Getting out and messing around in boats is what it's all about for a young Rotorua yachting trio.
Mianna Laing, 12, Ethan Butler, 10, and Steven Simpson, 13, are part of Rotorua Yacht Club's Learn to Sail programme.
While developing their on-water sailing capabilities has been the main focus, Laing, Butler and Simpson have also been enjoying the competitive aspect of the sport. All three budding yachties recently competed in the North Island Optimist Championships on Lake Rotorua.
Butler said: "It was my first North Island champs, it was quite good. I was competing in the green fleet which is for learner sailors."
Also setting sail in the green fleet was Simpson, a student at Mokoia Intermediate School. "Racing is cool," he said. "I have only been sailing for a year."
Optimists are a single-handed dinghy, about 2.3m in length. It is the ideal yacht for children as it is lightweight and simple to operate. Optimists are sailed in more than 100 countries, making it the largest junior class in the world.
Being a water-based sport, the need for wind is important.
It's something Simpson recently learned the value of after the wind all but disappeared during a recent training session under the tutelage of coach Robyn Parr.
"We were beyond the drop-off shelf. The wind just died and we were still out there. Luckily, there were two new people out there, so we just practised capsizing instead."
Simpson got his first taste of yachting after an alternative education course offered at school saw him enrol for a week-long sailing programme run by Yachting New Zealand. Since then, he hasn't looked back: "I thought I would like it, but I didn't know that I would stick with it."
Clearly, being in the gender minority doesn't faze Laing, a Rotorua Intermediate School student.
"I have done it for two years and [at the North Island championships] I raced in the open class. It doesn't really bother me. I am normally the only [female] Optimist," Laing said.
A shared family love of sailing originally attracted her to the sport.
"My dad used to sail and he's got a big yacht. Then, my brother started so I always used to always be down here [at the yacht club]. When I got old enough, I started too," Laing said.
Even though the trio aren't sure where yachting will take them in the future, at the moment they are just content having fun and learning some new skills.
Butler, who sails an Optimist named Meteor, said, "I just like the sport. You get to [go] out on the water and race."
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