Train with the very best and get high-level coaching. The ambitious goal for the Winners Optimist clinic at the Faaborg Sailing Club, Denmark, gained a lot of interest from a new generation of sailors all over the world. Dozens of talented kids travelled with their parents to the popular sailing hub to improve their performance on the Optimist. Not without any help. Next to a team of renowned and very experienced sailing coaches, all competitors were able to analyse their training to the smallest detail thanks to the involvement of Sailmon’s innovation. That resulted in happy kids, parents and organisers. We asked one of the organisers, Stig Bløcher, for more information to learn more about this exciting project!
(All competitors of the WINNERS CLINIC)
Stig, can you tell us more about the Winners Clinic? Why do you organise it? And for whom?
"The WINNER Team Clinic is originally a clinic for our team sailors. With the help of head coaches and dealers, we pick the very best sailors from many countries to support them intensively: options to join several clinics a year, trainer support, Winner gear, etc. But over the years, we’ve opened the clinic for non-team sailors to ensure that more sailors have the chance to learn and sail with the very best! This year we had 71 sailors from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, and Poland.’’
‘’The overall goal is to ensure that more sailors are enjoying the fun of the Optimist sport and that the experience, that top sailors achieve from hours of physical training and hours of sailing, is handed down to the next generation of sailors. I was at the event as a technical adviser. And we had a minimum of 7 coaches on the water: Chrisos Chionas from Greece, Ivan Vasilev from Bulgaria, and the Danish coaches Stefan Siggaard Andersen, Magnus B Pedersen, Frederik Bløcher, and last but not least, the only girl in the coaching team, Iben Nielsby.’’
‘’The kids worked very hard during three days to learn more about the Optimist and improve their performance during several trainings and races.’’
(MAX Mini onboard)
For this year, you requested the help of Sailmon and our innovations. What was your motivation?
"We wanted to offer the talents the best possible coaching. Therefore, we supplied every competitor with the MAX Mini tracker, so all data on the water would be automatically logged and ready for the analytical debrief in the Sailmon App. As icing on the cake, all raw data was synchronised with amazing drone footage. So all competitors, coaches, and parents were able to analyse the stats and data to the smallest detail. Not on gut feeling, but on facts. So no more ‘I think I was a bit slower than Henric’ or ‘I did fantastic tacks compared to Joan’.’’
How was last weekend?
"It was fantastic! We had nice sunny weather, but it was still very cold. The wind was at the high end of the spectrum, but the kids handled the 20+ knots very well. For three days long, we had two sessions with a lunch break so the kids were able to warm up! The kids and parents loved Sailmon. Adding Sailmon to our clinic simply lifted it to the next level."
---
👉 Do you want to relive the races of the Winner Clinic?
1. Open the Sailmon App:
- Computer: go to Sailmon.com/racing
- Phone and iPad: download via AppStore or GooglePlay
2. Tap on EVENTS (fourth emoticon at the bottom bar)
3. Search and tap on WINNER CLINIC
4. Scroll down and tap on one of the races
5. Tap on 'Start Replay'
👉 Are you interested in tracking/broadcasting for your sailing event?
Get in touch with sales@sailmon.com to request more information.