Congratulations to the following sailors who have sailed their way into qualifying for a Development Team during the 2019 2020 season. Qualification for these teams is usually through a sailor’s placing at the Nationals, however this year it has been taken from the sailor’s final overall ranking.
Sadly the honour of qualifying for a development team this year is in name only as the NZIODA committee have unanimously decided NOT to send any travelling teams overseas. This is due to the legal requirements of employing coaches overseas, challenges with travel insurance, and quarantining requirements, due to the COVID 19 pandemic. This of course does not take away from each sailor’s huge achievement.
It is also worth noting that the committee has decided that in order to qualify for a place in the 11 year old development team next season, the criteria will now be that sailors must be Opti age 11 and no younger than this. This decision has been made as it was felt that sailors younger than this were generally not mature enough to manage the pressure of competing overseas.
If your child is part of one of these teams and you would like to organise for the group to get together for a training or regatta over the upcoming season within New Zealand please get in touch via nzoptimist@gmail.com.
The 2020 Girls Development Team: Hermione Aris Murrays Bay SC, Charlotte Palmer Charteris Bay YC, Nicola Hume Murrays Bay SC, Jessica Redpath Murrays Bay SC, Tessa Clinton Wakatere BC, Chloe Armstrong Worser Bay BC, Zoe Mains Glendowie BC, Hannah Williamson Wakatere BC, Kelly Su Kohimaramara / Royal Akarana YC, Katie Mulcahy Murrays Bay SC – Coaches – Xanthe Copeland and Olivia Christie
The 2020 12 Year Old Development Team: Moss Hopkins Queen Charlotte YC, Harry Shannon Wakatere BC, Leo Brown Royal Akarana YC, Hayden Chisholm Charteris Bay YC, Andrew Jensen Torbay SC – Coaches – Henry Gautry and Peter Soosalu
The 2020 11 Year Old Development Team: Nelsen Meacham Wakatere BC, Louis Quere Royal Akarana YC, Ashton Cooke Kohimaramara YC, Nathan Soper (Aged 9) Charteris Bay YC, Lucy Luxford Charteris Bay YC – Coaches – Henry Gautry and Peter Soosalu