Yachting Queensland holds training camp at Whitsunday Sailing Club

 Around 14 junior sailors participated in a training camp held by Yachting Queensland’s Ben Callard at the Whitsunday Sailing Club (WSC) last weekend. Ben, who travelled to the Whitsundays from Brisbane, is a training officer with Yachting Queensland and an ex-sabot sailor from Yeppoon.

 “I grew up sailing sabots in Yeppoon, but I’ve been coming to the Whitsundays for a few years now, doing coaching camps with the junior kids and working with people like Klaus and Eva Lorenz,” Ben said.

 “The aim of these camps is to add another level of coaching to the training already provided by the club and also to see if there’s any up-and-coming athletes. The level of sailing at WSC is quite high,” he said.

 Ben described the weekend’s training as “focussed on skill development and racing”.

 “It’s about improving tacking and gybing, how they position themselves in the boat – their basic skills – and for racing we look at starting, mark roundings and boat-on-boat tactics.

 “They all come away from the camp either learning new skills or polishing up on the skills they’re trying to perfect,” he said.

 Young sailors Klaus Lorenz and Ollie Annear said Ben’s visit was invaluable for assisting them with the transition from Optimists to 420’s.

 “He’s been helping us with technique – it’s been great to have him here to give us a progress check,” Klaus said.

 For Ben, the highlight of the weekend was “seeing all the kids together training”.

 “It’s gone really well. We’ve had pretty good numbers and I’m happy with the level of skill and development I’ve seen,” he said.

 Gaynor Turnbull was one of a number of parents who travelled from Mackay to participate in the camp.

 “We’ve really enjoyed it. All the parents love these camps and the kids really love them too – they learn heaps. They’re all leading up to their training camps at the end of the year so weekends like this are really helpful. The Yachting Queensland training is excellent,” she said.

 For more information visit www.qldyachting.org.au or to find out more about the sport of sailing at WSC contact Jeremy Cooper on 0487 891 367.