Hebe Jebes Issue Sep to Oct 2013 Sep 2013 | Page 26

NEWS

Laser Dragons
On behalf of HHYC, we would like to congratulate
William Chan (BELOW) and Jess Mihan (RIGHT), our
top Laser sailors. They are going to leave us for college and
we thought it would be a good opportunity to thank them for
all their hard work in and out of the water. They proved to be
very helpful with the youngest team by preparing their boats and
encouraging them, all this with a huge smile and wonderful attitude.

Before leaving, William shared his adventure with our young
sailors, “At about seven years old, my dad decided to buy a 27foot yacht which he didn’t know how to sail. Therefore, at that
time he decided to enrol me to sailing courses offered at the
Club. Since then, I’ve been sailing at the club, as long as Rob was
there (he was gone for a while in between the years so I stopped
when he left and star ted again when he got back). I also did some
race training a while back, however decided to work more as an
AI than race train until Alfred arrived. Since then, I’ve been race
training and entering all the regattas Alfred wished me to.
I feel that during my years sailing at Hebe Haven and on the
Hebe Dragons, I have achieved a lot, not only in terms of sailing
ability but also being par t of the Sailing Centre. Race training has
increased my awareness of a lot of technical aspects of sailing
which also led to me passing on this knowledge when I worked as
an Assistant Instructor (AI) at the Club.
One of the best moments I’d say is seeing yourself improving
after applying the things that you have learnt. I think, however, the
very best moments have been sailing a 29er with Antonio—my
best friend and crew—because we always argue and it’s funny.
Some words of wisdom to Hebe’s younglings...Listen to Alfred
because he knows what he’s doing and you probably don’t! And if you
don’t listen you get kicked out of class... Yes I speak from experience.”

24 Hebe jebes

Jess shared, “I had been working as a Sailing Instructor at HHYC
for a year before Alfred Okoth was appointed as the Race Coach.
Alfred must have seen something in my sailing ability as he invited
me to join the Hebe Dragons Racing Team. At first I was not
convinced that I would succeed in racing, but under the intense
training and coaching from Alfie, and my own commitment to his
programme, I am currently ranked as the number one female 4.7
Laser sailor in Hong Kong.
I have grown to love racing because competing at regattas has
deepened my knowledge of the ar t of dinghy racing. Travelling
to local and international yacht clubs to compete and represent
HHYC, I have met people who love sailing just as much as I do.
Everlasting memories have been created from my time spent with
the team and I will cherish these. Now I look back and wonder
why I didn’t star t sooner.
As Alfie always says, “Sail with your head and not your hear t.”
Thank you HHYC for showing me this great spor t and inspiring
me to challenge myself to find what I am capable of doing when I
put my mind to it. I am a proud Hebe Dragon sailor.

O

ne of the best
moment I’d say is
probably seeing
yourself improving after
applying the things that
you learn.