2009 : This week the club welcomed 4 new junior sailors, they are: Declan Ward, Portia Ward, Emma McGoldrick and Nathanael Banfield. The junior sailors this week were taught the different points on a compass and were shown on the lake map the different directions the wind can come from in comparison to the sailing club. Juniors were then teamed up with a partner and rigged their boats. This week two Manly Juniors and one Flying Eleven were also rigged for some of the bigger juniors to trial. Unfortunately the wind wasn't so kind with the North Easterly starting to pick up and the conditions became very gusty. Most of the juniors were starting to capsize due to the conditions so the coaches began to take them off the water and de-rig the boats. It was very pleasing to see that the kids didn't panic in these conditions and still enjoyed themselves. Awards this week went to Josh Towle and Lachlan Beavan for the extra work they have been doing on their log books at home.
The coaches would like to thank all the parents/helpers for their efforts in helping with the kids. Personally I find it great to see some of our past juniors helping out, to mention a few Dean, Kurt, Nicholas, Alex, Dante, Dylan and John. Thank you all as it makes our job as coaches easier and allows us a bit more time to spend with the kids.
As a result of the successful "Try Sailing Day" held on at the club on Sunday, I expect to get an increase in juniors, as they all seemed to enjoy themselves.
27 October, 2009 : What a great week for the juniors! Fourteen junior sailors showed up this week, including two new members. I welcome Crista Kelly and Josh Villa-Porter to the club. All juniors had an opportunity to get out on the water and sail around some buoys in a nice light south easterly breeze. At the end of sailing, the juniors also had the chance to get wet and perform their swim test with all their sailing gear on. It was great to see all these sailors bring their log books and get marked off on a few level one tasks. All the juniors are very keen and are progressing through level one quite comfortably. A lot of the juniors are also working on their log books at home during the week, then coming up to the coaches and asking to get tested so they can progress through to the next level. This is great to see and makes coaching this group a pleasure when they are so keen.
Junior Merit Awards this week went to Crista Kelly and Mitchell Gulic for their confident skippering skills. The group also celebrated Bailey Sellers 6th birthday at the de-briefing with a song and cake. Happy Birthday Bailey hope you had a great day!
This week the aim is to split the kids up into groups, team them up with a partner and allocate some boats for them to sail for the next few weeks. Some of the more experienced kids will be moving up into Manly juniors and start doing a triangular coarse further out in the bay. With 15 junior sailors on the books and several more that have shown interest, the hard part will be allocating boats to ensure everyone gets the same opportunity. It would be great to see the kids towards the end of the year getting more experienced and buying their own boats. This would allow new people that show up the chance to try sailing in the club boats.
Next Sunday the club will be running a ‘Try Sail Day’. This is a great opportunity for the club to encourage new people to try sailing and hopefully new membership. I would love to see some juniors and parents there to help out rigging and looking after the boats if possible.
20 October, 2009 : Last Saturday saw nine junior sailors participating with several away due to other commitments, giving us a total of 13 juniors on board for this year’s programme. Three new juniors also arrived and joined the club they are - Josh Towle who sailed a bit last year with the juniors, Harry Calloway and Bailey Sellers. Welcome to all three boys, I hope you all benefit from the programme and have some fun throughout the year.
With Saturdays conditions quite calm in the morning we were able to get some boats out and onto the water. Firstly we split up into several groups and showed the juniors how to rig a Skyrider. The Juniors will be tested on this in the coming weeks, so make sure you all bring your log books so you can be marked off rigging a Skyrider as this will start your progression through to level 2. Once the Skyriders were rigged it was time to get on our sailing gear and head out onto the water. All the junior sailors had a turn of capsizing their boats and righting them again using the centreboards, although some found this a little chilling! After this the juniors steered a gently pushed Skyrider, without out a sail, around a buoy. Everyone seemed to get the hang of this pretty quickly and with the wind dying out it was time for the real thing. The kids were put into groups of 3 on each boat and sailed around the buoy in the shallow water, this time with sails on. They all seemed to pick up these skills pretty quickly and were very competent, with only a couple of capsizes. With the wind starting to pick up again it became cold so all returned to shore. Boats were washed and packed away well with all the juniors pitching in and helping each other.
Merit awards will be given out to well performed and dedicated junior sailors each week for their sailing performance and on shore activities. This week, two merit awards were given out, the first to Bailey Sellers for his first time on a Skyrider at the age of 5 years and the other to Harry Callaway who showed great confidence in skippering. Well done guys!
This week the juniors will be hitting the water again and we will be marking some of the log book tasks, so ensure that you bring them with you.
Some photos from the juniors last weekend are now on the photo gallery
15 October, 2009 : This week saw the start of the PKSC junior sailing calendar. A total of 10 juniors showed up for the first week with a few more to come. I was very happy with the first weeks attendance and the group was very well behaved and keen to start sailing. I would like to welcome to the club new members Jared and Alanah Lewis and Mitch Gulic who had a sail in the afternoon with Dads Army on Rosstered Off. I would like to thank Jim and crew for giving Mitch the opportunity. Speaking with Mitch after the race, he really enjoyed himself. Erin and Riley Curry and Kaitlyn Porter who have been in the club for several years have joined the juniors for the first time this year, much the same as their parents did some years ago. Out of the 10 sailors on Saturday there was 4 girls. This is great to see some girls getting involved in the sport and I am sure that they will have lots of fun together throughout the year. Last Saturday the coaching staff introduced themselves and spoke about the history of the club and what the club can offer. The kids were given their folders for the year ahead, went for a walk around the club and shown the boats they will be learning on.
This week will see them get on the water and start doing some sailing. I would also like to invite the juniors and their families to the Oktoberfest held at the club on Saturday night. Should be a great night and a good way to meet other members and become involved in this great club.
23 September, 2009 : For information on registering for the junior training program please email Brad
22 September, 2009 : The junior training calendar is now available here