It seems living in the City of Sails has a strong impact on our students! Meet Freya Caisley (pictured above second from left) a Year 11 student who is completing the year-long youth training programme with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. It runs from May to March and sailors learn to sail 7m Elliot Keel boats.

This is a very intensive 11-month course, structured to help athletes excel in all areas both on and off the water. It provides in depth focus on advanced aspects of sailing, including fitness, injury prevention, life skills and speech making. Their mission is that sailors finish the season a better sailor and a better person. The programme runs every weekend for the full 11 months and provides opportunities to compete at national level in keel boats.

Most recently Freya was selected as part of a crew to race in the NZ Women’s Match Racing National Champs, with the team finishing 5th out of the fleet.

Last weekend Freya competed in the Mudhouse Regatta with fellow sailors, again representing RNZYS. We’ll be hearing much more about this young sailor in the future!