The Otago Yacht Club and Yachting New Zealand joined forces yesterday to stage an open day for members of the public wanting to try their hand at the sport.
The day’s activities had about 50 adults and 30 children out sailing on the harbour — many for the first time — in conditions that could be considered "exciting", club commodore Frank McCarthy said.
The new sailors tried their hands at a collection of trailer-sailer yachts and smaller dinghies, in some cases ferried to and from the yachts on the harbour, and not even a capsize or two was enough to put them off.
"A lot of them haven’t been sailing before or been on a boat.
"It was very exhilarating for some of them. Everyone came back on shore and had a good day — a good experience," Mr McCarthy said.
It was the second time in two years an open day had been staged at the yacht club, and 20 participants from yesterday’s event had expressed interest in joining learn-to-sail classes or the club’s weekly social sailing evenings, he said.
The focus of yesterday’s event was not on recruiting new members to the club, he said.
"Really, it’s just getting them on the water," he said.
