For the last three years Mornington Yacht Club has hosted Australian Sailing’s Victorian Junior Carnival in conjunction with the traditional Schnapper Point Regatta. Over 135 kids attended from as far afield as Albury, Kerang, Geelong and Ballarat. The Victorian Junior Carnival is the culmination of their learn to sail programs, and for most, their first “regatta”. 

This important event focuses on transitioning Tackers 2 and 3 participants into club membership and boat ownership. Working with the four junior class associations (Open Skiffs, VIODA, Minnows and International Cadets), the carnival’s focus is to create a fun and engaging event that creates critical mass in the junior sailing space, that offers opportunity to educate and inspire families new to the sport and those currently sailing junior classes. The key as we envisage it with these young sailors is social engagement and fun.

The young “Carnival” children go on a treasure hunt, and other games played around the “Bridge of Doom”. A “trial a boat” session gives them an opportunity to try out different junior classes, and be introduced to those associations.  Lunch is a short relax with some inspiration talks, then the afternoon is a choice between an “adventure sail” down the coast, or a fun race around pool toys for buoys. They can choose to swap between activities, the philosophy being to make their transition as easy as possible.

The success of the carnival can be seen in the number of families that went on to purchase their own boats and join their local club., with a number of families coming back year on year with younger siblings.