An upsurge of interest in learning to sail is attracting more and more sailors to join the Wanaka Yacht Club (WYC).

WYC sailing instructor and head coach Verity Lawrence said the numbers learning to sail have increased around 10 per cent in two years with room to expand if she could clone herself or have a couple of extra instructors.

“We rarely see any students leaving the programme,” she said. “I still have the majority of my students that I started teaching five years ago so unless we can add in more programmes with more instructors there is limited space for new students.”

Verity said she runs eight after-school classes each week with Mount Aspiring College students; there are weekend courses every other weekend; sailing camps during the January and Easter Holidays; and she’s had requests for specific courses for families - parents and children.

The club’s sailing coach and instructor Verity Lawrence with sailing coordinator Craig Fahey

“I also run a Yoga + Day Sail Retreat a couple of times a year and am looking at adding in a weekend for teenage girls as well as children with learning difficulties” she said.

She’s training a couple of new instructors but currently does 99 per cent of the coaching.

“We have total beginners to people who haven’t sailed for a while or those looking to better their racing skills,” Verity said.

Sunday sailing has been added in as a casual race day to provide the newer students a chance to practice their skills in a non pressured environment with the option to get additional coaching, she said.

“We try to offer as many gateways into our sailing community as possible once our students have completed a course. This includes a junior regatta each year, a beginner level course with coaching during our New Year’s regatta, and additional levels of course for adults.” 

“We also try to match up our students with club members for Thursday night races or, if there is no space, encourage them to partake by being crew on our rescue boats or helping out in the race control room. 

Junior sailors prepare to head out onto Roys Bay.

“We are growing a community down here at the Yacht Club and supporting our sailors from the first time they set sail, to when they go to their first event at another club, or decide that sailing is a career they would like to pursue.”

With the support from the community and successful grants, the club has expanded its fleet of boats to around 30 vessels of varying sizes which provide students a pathway to improve their skills and confidence. Verity said ideally she would like to purchase a couple of RS Zests and RS Fevas.

“If we could get a smaller double hander it would give those children who are slightly less confident or who would rather sail with someone else another option. The other benefit of a boat like the RS Zest is that you can have it also as a single handed boat which is great for my students getting too big for the [Open] Bic or for my adults wishing to sail on their own.”  

As well as racing coaching, Adventure sailing has also been added to the mix for the kids who want to continue sailing with their friends but aren’t too bothered about racing and the competitive side of sailing. 

“We sail the larger boats in our fleet and take trips to Ruby Island and further around the lake. We play games and learn about things like navigation, flags and...knots.”

Verity said teaching sailing also includes teaching people to have confidence in themselves, respect for the environment, care of the equipment, and support for each other. 

“We have a fantastic community of sailors here and it has been lovely to see it grow with more children taking part in racing on Thursday nights and also the numbers of women taking part is rapidly growing each year,” she said.

The club membership ranges from teenage juniors through to adults aged from 20 to 75-years-old. Details of the club’s summer learn to sail courses are available here.

PHOTOS: Wanaka App