MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay Learn to Sail School principal Elfie Holden has started an initiative to prepare young people for a career in sailing or in affiliated sectors.
The Learn to Sail School provides free coaching to children from primary to high school at the Mossel Bay Yacht and Boat Club (MBYBC).
The school is run under the auspices of South African Sailing and World Sailing.
From her ongoing contact with children and their families through the sailing school, Holden has seen first-hand that many of her young "yachties" would benefit from practical education, which would prepare them for a career that would suit them.
Therefore she has formed a non-profit organisation called the Skipper Foundation. Holden's long-term vision is to facilitate the provision of training in practical artisanal skills, such as "working with a drill or hammer and doing fibreglass work", she says, to put it simply.
"Children who are good with people can learn waitering skills so they can be waitrons on luxury yachts and ships one day," Holden enthuses. She says there is a demand in the states for sailing coaches at summer camps.
She points out that two of her sailors are so proficient at this, that the summer camps invite them to coach each year.
Of course, there will be children whose primary passion is sailing, not yacht-building. They will be able to skipper luxury yachts one day or take other types of yachts from one port to another internationally, where they are needed.
"The reason I have called the NPO the Skipper Foundation is that I want the young people to be empowered and skippers of their own lives," Holden explains.
She truly goes the extra mile when it comes to caring for the children. She ended up travelling to and from Cape Town at her own expense to secure a visa and documentation for one of her sailors so he could compete in competitions in Ireland and France.
Also, when he fell ill with a lung condition she assisted in his care, spending hours waiting at the health clinic with him.
Holden has also identified a need for extra maths tuition for children in her Learn to Sail School.
Elfie Holden makes sailing fun for youngsters as can be seen by this broad smile. Photo: Mark Holden
She would like to dedicate a room at the MBYBC to maths tuition for some of her sailors.
The only problem is the lease on the clubhouse is in question. The MBYBC has been fighting to retain its lease of the premises.
If you would like to assist Holden with her vision of empowering young sailors, call her on 082 826 3825.
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