TEAM SAILING 2011

From the 16th to the 18th of March, 7 students from Meningie Area School travelled to Victor Harbor to compete in the Regional Team Sailing Competition. The competition was held over two days and 7 teams including Meningie participated.

We headed over Wednesday night with Mrs. Appelkamp, Mrs. Lord and Mr. Woolston. With our little sailing experience we were all nervous and had no idea what to expect from the competition. When we arrived the first thing we had to do was a weigh in. This determined whether or not we needed to carry any water weights when we sailed. After that we headed in to the welcome dinner to learn about any information for the next couple of days. That night we stayed in the Victor Harbor Yacht Club and as we had to be up at 6.30 the next morning we needed an early night.

 
In the competition there were two fleets of boats; Meningie fleet and Victor fleet. They could be identified by the colour of jib the boats had. There were 3 boats in each team and the teams competed against each other around an S shaped course. As a boat crossed the finish line they received points. 1 point for first, 2 points for second, 3 points for third and so on. The team with the lowest combined boat score won.
 
To get to the sailing boats from the shore “rubber ducks” were used. This resulted in our team getting quite wet and cold even before the sailing started. The first day of the competition showed our inexperience with the sailing and weather conditions. To assist us with completing the course we sailed with coaches from other teams. To make it fair to the other teams Meningie wasn’t allowed to score any points. Over the course of the day we lost many team members to the cold and sea sickness. The second day our skill had improved greatly and we were able to complete the course with less assistance from the coaches.
 

Overall the competition was a great experience and we increased our knowledge of sailing. The help and preparation of Mr. Woolston, Mrs. Appelkamp and Mrs. Lord was much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

Previous Team Sailing Reports

 

MENINGIE 
AREA SCHOOL

1 North Tce MENINGIE 5264
Principal: Ms Fiona Haselgrove
Partnership: Coorong Mallee 

 

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