Young Sailors come OnBoard at Hollingworth Lake

Youngsters from the OnBoard programme at Hollingworth Lake.

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Local youngsters celebrated the completion of their first season of sailing with an Inter Club competition at Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre.

Five teams comprising 26 kids went head to head to demonstrate their new sailing skills.

The youngsters, aged from 10 to 17, had been learning to sail throughout the summer, and the final Inter Club regatta of the year gave them the chance to have fun trying out their new skills in some friendly competition.

It was a very chilly October day, but the sun was shining, and the medium winds were perfect for sailing.

The all day event started with a clinic in which the kids set out on the water and received hints and tips from their coaches. Then they were ready for a Team Relay race.

In the afternoon they sailed back and forth across the lake on an Onwater Treasure Hunt, going from point to point picking up clues of where to sail to next, before finishing at the Pirates’ Den to claim their treasure.

The event finished with a single race on a simple two leg course, and the winners were Sam Greenhalgh, 16, and George Vick, 10, from the Activity Centre, sailing together in a Pico dinghy.

Teams came to the event from sailing clubs at Hollingworth Lake, Salford Juniors, Burwain, Jumbles, plus the home team from the Water Activity Centre at Hollingworth Lake.

The Burwain team really enjoyed their first interclub event. “Thye didn’t stop smiling all day no matter how cold they got,” said organiser Adam McGovern.

As well as sailors, the teams included windsurfers who had learned on the RYA’s Team 15 initiative. So the kids went on the water in a mix of Pico, Feva and Mirror dinghies, and on windsurfers.

Winner of the windsurfer class was Jamie Oldfield, from the Activity Centre, while Salford Juniors won the team prize.

This was the third and final OnBoard Interclub event for 2008.

OnBoard Development Officer Adam McGovern said: "This is our second year of OnBoard, and it has been great to see more clubs joining in as they get more kids trained and involved. The kids enjoy going to new venues on the Interclub events, and this year there has been a wide range of prize winners. Many of the kids are now ready to progress further in sailing by joining local Volvo Champion Clubs, which offer great junior race training.”