The New Zealand School Holidays have arrived, welcoming a surge of sailors into the Royal Akarana Sailing Academy, proudly supported by Doyle Sails, ready for the fast-approaching summer season. Week One of the Academy School Holiday Program saw more than 50 eager young sailors through our doors., ready to take their sailing to the next level; in comparison week 1 is a little quieter as in week 2, more than 250 sailors expected on the water.
Optimist, Feva and ILCA race clinics have run both weeks, and were jam-packed with morning fitness sessions to warm up for intensive on-the-water training, followed by a tailored, interactive video debrief covering the learnings of each session, allowing the sailors to reflect on the takeaways of the day.
Our Academy Sail and Play program is aimed at introducing children to the sport has been in full swing both weeks, with our youngest sailors enjoying a variety of activities such as Optimist and Quest sailing, a Kayak adventure and plenty of sailing-related games. This program is for kids aged 7 and up and introduces sailing in a fun and social way. It is an excellent place for kids to start before they begin in our Fast Track Programs over the holidays or in our Learn to Sail courses during the term.
This month the Academy welcomed international race coach Nico Pini, who has been working with our race clinic sailors and will be joining our race coach team this season. We also welcomed back head coach Maria who spent the NZ winter coaching the Canadian National Optimist Squad in Nova Scotia, where her team had top results all of their competitions including the Canadian Optimist Nationals. With her recent experience coaching in an incredible race program, Maria will be focusing her attention directly on our own RAYC Academy race program into a “world class” operation.
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