Held over the weekend of Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 November 2023, the coaching clinic weekend was very well attended by the Hobie Cat fleet and appreciated by the sailors.
The Hobie Cat Association of WA is very grateful to have been able to give this training opportunity to its members and thanks the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation the coaching clinic grant.
Around fourty sailors participated over the two days. Most of the attendees were Hobie Cat 16 and Hobie Cat 14 sailors and the invitation was open to other multihull sailors. Several from the F18 class attended and a couple of Windrush sailors too. The classroom sessions on Saturday were hosted by Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and held in the Dinghy Club building. Class association President Cam Owen opened the coaching clinic weekend and acknowledged the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation. He introduced Arthur Brett, Australian Sailing Team Coach for the IQ Foil. Arthur gave an informative seminar on race strategy and targeted the content to the
competitors in the room. His presentation included a workshop session where the sailors worked together in groups to build a race strategy solution to suit the course observations given to them.
The second presentation was given by Racing Rules of Sailing advisor John Standley. He had prepared a presentation which included common scenarios specific to multihull sailors and included a question and answer session.
All sailors were very happy and gained a lot from the day.
Sunday was hosted by Nedlands Yacht Club as part of the NYC Challenge Day (four short course races). Prior to the racing, current Hobie 16 World Champions Cam and Suzzi provided a shore based session at their Hobie 16 boat. They gave tips on boat setup and ran through crew work and team procedures. The pair talked through how they sail the boat in a show and tell scenario and answered questions. They went on the water in a RIB for the first two races (AM session) following the fleet and providing coaching to the sailors. In the afternoon session the pair joined the fleet in the racing for the final two races of the day.
The Hobie Cat Association of WA have received excellent feedback from the attendees who were extremely thankful to have received this coaching opportunity. The weekend has inspired many sailors and new interest and enthusiasm to continue to learn and develop can be seen amongst the fleet.
The Ron Tough Yachting Foundation Coaching Clinic weekend for the Hobie Cat fleet has been a huge benefit to the strength of the class and is assisting to attract new sailors and retain the members in the fleet. WA was represented by twelve Hobie Cats at the 2023/24 Australian Championships and Team WA came away with some great results including:
- First and third in the Hobie Cat 16 Open.
- First in the Hobie Cat 16 Masters.
- First in the Hobie Cat 16 Grand Masters.
- First in the Hobie Cat 16 Youth.
- Second in the Hobie Cat 16 Womens.
- Third in the Hobie Cat 14 Open.
- Second in the Hobie WildCat Open.
A huge thank you to the Ron Tough yachting Foundation from the Hobie Cat Association of WA, the members and sailors in the fleet.
Cam Owen, President HCAWA
