I recently spent some time at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron for the Australian Schools Teams Racing Championships and Queensland Youth Week. I decided after looking at Flight Options and talking to the DeckHardware customers that I would drive up instead of flying. No packing restrictions and I could take extra product should it be needed. Of course there is also the fact that I enjoy a road trip and had not done the Journey to Brisbane and back for some time. Talk about some road work changes particularly south of Coffs!
I must say one of the biggest debates I had was where to stop along the way. I love stopping by some of the smaller towns and even saw a poster for the Nabiac Caravan, Boat and Fishing Show. I think that might have to be something we check out some time. It is great to see some of the smaller regions supporting the outdoor lifestyle and putting on a community event.
Two of us were talking on one of the days at RQYS about how successful these events were and how great it was to see so many types of boats heading out in decent numbers at Youth Week!
We started talking about how perhaps the sport is changing to be more focused on events rather than club racing? Are you seeing this in your area? If people are more focused on events where does that leave our clubs and how do the youth in particular learn and improve and get the social side to play a big part in the sailing culture they grow up with?
Is it because a days sailing literally does take up the majority of the day compared with other sports?
It feels like Teams Racing in Schools is growing in Sydney as well, school sailing in general which is fantastic especially with what Yachting Australia has been able to be involved in. Passed around at the presentation night for the Teams Racing was a flyer for School Match Racing! What a great idea! It is fantastic to watch the boat handling and skills in these formats of sailing as well as the knowledge of our sport these young sailors have.
There certainly is a lot happening in our sport at the moment. Let’s hope we can keep up the momentum and continue to receive growing media coverage for the success of Australian Sailing. With this will come increased interest and participation in our sport. It is up to all of us to help spread the word about how good sailing is! After all, what better way to spend a day than out on the water.
Melissa Yeomans 