“We had a huge turnout, with 23 students receiving tuition from a team of 22 instructors and helpers, on a fleet of 18 sailing boats, supported by two rescue boats,” Hastings said. 

“The students learned the basics of sailing, with some theory sessions and lots of hands-on practice, but most importantly, everyone had fun.”

On both days, the wind became strong in the afternoon, which limited the time spent on the water sailing.

However, the strong winds may have been a bonus, because watching the experts going flat out in the strong winds appears to have made the students even more keen to develop their skills and keep sailing.

A feature of this year’s sailing school was the inclusion of junior boats, and the offer of an ongoing junior sailing program.

The first session of this new program will begin at 9am on Saturday, and is already booked out by sailing school students.

“We owe many thanks to a lot of people for the sailing school’s success,” Mr Hastings said.

“Our event coordinator Rob Morton did a fantastic job of bringing everyone together.

“Our Commodore Brian Wright put in a lot of work sorting infrastructure, from putting together the junior boats to restoring the club’s water supply.

“All of the volunteers who helped as instructors, in the kitchen, and with other aspects of running the event deserve thanks.

“The club also thanks the Jervis Bay Sailing Club and Callala Bay Sailing School for donating the manly juniors, and sponsors of our new IRB - Bendigo Bank, Merimbula RSL, Club Sapphire and Club Bega.

“We also thank the power-boat users for being so cooperative in sharing the lake with us.”

For more information about the club visit the website at  www.thebegavelley .org.au/wlbc.html.