Ever been keen to start sailing, but too afraid to try?
SailPro is a brand new initiative which is inviting you to come and experience the fun of sailing. Sailing is affordable and accessible for people of all ages and abilities.
The SailPro schools program is South Africa 's first professionally run premier sailing initiative that introduces scholars to the exciting world of team racing.
The program caters for a range of skill levels from the first time sailor right through to a junior world champion.
Through the schools team racing program we aim to get sailing recognized as an official school sport throughout South Africa and in doing so increase participation at high school level.
Sailing is considered to be one of the most challenging and extreme sports on the planet.
Sailing is fast, fun and tactical.
It is a legitimate career path that can take you around the world.
It is for everyone and anyone no matter their age, size or gender.
Benefits of Sailing:
Engineering skills – Spending a lifetime working on and fixing boats
Team work skills- working closely with team mates/crew
Management skills- organizing teams, boats etc.
Improves concentration levels- sailing requires the focus of a race car driver, with an ever changing track.
Co-ordination – balancing a boat with ever changing conditions.
Education on environment- sailing is man against nature, understanding and using your knowledge of weather systems will improve your results
Improves fitness levels- Sailing is one of the most physically demanding sports in the world
Motivational skills- keeping your motivation up when chips are down
Improves conceptualization- understanding planned moves, tactical decisions etc.
Analytical skills- it is a sport of constant self analysis that teaches you to be proactive rather than reactive. It teaches the kids to look at a situation and determine their options of dealing with that situation, and then selecting the most promising option.
So you want to sail a 420 for the day or a regatta, but don't know of anyone willing to lend out their boat? Then you will be stoked to hear that you can now rent a complete 420 sailing dinghy from SailPro.
SailPro also offers private and group sailing lessons and courses for people wanting to start sailing , we also provide coaching for the sailors that want to improve their skills, tactics and knowledge about sailing and racing. For further information please contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Cyrill Knecht, the top-ranked young radial sailor from Switzerland, is in Cape Town for a summer training clinic. SailPro and Ian Ainslie are running the ten-day clinic, which consists of inshore and offshore training. Local sailors are welcome to come down and join in th...e sessions, and prove themselves against one of Europe's big names in radial sailing.
We will decide on a daily basis whether the forecast looks promising, in which case we'll decide between inshore and offshore sessions. If the breeze is unfavourable, we will notify a postponement on this site.
The clinic starts on Monday 9th, and we will try to fit in ten days of training in the 18 day window-period. The days will typically consist of some handling/ boatspeed drills, and a few races, with video debriefs during the day. Most of the sailing is expected to be at ZVYC, with the focus shifting to offshore training in the second half of the clinic. On training days, we will start training at 1030, and finish up, breeze dependent, around 1630ish.
The weekend sessions will be more race-orientated, as we expect to have a decent fleet for those days.
For further details contact Nic on 073 4444 711 or Penny on 076 3344 539.
During the recent Cape Town stop-over of the Volvo Ocean Race, SailPro co-ordinated the Volvo Try-Sail Programme, an initiative to get school-kids, and members of the public, out on the water to experience sailing. The Volvo Ocean Race has a long established commitment to youth sailing worldwide, and to bringing our sport into the public domain, allowing non-sailors to identify with the concept of racing a boat around the world.
The programme was a great success, and managed to get children from Izivungu-vungu, Zeekoevlei Sailing Centre, Plumstead High School and many members of the public, out sailing in the V&A harbour on Ludic Dinghies. The Ludic is an 18 foot family boat, which can be rigged with a double trapeze and asymmetrical spinnaker. We sailed with only the roached main, and rollerfurling jib, and took 6-8 children out per trip. For many of the children and adults, it was a first experience sailing, let alone on a boat with more than two crew!
Many of the local Cape Town sailors volunteered as facilitators during the programme, including Dave Shilton, Louise Meek, Chris Gough, Thomas Van der Ploeg, Mike Ovenstone and Sarah Arnold. Volvo and SailPro are both extremely grateful for their able assistance! The Try-Sail and Volvo Youth Academy are both new initiatives for the Volvo Stop-overs, and we look forward to seeing a growing focus on beginner and youth sailing in future editions of the race!
