Overview
Sailing at Bishops allows the student to combine the outdoors with the great opportunity to get exercise and be out on the water along with others from grades 8 to 12.
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We practice after school on a Tuesday and Friday at Zeekoevlei Yacht Club and boys are taken to and from the venue via a school bus, returning by 7 pm on each day. Sometimes towards the end of the season in term 1, we take the decision to move training to Zandvlei near Muizenberg if there is a significant drop in the water levels of Zeekoevlei.
Professional coaches from the yacht club run our training sessions on boats they provide and once there has been an improvement in skill level the boys are allowed to sail the school boats. In addition to this a number of our boys own their own boats that are stored at Zeekoevlei which they train and compete on.
We expect our sailors to involve themselves over weekends once their skill level has improved by competing in local events/regattas that run throughout the sailing season. These include the Grand Slam Series, Interschool’s, Mac 24, Western Cape Champs and Youth Nationals. Bishops owns two trailers that can be used to transport boats to these events.
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Vision
Bishops is one of the leading schools in South Africa as far as sport is concerned and our reputation for sporting excellence is world-wide. In keeping with the ethos of our school, we believe that sport plays a vital role in the development of young men. In particular, we believe that participation in a team sport enhances the educational experience. To this end, it is a school rule that all boys must play an official school sport during both summer and winter terms.
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Bishops started sailing as a sport in the late 1970s. Up until a few years ago, we were the only school in the Western Cape who offered sailing as a school sport however since its mainstream rise it is great to see that many other schools now offer it as an official sport. We remain the only school that owns its own boats and has a comprehensive fleet.
At Zeekoevlei Yacht Club we are fortunate to have our own shed that is used to store the equipment for our boats. We own 7 Lasers, 3 Dabchicks a 420 and a Sonnet. A rubber duck always accompanies the boys on the water with coaches for training and safety. Boys pay to become members of the Club giving them full use of the facilities on offer.
Half:
- attendance at practices
- positive involvement in practices
- sailing outside of practices (this emphasises involvement not results) eg club sailing, inter schools, points regattas (2/5), Western Province Champs, Lipton
Full:
- All the above + results
- In addition the level of sailing must be proven:
- EP and WP Champs (or another) ie any two inter provincial champs
- Two Nationals (showing improvement from previous years is also important)
- Points regattas (4 or 5 out of 5)
- Earning WP colours based on exceptional results
- Any other exceptional or outstanding performance in another dinghy or keelboat
- Full colours can also be given at the end of a Grade 11 year (or in matric) to someone who, over his school career, has excelled in earlier grades, changed class and shows continued improvement in their new class
- Full colours can also be given to a matric boy who, at the end of the sailing season, has excelled in terms of his management of the sailors and in particular the mentoring of the juniors, his enthusiasm for the sport and his proven ability in encouraging participation and managing logistics in both dinghy and keel boat regattas such as The Lipton Cup, Inter Schools, Grand Slam events, MAC - 24 and National regattas.
Distinction Tie:
- Representing the country at the highest level dependent on a rigorous selection process.
All of the above at the discretion of the master in charge of sailing.