As part of the SailGP’s gender-balanced youth and community engagement program, “Inspire Learning” and “Adopt a Club” programme, Sailability was treated last week with a visit from two Olympic champions, Neil Hunter from SailGP Team GBR and Stuart Bithell from SailGP Team Switzerland. Neil and Stuart took some precious time off from their practice sessions to spend some quality time with us during our morning Sailability session.
Our Sailability Team took the opportunity to show and explain to our visitors our Sailability Curriculum, our commitment to our students and what we do on a typical day. Neil and Stuart were great sports by getting involved in our Zumba warm up sessions with our students before going out on the water. There was quite a bit of amusement and banter from the SailGP competitors as they compared the size difference between our small RS Venture Connects to their massive high performance F50’s.
The wind played ball while the athletes took our students out for some educated fun. On the water, Neil and Stuart took the helm as they worked with our students showing them how to sail as well as giving some beneficial sailing tips to our volunteers, who enjoyed the visit just as much as our students did. Sailability isn’t just about sailing on the water, it’s also about educating our students off the water. We have several students who enjoy kayaking, canoeing or splashing about in the water, and Neil and Stuart got to see that valuable part of our program as well.
As part of the SailGP “Inspire Learners” Program, one of our fortuitous students, Keiran Carter, got to spend an entire week with the SailGP Swiss team on an internship. Keiran had the time of his life being an integral part of the SailGP Swiss team and even managed a visit with Stuart to our Sailability session followed by a stop at Jumeirah College. I’m sure Keiran will be talking about his amazing and invaluable experience for a long time to come.
– Lucy Corder
DOSC SAILABILITY LEAD
