RQYS MAINSHEET 2025

Sailing Academy update

Academy comes home to more growth Patience rewarded the team’s ‘temporary’ tenure in the converted container, returning to business as usual(ish …) The Academy has had a fantastic start to the year, with strong participation across all Learn to Sail and Coaching programs. Interest continues to grow, and we’re thrilled to see more people getting involved at every level of our on- and off-water service offerings, exclaims Dominique Vlug, as the Academy team continues to grow!

We are excited to welcome Mettle , our new Sailing Academy sponsor, which has provided us with a brand-new hire boat sail for our Optimist and ILCA 4s. We would like to extend a huge thank-you for the additional support! Our long-standing partnership with Gumdale State School continues to thrive. Thanks to our close collaboration with the school, we have seen ongoing improvements to our programs and a steady increase in student participation. We’re also excited to welcome Wynnum State High School to our programs — now sailing in our Quests — alongside our regular school programs with Manly State School and Carmel College . The Youth Squad remains a cornerstone of our Academy, providing vital coaching and development for our up-and-coming sailors. Head Coach Adrian Finglas is on the water every day with our Club members, perfecting their skills and knowledge to prepare them to take on the rest of the world.

The ILCA 4.7 and 6 Squads, ’49ers, Optis, and 470 classes have been particularly busy as RQYS team members head over to their respective European and World championships. As the Brisbane Olympics is only seven years away, our 13-16 years-old sailors will be in a perfect position to represent Australia at the home games! We’ve seen enormous demand for our Learn to Sail courses — for both children and adults — and are actively exploring ways to increase capacity so we can meet this growing interest, while our powerboat courses have also seen a big surge in popularity. To meet demand, we’ve increased the number of sessions and added extra courses throughout the year. In March, we welcomed Alanna Field to the Academy team as our new On-water Academy Co-ordinator. Alanna works closely with our instructors and coaches to ensure the smooth delivery of our on-water programs, and plays a key role

(Adrian has actually also managed to carve out time to compete in the VXone Winter Nationals with two Australian Olympic gold medal-winning gurus: Nathan Willmont and Malcolm Page!) In May this year, we finally moved back into the Sailing Academy office next to the Tackers Lawn, centralising our operations and helping us streamline our delivery. Academy team L–R: Dominique Vlug, Kate Myles, newcomer Alanna Field & Adrian Finglas We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far this year and excited for what lies ahead in the second half, including Master Classes for our Coaches! n

in developing our coaching team alongside Head Coach Adrian.

Mainsheet 2025

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Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Yearbook