THE Royal Selangor Yatch Club (RSYC)-Westports Community sailing programme, now in its third year, continues to provide exposure in yacht sailing to students of SK Pulau Indah (SKPI) and SMK Pulau Indah (SMKPI).
Since the programme started in 2015, the students have entered various state and national-level competitions, including being part of the Selangor state team at the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) championships this year.
During the launch of the third year of the programme at the Royal Selangor Yacht Club (RSYC) in Port Klang recently, 11 pupils from SKPI and three students from SMKPI received their certificates for completing the basic sail training.
Recognition was also given to the budding sailors for their recent achievements at the MSSM as well as the Selangor School Sports Council (MSSS) competition and last year’s Malaysian Open Championship.
The students were Nur Raisha Adelia Anuar, Nurul Adibah Mohd Zin, Nur Ariana Maisarah Mohd Hamdan and Adam Waqiuddin Azmi from SKPI, as well as SMKPI’s Qurratul Ain Mohd Rusdi, Muhammad Faris and Muhamed Nor Syazrin Muhd Idris
SKPI’s Adam is notable for being the first sailor from the community sailing programme to represent Selangor in the Under-12 Optimist dinghy sailing event, where he finished in fourth place.
Westports Marketing and Conventional general manager Vijaya Kumar Puspowanam and RSYC Commodore Jeff Harris both applauded the achievements of the young sailors during the launch and lauded the teachers as well as parents for giving the youths a chance in the sport.
“The encouraging performance by Adam in the last few months since last November shows that the programme is bearing fruit in terms of its objectives to produce young talents in yacht sailing competitions,” Vijaya said.
“We believe that the community has to play an active role in developing the young generations’ talents and skills and we are happy to see the students benefiting from the exposure during competitions,” he added.
The programme, which is divided into two parts, will see 10 sailors who learned the basics of dinghy sailing from last year, move on to a more advanced course.
“This year, the more advanced sailors will be trained specifically in the techniques of dinghy racing.
“These include the starting procedures, upwind and downwind courses and the rules that must be followed,” Harris explained.
“We are pleased that the partnership with Westports, that began two years ago, is continuing this year.
“It is highly appropriate that a company so closely associated with shipping and the sea has committed to funding a sporting activity for students of both SK and SMK Pulau indah.
“RSYC has a proud history of training youngsters in the basic principles of handling a small sailing dinghy and then developing them to a point where they can confidently handle a boat by themselves in a variety of conditions.
“In the past, young sailors who started out here have gone on to become winners of national and international yachting and in some cases to be professional sailors.
“It is also our way of promoting sailing at the grassroots level and to train new generations of sailors who we will hopefully compete in local school competitions, the Sukma and Asean Games and maybe even the Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta (RMSIR),” he added.
A new aspect being introduced in the training this year is classroom instruction in life skills and career guidance led by career development consultant and RSYC member Commander (Ret) Yeo Cheng Kwan and his team.
“We hope to inspire the students to be excellent sports personalities and pursue a rewarding career,” Harris said.
by The Star
