10:15 PM Sun 3 Jan 2010 GMT
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The objectives of Wind Athletes Canada include:
-promoting the sport of sailing in Canada
-supporting training programs and competitions that develop and support promising sailors from the grass roots level of -the sport through to national and international levels
-funding and support to members of the Canadian Sailing Team
-support for hosting sailing competitions
-fund-raising activities with the proceeds to be distributed to the programs of Wind Athletes Canada
The Open 60 Class is another pinnacle of the sport of sailing. These boats are designed to push the envelope for man and machine. Every four years, as with the Olympics, the Vend?e Globe Ocean Race is the ultimate competition for the Open 60 Class, a solo non-stop unassisted around the world race taking about 3 months.
Wind Athletes has received a commitment from a donor to sponsor this exciting program which will provide some of Canada's best sailors with an opportunity to expand their sailing experience into an area that is only rarely available to our elite sailors. It is a valuable opportunity to both cross-train and to improve their sailing resumes for those with an eye on a career as professional sailors.
A small group of Canadian athletes and coaches have been selected to go to New Zealand in February and March to learn how to sail this awesome machine. Those competing in the Olympic Classes will use this trip as an opportunity to train with their New Zealand counterparts at a time when the sailing conditions in the Southern Hemisphere will be ideal as we continue to shiver in the cold back in Canada.
They will be under the careful guidance of experienced New Zealanders, Dan Slater, Edward Smythe and Allan West. Dan is New Zealand's 2008 Olympic Representative in the Finn Class and is a former member of Team New Zealand's America's Cup Program. Dan is ideally suited to help these dinghy and small boat sailors make the transition to one of the most technically advanced and awesomely powerful sailing crafts ever designed. Edward is also a highly experienced big boat sailor and America's Cup team mate of Dan Allan has worked on many successful Open 60 Programs in the past including Ellen McArthur's second place finish in 2001 and Mike Golding's 3rd place in 2005 in the Vendee Globe Ocean Race.
We are privileged to have the assistance of these 3 very capable gentlemen to get our Canadian athletes up to speed on sailing this powerful and exciting boat.
We plan to capture the high points of this program on video and make a documentary that will be available to the public as a DVD and perhaps to have it broadcast on television. Stay tuned for more details.
www.windathletes.ca/open-60-program
by Guy Perrin
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