TRAINING
ASC WOMEN'S & GIRL'S CHALLENGE
Don McKenzie
Rod Thomas
During the year we have been running beginners’ On Saturday 14th June Albert Sailing Club held a
learn to sail courses and Green fleet sailing to im- Women's and Girl's Challenge.
prove sailors’ skills.
As per usual we had a strong group of women inThere have been numerous enquiries for higher level volved in shore based activities in the Tower and the
training. Those involved in the green fleet have not Galley. We then had 15 entries by female skippers in
always attended regularly. This has led to underutili- the Women's and Girl's Challenge.
sation of our resources and using time when others
The entrants were spread across the age distribution,
could be attending training.
ranging from a ten year old sailing her second race to
It is proposed that from the start of July all courses some of our experienced 'seniors' sailors. Nine entries
will be run on a program basis with participants were from Albert SC, with three of them having
signing up for the duration of the program. This will graduated from Learn to Sail programs at ASC and
allow us to schedule courses to meet the needs of a sailing their first race.
larger number of members.
The fleet was boosted by six boats from other clubs: a
Notices of these courses will be posted on the notice Mirror sailed by a youth aged daughter and her Mum;
board and will require those wishing to be involved a Laser Radial ; four Laser 4.7's, and a Sabre.
to put their name on the list.
The Challenge took the format of a series of short
races, with single mixed fleet starts from our "Aerial
All training will be free to members.
11" Start boat. The overall winner was Silke Schwartz
It is anticipated an advanced training course aimed at in Limited Edition, second regular winter visitor
those wanting to improve their sailing and perhaps Susannah Gilham in Tachi, third overall Pam Webster
in "Aka 'Ula.
start racing.
Sessions on the rules of sailing will also be arranged, The event was a worthwhile addition to our sailing
we all need to learn these or update what we have calendar, and there was requests for it to be repeated.
The club has a fine tradition of involving people of all
previously learned.
ages, genders, and and nationalities in its activities
and this event displayed well the involvement we
SOCIAL SAILING
have of women and girls both on and off the water.
AND DISCOVER SAILING
Social sailing and discover sailing days are listed for
each month. Committee members are going to share
attendance of these days. Some are not confident
they could take a prospective member for a sail in a
Pacer. Anyone with some sailing ability who would
be able to assist them would be a great help. If you
would like to be involved please contact one of the
flag officers.
These days are for those members who do not necessarily want to race to go for a sail and to give interested parties a sailing experience.
This is one of the avenues for recruiting new members. With changing attitudes to membership commitments by the community as a whole it is important we capitalize on all opportunities to recruit
members, this will ensure we stay a viable club.
ASC Women's Challenge - photograph by Rod Thomas
Page 12