Sailing is a sought after recreational activity & sport in many parts of the world. Parents encourage kids to take up sailing at an early age… as early as 8years of age. It’s a fun way for parents to spend quality time with kids as their participation too makes a big difference. Meet Natasha Contractor – she resides in New Zealand and describes how it all works out in the land of the Kiwis!

Natasha has been sailing since 2007. She describes the sport as something ‘unusual’. To quote her: “you have fun on-board and are well-occupied as well as fully entertained! There’s no reason to love sailing… You just do!”  And she loves sailing in any and every condition. Natasha is part of the Young Mariners Club. Young Mariners New Zealand is an organization for girls, 8-19 years of age.

Mariners provides opportunities for fun, friendship and adventure. Through their activity choices, girls are encouraged to reach their potential, be independent, confident and caring. They empower them to give leadership and develop their decision-making and life skills. Young Mariners helps them connect with their community and with the wider world. They also become amazing sailors!

Natasha admits to have been put under challenging weather conditions.. over 25 knot winds and rolling seas! She can comfortably helm the boat under such weather and says that it is completely safe with rescue boats around to do the monitoring.

Natasha goes sailing one evening per week and for part of the day on Sundays for outdoor activities. Evening activities are often based in-doors and sometimes out-door if weather and daylight allow. The units get together on several occasions through the year for competitions and interaction. The Easter regatta is the major event anticipated with delight by all Mariners each year.

Parents are encouraged to support activities. The success of each Mariners experience depends on parental participation and support. Natasha’s dad has been involved since the past couple of months. He has learned how to sail and holds government recognized certification. He is one of the many parents who accompanies the girls to various camps throughout the year!

The girls get many opportunities throughout the year to build their skills in setting up and maintaining a camp site.  They become very skilled at raising their tents and very particular about how they want their camp to be maintained. There are competitions for camping skills that bring out the best in the teams.Other activities include rigging and pulling.

Rigging:
The ability to set up the boats becomes second nature to the girls after all of the practise they get. In fact, they get so good at it that they have rigging competitions where they must prepare their boat for sailing within a set period of time. A small team gets this happening under the watchful eye of the judges – and get this – they have to do the rigging in silence!! The rigging is the easy part!!

Pulling
This might seem like a strange title for an activity on the water, but to many it might be considered similar to Rowing. Pulling is the term used for rowing the Cutter class boats used by Young Mariners. Girls are trained in the terminology and techniques required to move a reasonably heavy boat along at a fast clip by using oars. The pulling races at Regattas are a highlight for all as a show of strength, agility, teamwork and coordination.
It’s also hilarious to watch the parents try to compete in the open races – coordination and team work is often missing!

Natasha says you take 3-4 months to learn how to sail. She was in Mumbai for a month and was very excited to be on the waters in the Mumbai Harbor. She hopes it develops fast enough so that she can pursue much more of the sport when she visits Mumbai for her holidays next. Well Natasha, we hope so too!

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