Today we celebrate the sporting success of the talented Sam Foster from the Kōmingo year 5/6 team.

Sam is a keen sailor, and a very talented one at that. Recently, Sam has had much success and we are very pleased, and proud, to share this with you today.

This Easter weekend, over 4 days, Sam will sail against the best in the country for the NZ Sailing Optimist National Champs. There are currently over 60 entries so far, and many much older (up to 15 years old ) with multiple years of experience at this top level.

For someone who has just turned 10, this is a massive achievement just to be there. 

He finished 5th at the South Island Aged Regatta and 8th in the  Canterbury and South Island champs. The training is both mentally and physically very demanding. Sailing from Sumner to Charteris Bay takes over 5 hours, and sometimes racing or training is done in very heavy winds of up to 40knots of wind for many hours. These conditions can be very demanding, even for a seasoned adult. 

Races are not run over 25 knots in this class of boat. He does this as the youngest in the fleet with much older kids, staying with them. 

Sam has improved dramatically over the season. For such a young guy doing so well for his age the future is looking promising, and his dream is to be a world class sailor.

Although there are no expectations for performance for this nationals this will be a great experience for him to take forward as a new sailor to this level. He has great coaches and won a competition to have a 1 on 1 training session with one of the top sailors and coaches in New Zealand, which will be done prior to the nationals. 

Sam has made the decision to train through winter when others take this time off. Sam is excelling in the sport of sailing. 

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

New news has just come in about Sam and his sailing prowess.

Sam competed in Sunburst Canterbury champs over the weekend. They won the event (sunburst is a 2 man sailing dingy).

Well done, Sam. All the best for the NZ Sailing Optimist National Champs over Easter. Go out them and show them that Oaklands kids are the best.