Zealous's second New Zealand clinic took place 19-20 March to prepare sailors for the NZIODA Optimist National Championships held out of Kohimarama Yacht Club in Auckland Easterns Bays. The clinic included 19 sailors from around New Zealand, including participants from Picton, Wellington, Tauranga and Auckland. Conditions were tough with both days 15-20 knots from the North East, however Auckland harbour provided the perfect training ground for sailors to make final touch ups on both their technique and starting procedures.
Zealous coaches Sam McKenzie, William McKenzie and George Gautrey gave an insight to weather conditions at Kohi, briefing sailors on tidal flow and the geographic influence on the wind.
Zealous has received great feedback from the clinics to date and we are looking forward to growing in the coming season. Stay tuned for more clinic dates. A big thank you to Royal Akarana Yacht Club for their support and making such an event possible.
After the Zealous Pre-Nationals Clinic many sailors returned to their club teams for the NZIODA Nationals over Easter, however Zealous put together it's own nationals team, offering high level coaching support to those who wanted a competitive edge. 10 sailors from across New Zealand and Australia joined the Zealous Sailing Team. Sailors from Picton, Auckland, Melbourne and Perth came together which provide a really unique and special team dynamic for both sailors and coaches. Sam and William led the team which took part in the five day national championship.
The week offered tricky conditions ranging between West-South West and South-South East which included 11 difficult races in sometime marginal conditions. With such shifty conditions starting became challenging with pin end bias start lines, forcing sailors to tack off the line or suffer the consequences.
Results can be found here
All the team competed well and learnt a lot from the week, with 6 sailors in Gold Fleet, 3 in Silver and 1 in Bronze. Key coaching messages during the week were based around understanding the tactical nature of the first upwind, particularly in regard to wind and current. Due to it being the National Championships for New Zealand sailors, the regatta also played a significant part in selected NZIODA International Traveling Teams. Zealous is very proud to announce the following sailors have qualified for the following teams... - 1 x sailor NZIODA Europeans Team
- 1 x sailor NZIODA North American Team
- 1 x sailor NZIODA Asians Team
- 1 x sailor NZIODA Noumea Development Team
For the Zealous Coaching Team, and undoubtedly the sailors themselves this is an awesome achievement. Our goal is very much based around providing sailors with the knowledge, skills and environment to perform at their best - there is nothing more important to us than to see these sailors achieving their goals and reaching the next level of competition. Well done All! A special mention must be made to all the sailors from Australia that joined us during the week. It was fantastic that you joined us and we're looking forward to seeing you again very soon. In addition to sailor success, Head Coach Sam McKenzie was named the NZIODA Worlds Team Coach for 2016. NZIODA and Kohimarama Yacht Club did a excellent job in running a top class event. Whilst they couldn't control the weather, the fantastic set up both on and off the water created the perfect location for sailors to compete and enjoy.
Best regards, Zealous Coaching Team