Carrissa Bridge - Young up and coming Sabot Sailor
Over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of April, the Noosa Yacht and Rowing Club were host to one of the first Queensland Sailing Development Camps for 2011. With invited coaches Adrian Finglas and Ben Callard, the camp began with breakfast and a short briefing on the days goals. With what was set to be two exciting days of training the 44 young athletes rigged their boats and began preparing for their first day on the water.
The wind was moderate from the south east and that made for some interesting and patchy conditions on the river. The large group of aspiring athletes were split between the coaches and all learnt different and interesting things. Queensland Sailing Team head coach Adrian Finglas was on the water instructing a smaller portion of the young sailors. “The days were really good, I learn’t a lot and found it really enjoyable” said Carissa Bridge one of Queensland’s young sabot sailors. She continued to say, “With Adrian we learn’t so much, he filmed us and we could see clearly what we were doing wrong, he also made things so fun!” A lot of the fun came from some of the very different but interesting drills throughout the day. Skill tests such as standing while sailing, short course racing and mark roundings all tested the young athlete’s fitness and boat handling.
Day two started with a quick fitness session that involved some basic stretching and drills that introduced the young sailors to the strength and conditioning aspect of sailing and training. As Ben Callard Yachting Queensland Training officer and Queensland Sailing Team coach said “The purpose of the camp, was to introduce new sabot sailors to coaching, further developing them for intermediate and advanced sailing”. After the fitness, the group hit the water for some more drills such as figure eights and tacking on the whistle, all “… based around boat handling and skill acquisition” said Ben Callard. Towards the end of the day the Sabot Association parents put on a Barbeque that was thoroughly enjoyed by all participants after the final hard days training.
There were some standout sailors among the group who showed a lot of improvement over the two days. Natalie Bridge and Helena Lamborn in the girls two up and young Daniel Moran were just a few sailors who dramatically improved. The coming months are an exciting time for Queensland sabot sailors with training, camps and the 2011 Easter Hervey Bay Sabot Championships at the end of the month. However all of this training and hard work will be put to the test at the Queensland Sabot Championships on the 11th – 12th of June. Stay tuned!