420 OCEANIA BASIC LEVEL CLINIC UNDERWAY WITH COOK ISLANDS, FIJI, SAMOA AND NEW ZEALAND
Day 1 of the first ever 420 Class Oceania Coaches and Sailors Clinic got underway today, 24 April 2018, at the Takapuna Boating Club, located about 8 km north of Auckland, New Zealand.
The 420 Class is holding basic and high level clinics to meet the various needs of coaches and sailors from the Oceania Islands, Australia and New Zealand. First up, the Low Level Clinic takes place from 24-27 April and 1 May, with the high level clinic kicking off from 28-30 April 2018.
For the basic level clinic, eight representatives from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand are learning from the knowledge of appointed coach Nikos Drougkas (GRE). Drougkas is renowned as a highly successful coach and will be ensuring he transfers a depth of expertise over the clinic's five days.
The opening day was focused on boat preparation for training and a shoreside tacking session, before heading out onto the water to put skills and knowledge into practice. Take a look at today's photos.
Jose Massapina, 420 Class Vice-President for Development, said, “The clinic started this morning for the first day, with my presentation about the class and a chat about the 420 activity around the world. Then Nikos went immediately to the technical area, first briefing coaches and sailors in the class room and then into the boat park to demonstrate how to tack in a 420 first with the helm, then with the crew and after that both on board.”
The day’s sessions ended in the classroom with a video debrief and pointers on improvements. Day 2 will move to gybing and marking round sessions.
The Clinic is being run by the International 420 Class in partnership with the Oceania Sailing Federation and Takapuna Boating Club from 24-27 April and 1 May, The 420 Class is delivering a package of 420 Class Development Programmes in 2018, which kicked off in the Bahamas, 15-18 March 2018.
The International 420 Class Association has always been at the forefront of running development programmes and sharing sailing knowledge, skills and techniques for sailors and coaches through online platforms, such as 420 to the Max and the 420 Exercise e-Book, as well as our development clinics and initiatives around the world.