Australia’s future sailing stars congregated at the Gold Coast Performance Centre for the inaugural Australian Sailing Futures camp that was held 1 – 3rd March 2023.

Performance Pathways Technical Manager Ash Brunning who leads the Futures program was excited to finally get the whole group together in person and provided an overview of the camp:

“It is the first time we have been able to get together as a team due to some of the struggles over the past couple of years with covid and it’s led to a few different themes and a clear purpose for this camp.

The number one theme is connection, getting the athletes and coaches together so we can all get to know each other so we can start to work and support each other.

The second is to know what it is going to take to go out there and win Gold Medals for Australia.

The third is to be real; around athletes needing to speak to what they need to do and being realistic around their efforts to win Olympic gold medals.

The final one is planning for success, which is around the growth and proliferation of campaign planning in this space.” said Ash.

The Futures program was designed to supplement our state high performance programs and offers class specific technical coaching, at domestic camps and at targeted international events. It aims proactively support athlete transition into Olympic campaigning with the tools and knowledge to  maximise the opportunity. The cohort of athletes present at the camp were selected based on a projected transition upward to the Australian Sailing Squad in 1-2 years, across the full range of classes.

Participants were treated to a jam-packed agenda that consisted of various speakers from across the Australian Sailing team. Michael Blackburn took the group through Sailing strategies and tactics, Arthur Brett led a workshop on Sailing modes and when to apply them. Tom Burton joined the group on Day 2 to present on ‘What’s it going to take’ to win gold, giving insights from his own campaigns. Haylee Outteridge and Ken Lynch led a series of talks on campaign planning for the athletes and coaches. Will Tierney rolled out our newest sport psychology approach in Sailing, Traks Gordon spoke on getting the most out of our coaches and Ashley Wolff led a talk on how Performance Support fits into campaigns and its value.

Australian Sailing Team High Performance Director, Iain Brambell was present across the 3-day camp and was delighted to meet the athletes in person and see them work together as group for the first time “The Futures Camp was a fantastic opportunity for all participants to truly connect with one another away from their immediate sailing environments. This opportunity quickly brought to the surface that sailors from all classes are encountering similar experiences and that they now have a network of other sailors and coaches to reach out to ask questions and seek solutions.

These interactions were further elevated with invaluable presentations from Haylee Outteridge, Tom Burton and Michael Blackburn, who shared personal insights from their high performance sailing journeys. Having access to this caliber of expertise mixed with the infectious curiosity of the Futures athletes is a definite recipe for success. Although there is no quick or easy way to the Olympic podium, our Futures athletes are well positioned for the road ahead of them and our high performance program is now purpose built to support them along their journeys” said Iain.

Australian Sailing would like to thank the City of Gold Coast for their support in hosting the camp

If you want to find out more about the Australian Sailing Futures and the (AS) Performance Pathway, which is a guided progression from competitive Club sailing through to the Australian Sailing Team for Olympic and Olympic pathway classes please click here.