All smiles at Skiff Swap Day

It wasn’t just the St George Sailing Club social scene that shut down the day the wrecking ball started swinging in 2019, knocking down the old joint and laying the platform for a massive rebuild.

The sailing program also took a back seat for three years, meaning dozens of competitors were either lost to the sport, sailed elsewhere or waited until StGSC was back up and running.

Crucial to getting those numbers up again once the ribbon was cut on the club’s brand new $15m headquarters were the Learn to Sail (LTS) programs, including the annual Swap Day where kids get to share a ride on a 16ft skiff with members of the senior fleet.

Last Saturday, dozens of St George youngsters did just that, with the look on their faces saying it all.

“To see the Skiffies jump in and support the initiative was awesome, and all our volunteers that wouldn’t have missed it for the world highlights the community we have here,” St George Sailing Club Vice-Commodore, Shane Lackey, said.

“I think that really shone through once we all came off the water and had a few sausages on rolls in the club with the kids and their families.

“The parents seemed really appreciative of the day, with plenty of positive feedback and lots of smiles on the kids’ faces.

“To have a couple of parents say their kids love it and it’s all they talk about really made the day for me.

“It’s a great way of giving the kids more opportunity to fall in love with our sport by getting them onto a 16 and seeing what all the fuss is about.”

 

Lackey admits it hasn’t been easy given they had to start over again.

He said: “I think the hard part was figuring out how we get juniors back in the club when we were starting from scratch again.

“Once we had decided we needed to go back to basics with a learn-to-sail program, there was a fair bit of time put into how we would structure what it looks like, with plenty of ideas bounced about between (Sailing Manager) Graham Biehl, Sailing Secretary Brad Andrew and myself.

“With Tamsin Dodsworth as our head coach and a number of our younger sailors as assistants, we have put in place a really safe and fun environment to bring the kids into the sport and start bringing their skills up.

“We’ve run a number of courses now with quite good uptake, so we are starting you see a decent number of kids through now.

“The uptake on the LTS has been great, probably on the upper end of what we were hoping for, which is awesome. But we need to be realistic, too.

“Our next step is to move to racing and having structures in place to support that next season, which is when we can genuinely say we have Juniors back in the club – signed up and participating for a season.”

Lackey has experienced the momentum first-hand, with eldest daughter Edie an enthusiastic graduate of the LTS classes.

“She’s the right age to have confidence in the water and be safe and also take in the concepts to get going,” Shane said.

“She was definitely interested to give sailing a go, but after doing the LTS 1 and then LTS 2 programs, she absolutely loves it.”

As for the future, Shane believes the approach should be part altruistic and part business like.

“It’s about creating a club where you want to come and be a part of it,” he said.

“There are some pretty lofty goals when it comes to the number of participants, but if we create the right environment, we can set ourselves up to reach those.

“If we have that type of club, I believe we will see our junior fleets begin to grow, and our number of skiffs as well.

“I think we showed we are that type of club on Saturday and have been all season.”

“So, the hopes for the immediate future are pretty simple: Existing fleets that are strong and happy, more LTS, functioning junior fleets, growth in our 13s and 16s, and an environment that encourages everyone to be the best they can be.

“It’s all achievable for the season ahead if you ask me.”