Samoa Observer - Sailors head in the right direction

Sunday, 30 August 2009 11:36 - Samoa Observer

Sailors from the Apia Yacht Club representing Samoa at the Mini Games are heading in the right direction with the assistance of Australian Coach Joshua Chant. “We are very lucky to have him,” said club secretary, Raema von Reiche. Chant is in Samoa to assist the sailing team with their preparations for the Mini Games next month. “There is a lot of enthusiasm but we need a bit more work on minor things. There’s fine tuning and a bit more practice and later in training we will focus on some really good techniques like accurate with steering, body position on the boat so it’s efficient to make the boat go faster and boat handling,” said Chant. L-R : Olivia Hogarth, Shannon Humrich, Sam Hogarth, Mabelle Humrich,(reserve) Tafa Maiava,(reserve) Myka Stanley (reserve). Chant who started sailing at around 8 years of age became a coach for the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in North Sydney and represented Australia in World Championships and other competitions. “Coming here is an opportunity for me to coach in a different environment but also to help a club that is developing. The other reason was to give back to the sport and maintain motivation for myself,” said Chant. Chant feels there is definitely potential in the team as long as they train hard. He also feels the team is already in the stage of encouraging each other and lift themselves up which he says is important in terms of team spirit. The team to represent Samoa at the Mini Games in the laser class consist of Olivia Hogarth, Shannon Humrich, Sam Hogarth, Mabelle Humrich,( reserve) Tafa Maiava, ( reserve) Myka Stanley (reserve) while the Hobie 16 class will be represented by Feolofani Bruun, Patisela Tali, missing Steve Brown (reserve) and Leua Leonard (reserve). For the Apia Yacht Club, it is only the team for the Mini Games that get assistance from Chant but also the club as a whole with various drills and races.