Jamie Makes a Splash!
Year 11 student Jamie Smith is well and truly making a splash in the sailing world after recently winning the Sussex ‘Most Improved Sportsman’ award. “Jamie is a really great sportsman”, said student mentor Aran Hawkins, “And we’re all extremely proud of him.”
Jamie, who is a Year 11 Spencer House student at Longhill, belongs to the Newhaven and Seaford Sailing Club and was put forward for the award by retiring Commodore, Ian Johnson.
Jamie acquired his love of sailing from his Uncle, who raced as a bowman in the America’s Cup and began with five years-worth of lessons before owning his own boat. “I race a Fireball now”, said Jamie, “but I started off with a Lazer, which is 9ft long and weighs 60kg.” The Fireball is a high-performance 16ft racing dinghy weighing around 98kg, with an aluminium mast and a single trapeze. “The boat has a two-person crew, but the single trapeze is used by one of us to stand on and lean out of the boat to make it go faster,” Jamie explained. “I usually sail with my friends Theo, who is 14, or Jasmine who is 17.”
Jamie has made a lot of progress in the last two or three years, with a fourteenth place in the World Sailing Championships and, more recently, a fantastic third place in the South East Regional competition. “It’s a sociable sport – lots of young people do it – and you can excel quite quickly at it”, Jamie told us. “I’m taking an Instructor’s Course at the moment and I’d really love to become a racing coach one day”, he said.
The Newhaven and Seaford Sailing Club are always pleased to welcome new members and have boats which can be borrowed. If you would like to know more about sailing and whether it could be for you, Jamie would be happy to answer your questions.
