OnBoard youngsters meet TEAMORIGIN sailors
Young OnBoarders learn to be green.
Thirty of the Isle of Wight’s newest sailors from the RYA OnBoard scheme were given a once in a lifetime chance to meet the British TEAMORIGIN and American BMW ORACLE America’s cup sailors last week (Wednesday 04 August).
Present from TEAMORIGIN were Anthony Nossiter (runner/ pit assist), Matt Mitchell (foredeck) and David Carr (back up grinder). From BMW ORACLE were Sannon Falcone (grinder), Dirk De Ridder (main trim), Simeon Tienpont (foredeck) and Gilberto Nobili (grinder). Many of the sailors are current or past winners of the America’s Cup and Olympians, with a total of 14 Olympic medals held between the two boats; four by Ben Ainslie the Helm of TEAMORIGIN.
The teams and their boats, GBR-75 and USA-76 were in Cowes for the new 1851 Cup and the sailors took time out of their busy schedule to meet the youngsters and to answer their questions about their sailing careers. The question that stood out the most was “Have you ever fallen off a boat?” as Matt Mitchell had a close encounter a couple of days before on the Solent.
The young sailors who take part in OnBoard sessions at Brading Haven Yacht Club, Royal Victoria Yacht Club and the Island Youth Water Activities Centre, were also treated to the surprise appearance of the priceless 159 year old America’s Cup trophy, brought out by the current cup holders BMW Oracle especially for them to see and find out more about.
Another passion for TEAMORIGIN is Race for Change in partnership with the Carbon Trust. The team aims to keep and make their sailing campaign greener to help keep the fragile nature of our environment. Each club was asked to join the TEAMORIGIN Race for Change ethos and were given a goodie bag to help them make their sailing clubs greener.
Steve Sheridan of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club said afterward “Our children enjoyed the event and it was quite an eye-opener for all of us. The environmental message was also well received and we'll do our bit at the RVYC to save the planet thanks to your goody bag.” Thanks to OnBoard’s main partner TEAMORIGIN who made this opportunity possible.
Run by the RYA, OnBoard is a grass roots programme which introduces sailing and windsurfing to young people aged 8 to 18, through schools, youth groups and training centres. Over a ten year period OnBoard aims to introduce a minimum of 500,000 children to sailing and windsurfing in the UK, converting over 10% of them into regular participants. So far it’s nicely on track.
For more information about how to get involved in sailing visit the RYA’s website www.rya.org.uk or the OnBoard website www.ruob.co.uk.