Winter may be the quiet season on the water, but Yachting New Zealand has put together a full calendar of coaching and race official development courses for volunteers, coaches, and officials wanting to upskill before the next sailing season gets underway.
A nationwide series of in-person Start Coaching (Learn to Sail Coach) courses kicks off this weekend at Murrays Bay Sailing Club. Paremata Boating Club follows on 6-7 June, with Royal Akarana Yacht Club scheduled for 20-21 June. Later in the year, a Northland course is pencilled in for 22-23 August at a venue yet to be confirmed, and both Manly Sailing Club and Naval Point Club Lyttelton will host courses on 29-30 August.
Further Start Coaching courses are in the pipeline for Queen Charlotte Yacht Club, Waikato, and Southland, though none of those dates have been locked in yet. Yachting New Zealand also expects to run up to two online Start Coaching courses before the year is out, giving those who cannot attend in person an alternative way to complete the programme.
All in-person attendees are required to complete the online "Coaching Yachting 101" module before arriving. The prerequisite means every participant comes in with the same foundational understanding before the practical elements begin.
Race Coach practical sessions are spread through the winter months as well. Royal Akarana Yacht Club will host one on 18-19 July, and a Wellington-based session is being planned for September or October, with the specific dates and venue still to be confirmed.
Race officials have their own dedicated development schedule across the same period. National Race Officer training courses are set for Port Chalmers Boating Club on 13-14 June and Lake Taupo Yacht Club on 15-16 August, with a further Auckland course confirmed for 1-2 August at a venue yet to be confirmed. The annual Race Officials Conference will be held in Christchurch on 29 August, bringing officials from around the country together ahead of the busy summer regatta season.
For those whose schedules make in-person attendance difficult, a range of online courses remain open throughout the year via the Sport Tutor portal. Yachting New Zealand's General Manager: Community and Development, Raynor Haagh, pointed to that ongoing access as useful for people working around their own schedules.
"Alongside the in-person opportunities, there are also online Club Race Officer, Club Umpire (Teams), Introduction to Race Officiating and Coaching 101 courses available, giving volunteers and officials the flexibility to continue developing their knowledge at any time during the year," Haagh said.
Those wanting further information can get in touch with Haagh at raynor@yachtingnz.org.nz.
