SLAM Sailing Centre
The main reason the day was organised was to get as many
new members of the Club, the public, local charities & schools
onto the water with Hebe Haven Yacht Club. One of our
missions at the Centre is to do as much as we can for the
local community and get as many youths or people with less
fortunate backgrounds involved in a great sport & activity that
we sometimes take for granted at HHYC.
From about 2.30pm – 4.30pm, we suddenly found ourselves
with a nonstop queue of around 20 people waiting to get onto
the boats for test sails down by the pontoons. I want to give a
special mention to our team of younger Hebe Dragons, as they
really saved the day by getting involved and taking over the
helm of our Laser Pico fleet and giving joyrides to the eagerly
waiting members of the public by the pontoon Master, Ben
Francis, who from a distance looked like he was a bouncer at
a night Club controlling the crowd! The Young Dragons were
absolute stalwarts, and really deserve this special mention.
They all sailed extremely well with novice sailors on-board and
represented everything about what we are trying to achieve
here at the Sailing Centre. These guys are the future of the
Club, and I for one am proud to have them sailing here and
involved at HHYC.
The day drew to a close at about 5pm when the Sailing
team started the monumentus task of packing up the
Centre. The general feeling was that this was another
excellent day for the Club and the feedback everyone
received was extremely positive.
Seeing the faces & hearing the laughs of so many people
who had just experienced their first sailing experience was
extremely rewarding for everyone involved and credit must go
to the instructors & sailors who were giving a very safe , but fun
experience to everyone onboard for the first time.
18 Hebe jebes • MAY/Jun 2014
Well done to everyone who was involved during the day. We
look forward to the next Open Day and opportunity to get so
many non-sailors out on the water at one time on the same
day…but luckily this event only happens once a year!