Whitsunday locals chance to sail with Jessica Watson

If you are a keen sailor and under the age of 18, you could win the chance to have a private sailing lesson with Jessica Watson at this year’s Telcoinabox Airlie Beach Race Week.

Jessica will be available to meet the public from 3pm on Monday, August 13 and then she will take the lucky winner for a sailing lesson from 4pm.

It’s easy to enter. All you have to do is drop your entry into the Whitsunday Sailing Club or email it to sailing@whitsundaysailingclub.com.au.

Please mark your entry " win a sailing lesson with Jessica Watson" and include your name, date of birth, phone number and contact details. The winning entry will be drawn by Jessica Watson at the Opening Night of Telcoinabox Airlie Beach Race Week on Thursday, August 9. The private session will be held at 4pm on Monday 13 August.

Jessica will also be available to meet the public from 3pm on Monday 13 August at the Whitsunday Sailing Club.

Commodore Rob Davis says, This is a fantastic chance for enthusiastic young sailors to meet this young sailing identity and ask her some keen questions and hear first-hand about her experience of sailing solo around the world."

Jessica Watson in the Whitsundays

 When Whitsunday sailor Eva Lorenz won the Jessica Watson trophy for being “first girl” little did she know she would meet her heroine in Airlie Beach. Twelve-year-old Eva was presented the trophy at the Optimist State Championships in Mooloolaba on June 5.

 “I think it’s great to have won this trophy as I think Jessica is a great inspiration for girls,” Eva said.

 Jessica Watson, who was in the Whitsundays to promote the season of sailing and Ben Southall’s ‘best expedition in the world’, said it was great to meet Eva and see the trophy for herself.

 “It was a shame I couldn’t be there but I seem to spend more time in other parts of the country than I do in my home town,” Jessica said.

 “I’m very jealous of you getting to sail in the Whitsundays all the time,” she told Eva when they met at Capers on Monday night.

 Like Eva, Jessica once sailed Optimists. “But only briefly and I never did very well because I moved onto bigger boats,” she said.

 Jessica, who modestly maintains she’s “nothing special” and “not actually as exciting as they all make out”, had this message for her fans:

 “I came from being scared of the water – it wasn’t me at all. I was the last person you’d expect to become an adventurer. But when it comes down to it, it’s really quite simple. Take the big goal, break it down to little parts and it’s actually quite achievable”.

 Jessica signed Eva’s Whitsunday Sailing Club shirt and wished her luck for her upcoming competition in Singapore, where Eva is one of just two girls representing Australia in the International Optimist Asian Regional Championship Regatta from July 23 to 29.

 Eva’s father Jeremy Cooper said he was very proud of his daughter and hoped this would encourage other girls to become involved in the sport.

 “Girls can do anything in sailing,” Mr Cooper said.