Youth Club member Kester Holmes recently undertook a trip to Australia as part of the New Zealand Optimist Junior Development Team.  Check out his report of the adventure below:

My Junior Development Team Trip to Aussie

Date: 30/9/2025–7/10/2025
Location: Lake Macquarie
Event: Pre-Regatta Sailing Clinic, then Zhik NSW Youth Regatta
Hosted by: Toronto Sailing Club
Typical Conditions: 8-12 morning 2-5 afternoon knots
Sailor: Kester Holmes

By Kester Holmes 11 years old

This year I qualified for the Junior development team going to the Zhik NSW youth championship in Australia.

To qualify for this, I had to place in the top 6, 12 years or under, at the opti nationals. (I came 3rd.) I then went to three training camps in Auckland, one of them I flew up for by myself which was exciting. In my team were three Auckland kids, two Napier kids and me. 

There were three NZ teams travelling to Aussie: my team (junior dev), a senior dev team, and a girls dev team. Together we were a group of 18 NZ sailors. I was the only sailor from Wellington.

My parents thought it would be a great idea to go travelling while we’re in Aussie, so we spent some time in Sydney and went camping in 3 National Parks first. We then travelled to Toronto, Lake Macquarie, for 2 1/2 days of training and 3 days of regatta. It is about 2 hours North of Sydney. The lake is salty because there is a connection to the sea. This also means there are sharks in the lake and you are not allowed to swim and should avoid capsising. Luckily, none of us did.

On the night before the clinic we arrived at the club and quickly set up my rental opti and my sail to make sure everything was there. Me and my team decided to have a sail in the agonizingly slow wind with about 0-3 knots.

Overall we did 2 and a half training days working on boat speed and races with our NZ teams and all of the Aussies who had come for a local clinic before the regatta.

The Zhik NSW Youth Sail regatta

On the first regatta day the forecast was to reach up to 12 knots so when we got to the course I was very disappointed to find less than ten knots. After doing my start line checks (homework for the line) I chilled with my team RIB. When they finally started the races, the wind picked up a bit. In my first race with shifty conditions I ended up in 16th, 2nd race 15th, and the last race with a battle into 10th place. At the end of the day I was 10th overall (of 58) and 3rd NZer. I was super happy with that.

On the second day we changed courses and raced in an even lighter and shiftier spot. I ended up with a bit worse results, 22nd, 18th, 19th, and 27th. In the last race, I had a very average start and then, when I rounded the bottom gate, I noticed that the finish line had been moved to the other side of the gate which cooked my finish. End of day 2 result: 15th overall and 3rd NZer.

On the third day the first race was blowing 18 knots. In that race I had a great start and clear air the whole race. It was funny when we were on the downwind, sailing past Aussies flapping and bailing out boats with 30kgs of water in the bottom. I came 13th. The second race, the wind dropped to 5 knots on the line and ruined my start. I was 28th at the top mark but took shifts off the land and managed to make up a lot of places on the last upwind. I placed 18th at the end. 

My overall place was 15th, 2nd New Zealander out of our squad of 18. I was disappointed about the super light wind conditions and not making it back into the top 10 (I was 11th before the 2nd drop), but I’m very happy to have come 2nd NZer, they all seemed super serious. 

The trip was a lot of fun but also heaps of effort with training and organising stuff. I must admit I am looking forward to sailing in 20-25 knots and to escape from boat perfectionists and to sail with more chill people from clubs all over Wellington.

Thank you WBBC and EBYMBC for supporting my sailing for four years and more to come :)

Results

Link to photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/UwJecbGe4k9Q5XFFA

Article added: Thursday 16 October 2025