Summer Camp (4.-9. July):boys sailing during sunshine and rain

From 4th to 9th July,2021, SAIL GLOBAL had its first group of youth sailing campers this summer at Suzhou Base. 5 boys from multinational families who had just finished their semester of school joined as a team. How would they learn a completely new water sport and have fun while out of reach of parents and teachers? Could they make it through facing the challenge of tough weather? I have to spoil a little bit : they did it perfectly.

Campers started with basic knots, tossing lines and learning parts of the boat. Then boys directly sailed into the lake under the guidance of instructor Chris. When there was no wind, boys practiced steering under engine. When the wind was rising, Chris got the chance to explain how the power of wind works on the boat. There happened to be several sailing teams on the lake. Chris urged boys to “challenge” them while explaining rights of road ” on water by the way. Chris didn’t gave a pure theory lecture until two days later when boys really got some ideas about what sailing is.

It was an impressive way for youth to learn for sure. Otherwise, I don’t think boys got that patience to wait the instructor explaining everything before going onto the water and they would definitely complain why they come to another boring class  as everything swirling in their mind and then gone.

Boys hated all kinds of cover-ups so that they need to cool down under the scorching sun when they were on board. Then Taihu Lake became their natural swimming pool since every one of them are pretty good at swimming. Even though, the assistant coach Michael who is also a big sports fan, would be in the water with them every time in case accident occurs. 

Besides waters sports like swimming, SUP,kayak and floating mat, SAIL GLOBAL had also prepared abundant items for campers to play during break. Boys assembled the basketball by themselves so that they can adjust the height to perform slum dunk. Other items like dart,table football, Frisbee and football also had brought tons of fun to them.

Boys were divided into two groups for a boat-preparing competition by the dock. Michael is from Canada so that he joined with two American boys against other three German boys. What they were supposed to do is to get everything on the boat ready for sailing including taking off covers , hoisting the main sail and opening up the jib and then recover everything as before. 

Although two teams had made similar mistakes, the German guys won the game with their physical advantages. Nevertheless, they are not satisfied with their performances so that the two teams reviewed the whole process after dinner to figure out all key skills，which was a clear sign that they had been really in to the sport.

Docking is a critical step when sailing. Boys practiced as helmsmen and other roles on board in rotation again and again till everyone could do it smoothly. Then start over doing it in another type of box dock. Though the sunset on Taihu was particularly beautiful on that day, they just hadn’t noticed it as they were doing something more interesting and more important.

Showers hadn’t stopped boys from sailing. On the contrary, every one became more focused on their duties and more excited about the adventure with teammates in the rain. 

When they came back to dock , the sun happened to show its face again. The sense of achievement and joy can be clearly seen from their smiles and eyes. Bravery is something that you get from going through those things that you though you can not do.

SAIL GLOBAL team offered a balanced and healthy menu based on inquiring camper’s ideas. For breakfast, there are a bunch of choices in the cafeteria of the hotel. On the rest of the day, campers got chances to try western and Chinese alternatively for lunch and dinner. Fruits , ice cream and free flow of drinks were also offered for campers.

On the last day, most of campers already could skipper the boat and do maneuvers in mild conditions. However, a strong wind risen on the lake in the afternoon. For the sake of safety, only part of parents who came to campsites to pick up kids home and campers sailed together in the abnormal weather. Parents were greatly proud to see their kids working like well trained sailors and they had expressed heartily appreciation to SAIL GLOBAL team. Even some parents wanted to try sailing by themselves some day.

What the campers had learned in the sailing camp is just entrance level of sailing course. To be qualified sailors, there is still a long way for them to go. As some of the campers said: “ Surely I will come come back for further learning”, sailing is a sport full of charm and they really enjoyed everything here，the items for fun ,the freedom they have felt and more importantly something cool to learn. 

Parents had also gave one hundred percent positive feedback to everything we have done for the campers. Changes had happened in their inner selves . It’s hard to describe it precisely but that’s how it feels when youths are growing up. One week is so short in their lives, but the spirits of sailor will encourage them for a longtime!