Hutchins School joins Hobart's SB20 fleet
by Peter Campbell 25 Sep 2016 07:52 BST
23 September 2016
Hutchins School Sailing Academy students with their Headmaster Warwick Dean (centre), RYCT Commodore Matthew Johnston (right) and sailing teacher Greg Rowlings (left) © Peter Campbell
The Hutchins School for boys in Hobart yesterday made another significant contribution to youth sailing in Tasmania when it launched two SB20 one-design sports boats for its esteemed Sailing Academy.
Several of its senior students, already champions in dinghy classes, have their sights on contesting the world championships for the SB20s on the River Derwent in January 2018.
Hutchins is unique among Australian schools with its Sailing Academy and has added the SB20s to its fleet of dinghies with a three-fold vision – keelboat training, match racing and fleet racing in the Hobart fleet that now total 43 boats.
In the meantime, apart from training and match racing, the two sailing captains Sam Abel and Will Allison, will helm the school boats in the Derwent SB20 Thursday twilight pennants and regattas against adult crew.
Abel, 16, is the current International Cadet World champion while Allison is a member of the Australian Cadet teams to contest the 2016 Worlds in Argentina.
One of the SB20s have been named 'Warwick Dean', in honour of the headmaster of Hutchins whose strategic vision had a purpose built marine and sailing centre build on the School grounds.
The other boat has been named 'Murray Jones', recognising the great contribution given to coaching Hutchins School students in team racing which saw school teams, winning seven national schools championships over the past 15 years.
Warwick Dean, Murray Jones are Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania members, as are Michael and Pip Cooper who gifted one of the SB20s to Sailing Academy. Generous support also came from the late John W Burton.
Acquisition of the two SB20s followed the School Sailing Academy finding a void in its sailing program for students who had become too tall and heavy for dinghies or for those who wanted to do something different, such as match racing.
"The SB20s were a great fit for this gap, and the students will be training as well as racing with a view to competing in the 2018 SB20 World champions under the Hutchins flag," Headmaster Warwick Dean said yesterday.
In addition to the SB20s, the School has also mapped out a complete sailing pathway for aspiring sailors. The journey starts in Year 3 where students have the opportunity to try sailing Term 1 before undertaking a formal program in Term 4.
From Years 4- v6, the students have sailing a school sport elective that is held during school time in Term 4. As an accredited Discover Sailing Centre, the students are instructed by qualified Sailing Australia instructors using the national dinghy sailing syllabus.
From Years 7-12, the options are aplenty; the students can teams race, match racing fleet race (SB20s or their own boat) or attain qualifications like their powerboat handling, coxswain or deputy dinghy instructor certificates.