World Sailing Coaching Courses inspire future champions on both sides of the Atlantic

Initiatives in Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Slovakia brought together over 50 coaches from across the sport to learn new methods for teaching sailing and other disciplines on the water.  

A Technical Course for Coaches Level 1 was held in St Lucia from 19–25 June 2024. The course led by Coach Developer Hernan Vila, taught instructors how to teach sailing to beginners.  

In total, 15 instructors from St Lucia, as well as Trinidad & Tobago, St Kitts and Nevis and Barbados joined the course and developed their skills across the seven days. Classroom sessions focussed on the safe planning of sailing sessions, developing briefing skills and also giving feedback, whilst practical exercises focused on the key steps and skills to develop tacking, going upwind and gybing in beginner sailors. 

Hernan Vila noted that all attendees gave their 100% commitment to the course and there was a fantastic team spirit developed amongst the instructors. 

The next course was organised in Liptos Mara in Slovakia, from 15 –21 August, where instructors gathered for a Level 1 Technical Course for Coaches, with a focus on developing Winging. 

The 15 participants brought varying levels of experience in winging to the course, but everyone was extremely enthusiastic about developing new skills for teaching sailors to wing. The course was run by World Sailing Coach Developer Tayfun Erey and supported by Patrik Hrdina as the Wing instructor. 

Participants worked together to develop strategies for teaching beginners to wing, and whilst faced with challenging conditions, all participants were able to leave the course with increased consideration for how to instruct beginners safely, as well as developing their skills in session planning, briefing participants and providing effective feedback.  

From there, it was back across the ocean to St. Vincent and the Grenadines for a Technical Course for Coaches Level 2, Introduction to Club Racing, held from 22-28 August with a participation of 12 coaches from diverse experience and countries around the Caribbean: St Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago. The course was led by Tania Elias Calles Wolf from Mexico, who was supported by Tim Cross. 

The course was organised with MNA representative Jenny Trumble at the Coconut Grove Beach club that has a special area for the development of the St. Vincent Sailing Club. The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sailing Association aim for this course was for the Coach Developers to transmit a message with the group on how to coach sailors to self-coach. The group was challenged to think how to teach their sailors to be independent and develop awareness of applying structures that can lead them to hard work, discipline and awareness of where they are now and how to get better. 

During the first five days of the course attendees developed an understanding of all that is required around the racecourse, how to prepare for racing, planning drills and understanding of individual needs and how to measure themselves for future improvement.  

Practice races were held later in the week where coaches formed groups to plan and execute drills for sailors to practice specific aims on the new challenges of the racing area and course.  

The course also offered the further opportunity in the following days for Tania to deliver a session on how to plan an Olympic Campaign to the interested sailors. As well as on the final day, a formal regatta was held. The same principles were applied for practice before the races.  

Tania commented, “It was very satisfying watching the new young coaches execute and perform their new learned models and see them in action.”