This year the Instructor Conference underwent a name change and we went ‘live’ with the Training In Focus – Live event held at the magnificent lakeside venue of Southport Yacht Club’s Watersports Centre, Oxenford on the Gold Coast. Unlike last year, we had amazing sunny, slightly breezy weather that started out a bit chilly, but wound up being lovely warm winter days for both the Saturday and Sunday. The option to come on either day was trialed after feedback received from the previous year that it is hard to attend when it falls on the main racing/training days.

We received a visiting Senior Instructor, Greg Rowlings, from Tasmania who has a bachelor’s degree in human movement and a master’s degree in education and he provided a valuable information session on “Engaging Students in an Aquatic Environment”.  This covered discussions on how people learn, what impedes learning and more and was delivered through role playing and engaging scenarios.  

The Senior Instructors for Dinghy, Keelboat, Powerboat & Windsurf Programs were on hand and provided valuable information, learnings and presentations in a down to earth way that involved everyone in group feedback discussions and self-reflection. The instructors were keen to learn and enjoyed being given advice on understanding the nature of learners and honing less used skills in the higher levels of the programs that they do not deliver as regularly as the beginning program levels. An element of fun was added with a “try a new program” option.  On Saturday it was a ‘capture the life raft’ style game sailing Hobie waves to bring the life raft to shore to win! Sunday involved free time trying SUP’s, windsurfing, powerboats and spinnakers in Quests.

This was the second year where we invited all current Discover Sailing Centre personnel and clubs thinking about becoming Discover Sailing Centres to join us in discussions relating to how Discover Sailing Centres can provide the best possible quality experiences in learn to sail for their participants. The focus this year was on; developing the team of instructors, planning for participation growth, leveraging Australian Sailing staff support during Reviews, and accessing ready-made marketing resources. 

After the workshop, the group were invited to continue the journey by joining in with the instructors’ sessions to gain insights into what instructors learn and benefit from when they attend this annual event. This year there was the added incentive of an extra year added to everyone’s qualification expiry date and, of course, revalidations as required. 

Overall, the 2023 Training In Focus - Live provided opportunities for Instructors from different clubs to socialise, chat and learn about how they run the learn to sail programs. Adding the workshop attendees into the mix allowed for interactions between the younger Instructors and centre principles, committee members or older/more experienced Instructors, creating a culture of building a great team. Superb catering with wraps/rolls, fruit, grazing platters, and plenty of hot and cold beverages helped to lubricate the conversations, which had almost everyone staying on to socialise to the very end on both days!

If you are interested in following up or reviewing any information, you can access the presentations and general information HERE.