Hosted by Sandy Bay Sailing Club from 10-13 October, the 2024 Zhik Youth Sail Tasmania event saw more than 60 sailors from around Tasmania take to the waters on the River Derwent.

The event saw the participants first take part in a two day coaching clinic with nine incredible coaches including Olympian ILCA 6 sailor, Mara Stransky, before putting their skills to the test at the Tasmanian Youth Championships which followed immediately after.

For ILCA 4 sailor Cordelia Davey (Sandy Bay Sailing Club), finishing second at the two-day regatta was icing on the cake, following a fantastic experience at the Coaching Clinic.

“The whole event was so fun, I got to meet so many new people and train with different people that I usually wouldn’t train with,” said Davey.

“My favourite part of the event was having fun with my friends and getting to go sailing and racing every day with all the new people that I met.”

A visit from Paris Olympian Evie Haseldine, who flew down to spend a day with the young sailors and share her Olympic sailing journey, was also welcome and created a great deal of excitement.

“Meeting the Olympians and hearing their stories was really inspiring. It was great to learn some mental strategies as well, including how to best prepare for a race day,” Cordelia said.

The first day of the Championship saw near perfect weather with a gentle 10 knot breeze allowing all classes to complete three races. 

However, Day 2 started with wild winds that decided to blow out just as sailing was about to begin. Consequently, only one race was sailed to determine the final placings. 

Arthur Adams (Kingston Beach Sailing Club) finished on top of the podium in the Sabot class after winning two out of the four races.

“It was great to be out on the water so much, I really enjoyed it,” said Adams.

“I had such a blast in the really strong winds during the Coaching Clinic and found it really helpful, especially the part about planning out when you do what on the water,” he said.

Sandy Bay Sailing Club will again host the event next year in October, and are looking forward to welcoming the sailors back to their club on the beach.

For more information on the event or full results, click here.

To see more phots from the event go to Facebook and Instagram.

We hope all the sailors and their families had a great time, made some new friends, and made some great memories.

We thank our generous event naming rights sponsor Zhik

and Prize Sponsor ESP (Eventing Services and Products) who donated Optimum Time Sailing watches

you can use code EVENT10 to get 10% off watches - click the logo below.