Coaching, commitment and 30 years of impact on Guernsey's youth sailing

For Mike Chapple BEM (67) from Guernsey, sailing isn’t just a sport—it’s a way of life and few people have done more to nurture that passion. Over the years, Mike has played a key role in shaping the island’s youth sailing scene, creating opportunities, guiding young sailors on their journey, and inspiring future coaches. 

His thirst for knowledge, combined with a deep love for sailing, has helped Mike build a legacy in Guernsey’s sailing community—one he has been formally recognised for, being awarded the British Empire Medal.  

 

Sailing starts with family…  

For Mike, sailing has always been a family affair. “I started racing in Cadets with my brother in Plymouth, my hometown,” he recalls. “Then I graduated to my own Mirror as the helm, moved into Fireballs, and eventually relocated to Guernsey in 1981.” 

Guernsey’s local yacht club became a gateway to competitive sailing for Mike, leading him to compete in the European Championships in Sweden in 1986. With marriage in 1987 and plans to start a family, his focus shifted away from his own racing to helping others. 

 “I found instructing a little too prescriptive—I wanted something more off the wall and, so I moved into coaching.” His goal was not just to teach sailing but to create opportunities for young sailors to compete beyond Guernsey’s waters.  

Becoming a volunteer coach

As a forward-thinking coach, he set the stage for his family and other young sailors.  

“My children were the first from Guernsey to get into a national squad.” he says. His daughter even competed at the 2004 Laser World Championships in Lake Garda, finishing as the fifth-ranked girl with a result that has yet to be topped by a UK female sailor almost 20 years later in the ILCA 4s. 

Beyond his own family, Mike worked to grow Guernsey’s presence in competitive sailing. “Before my children were even old enough to compete, my ambition was to take a team to the UK for a national championship,” he says. This ambition became a reality in 1997 when Mike took a team of Topper sailors from Guernsey to compete in their first national championships in Devon. 

“It’s just the satisfaction of watching children develop,” he shares. “Most coaches say they don’t live vicariously through their athletes, but if you see a child succeed and you’ve played a part in that success, it’s something to be proud of.” 

 

The challenges of growing youth sailing 

Despite his success, Guernsey’s small population of 67,000 presented Mike challenges for expanding the sport. “We’re competing against a wide range of sports, and sailing is often perceived as a middle-class activity,” he explains. “We need to break those barriers by showing families that the cost of entry isn’t as high as they might think. We provide boats, and for disadvantaged families, we can even offer free access.”

Nurturing future champions  

One of his standout initiatives is ‘Pirates on the Pond,’ designed to introduce children to sailing. “We’re lucky to have a shallow pond, similar to the Salterns Club in Lymington. We collaborate with the Guernsey Sailing Trust, sharing equipment and training kids using polypropylene Optimist dinghies.” 

The programme follows a structured progression. “Once kids gain confidence on the pond, they become ‘Buccaneers on the Sea.’ Moving from the pond to the sea is a big step, so we support them with a small fleet of glass fibre Optimists they can borrow or rent before committing to their own boats.” 

Recognising a gap in winter training, he launched the Optimist Winter Academy. “Our pond-based training runs from May to October, but kids were waiting months to start sailing again. The Winter Academy allowed them to continue training.” 

The programme has already produced promising sailors. “One of our top Optimist sailors, who later represented Great Britain, came through the Winter Academy. We didn’t run it this year due to low numbers, but we’re working on rebuilding participation.” 

Beyond coaching youths, he emphasises the importance of connecting with parents. “Without parental involvement, kids won’t turn up. We encourage parents to get on the water and understand what their children go through during training and racing,” he says. 

This approach has yielded remarkable results. “I have coached numerous neurodiverse children and welcome the challenge of adapting sessions to meet their needs. Seeing these children thrive is even more rewarding. The most recent is an autistic boy who competed in his first regatta in Weymouth last year. Initially, his parents thought he’d just watch, but he ended up racing against 30-40 other boats. His mother was flabbergasted—sailing has helped him develop coping mechanisms and confidence.” 

Success is a mindset 

Another key factor in Mike’s impact on Guernsey’s sailing community is his commitment to personal development—constantly adapting and evolving as a coach. 
"There are two types of coaches: sponges and rocks. If ideas bounce off you like a rock, you might as well start thinking about retiring but I’ve always considered myself a sponge, absorbing new ideas." 

By reading biographies of coaches and leaders across various sports, Mike became a strong advocate for the growth mindset—encouraging children through positivity and by understanding their individual temperaments. "All I ever expect from them is to ask themselves, ‘Did I do my best?’ If the answer is yes, that’s enough. Your best might not be better than someone else’s best, but that’s okay. You can only control the controllables." 

For Mike, growth means seizing every opportunity to learn. “We don’t have enough time to make all our own mistakes—we have to learn from others’ experiences,” he says. 

One such opportunity came when volunteering as a ‘House Parent’ at junior and youth squad weekends'. “I had to look after the children or squads in the evenings, but it meant I could sit in on seminars and debriefings from some of the country’s top coaches, like Alan Williams, Mark Howard, and Mark Littlejohn.” 

A passion that continues to inspire 

Building a longlasting legacy on the island, his work has not gone unnoticed. Receiving the British Empire Medal (BEM) was an unexpected honour. “To be honest, it came as a big shock. You don’t enter coaching or volunteering expecting an award, but the medal does give me more credibility when seeking sponsorships or promoting the sport,” he admits. “I’ll leverage it as much as I can to support youth sailing.” 

Now, as a coach, commodore, and mentor, he finds fulfilment in giving back to the sport that shaped his life. “At a certain age, you realise that you need to put back more into the sport than you take out of it,” he reflects. 

Looking ahead, he has ambitious plans. “We want to be recognised as one of the best junior clubs in the country. Whether we get there or not, it’s the process of striving towards it that matters.” 

The club is already making strides. “We train youngsters to be instructors or assistant instructors and actually pay them to coach. Instead of taking a Saturday job elsewhere, they come down and help us out. All the adults who help are volunteers, but we pay the young coaches.” 

Many former trainees have turned sailing into a career. “Some have become harbour masters, coast guards, ship captains, professional sailors, marine engineers, and naval officers. Sometimes, sailing is more than just a sport—it’s a pathway to a career.” 

With Guernsey’s own sports commission aligning with RYA British Sailing Pathways, the future looks promising. “The new RYA Pathway will reboot and reinvigorate sailing here. I’m looking forward to seeing it develop over the next year.” 

With unwavering dedication, innovation, and a deep love for the sport, he remains committed to ensuring sailing in Guernsey thrives for generations to come. 

If you would like to give back, find out more about volunteering