Cadets - youngsters between the ages of 8 and 18 - have many sailing activities arranged for them. From beginner lessons to advanced race training; rules of the road (sea) to games of pirates (who don't follow the rules) - the young sailors at DYC have a lot going on.
Children starting to learn young (roughly from ages 8 to 12), will start out in an Optimist. This is the most popular children's dinghy in the world, and has taught many sailors now representing their countries at Olympic level and in ocean sailing around the world. There is a group of Optimist sailors at DYC who have learnt from scratch and are now very competent. They have got together to teach, one-on-one, beginner kids, supervised by a responsible and experienced adult on Monday and Friday afternoons.
Older children wanting to sail may learn in a Topper if they are too big for an Optimist. The Topper is a fun boat designed for teenagers and small adults. It is quite easy to sail, easy to fix, and as a bonus (to some), comes in a variety of bright colours.
The step beyond Optimsits for older children wishing to compete is the Laser fitted with a 4.7 rig. The Laser is a very popular class of single handed dinghy, but is a performance boat and not as easy as some of the others to sail well. Due to this, and the relatively high cost of the rig, most 4.7 Laser sailors will be those serious about competing. Laser sailors of all ages, with whichever rig, are welcome to join in the Friday Laser races (1st start 5pm), and on Sunday afternoons.
Today, Saturday 20 June, the Team for the African Championships next month in Richards Bay, South Africa, are starting at 12 noon, with Cameron, their coach and doing some serious training.
Tomorrow Sunday, they will go down to the Cub for their training, then will remain and camp until next Friday. Each morning they will be getting up early and doing some fitness training, then after breakfast, which they, themselves will cook and clean up, they will continue their training.
They will be supervised by Mum, Christina, taken running, by Mum Tiffiny and the other parents will be able to visit and of course do other Mum things, take the dirty smelling clothes home to wash and replace with clean, fresh smelling clothes!
On the last day of the camp, there will be a mini- regatta, where the Team will be joined by other Optimist sailors who will show how they would have like to be part of it all.
There is always next year in Mombasa to look forward to...
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