This season saw the NZIODA South Island Optimist Clinic switch up to a 4 day format for the first time; in line with our North Island Clinic offering. We were lucky to engage an incredibly experienced and cohesive line-up of top Opti coaches from around the motu and the world, headed up by local hero Kate Overend and NZ Opti legend Andrew Brown. With Peter McCann heading over from Ireland (via Australia and Kohi) providing a different perspective, and Noah Malpot and Ben Catton, both highly experienced and recent Opti sailors themselves, this proved to be a powerful team offering great technical knowledge and inspiration for our young sailors. Five local Buddy sailors joined the mix and added their own skills, passion and talent making it a great experience for our young sailors.
The goals of ‘Fast, Fun, Fundamentals’ and levelling the playing field for our South Island sailors were fulfilled with intense active learning both on and off the water for all three fleets of sailors. It was also awesome to see the sailors making friends from other clubs around the South Island as well as other countries.
The regatta on the last day, complete with boundaries (thanks Sail GP), a great viewing arena, and some awesome gusts made for some thrilling rides and was the perfect way to finish the clinic.
A big thank you to Queen Charlotte Yacht Club for the very generous use of their club, all of the coaches for their encouragement, technical knowledge and professionalism, and to Tony Robb for his time, planning behind the scenes and general support.
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