Although full of banter and fun they are deadly serious about one thing, sailing. They are members of the Anguilla Youth Sailing Club, which has its headquarters on Sandy Ground.

On Monday afternoons, as the sun is setting picturesquely behind them, two classes are taught by William Ferguson, the club’s instructor, and Alexander Orchard, his assistant.

Alexander takes the students with the least experience. Today he has Zachary Richardson, aged twelve, who has been sailing since last November and Jibri Lewis, a relative veteran with nine months sailing behind him. “I have been teaching for two years,” says Orchard. “The year before I started teaching I did an instructors course. At the moment two classes are running simultaneously. I’m taking out the newer kids and Will deals with the more experienced group. He’s got a good deal more experience than me and he knows a lot more sail theory, so I am learning and doing my own training under him in some of the classes. It is hard to teach something unless you really know it yourself,” he says earnestly.

Zachery says of sailing, “It is fun. You get to learn about different things about boats, like when you go out in the sea, you know what to do. I like sailing Optimists. They’re easy.” He is already looking to the future: “When I get bigger I want to sail on the big local boats!”

Shelley Richardson, Zachary’s mother, is proud of her son’s sailing and pleased to see the change in him since starting at the Club. “He has a little more confidence in himself. At first he was very shy,” she says. Her son has clearly taken to sailing, which has surprised his mother, “He seems to love it and it surprised me. I did not think he would like it but he is doing great and it is very good for him, both among the other kids and changing his attitude. He has a different outlook now. He is maturing and there is a big difference to before he was sailing.” She smiles fondly as she continues, “It is all a good thing for them, discipline and so on. I am quite surprised he can sail a boat so well!”

Jibri Lewis likes the open air and the challenge of sailing. “If you have to go beyond the Point,” he says smiling, “there will be high waves and rougher seas, which are real challenging because you have to make your boat balance, so it does not tip over. It’s hard because of the sail. You have to adjust your weight as well and move around the boat depending on where you are sailing.” He speaks enthusiastically. I wonder how long it has taken him to master this challenge. He disarmingly replies to this query, “I still haven’t mastered it!”

The more experienced sailors sail both the little Optimists and the larger Lasers and Starfish.

Jordan Peabody, aged thirteen, has been sailing, “a long time, years.” He sails twice a week with the Anguilla Youth Sailing Club. “I like to be on the water,” he says. Jordan’s friend, Noah Gumbs, explains the Lasers he sails. “They are much lighter, [than the Optimists], way faster and have a lot more rigging. They are hard to sail. With a lot of wind you have to stay over the side of the boat [to balance it].”

Thirteen year old Starlin Rosario has been sailing a year and a half. “I like the speed of the boats, the way we do the tacking when the wind is coming, the different positions of the boat, I love it all. I like sailing Optimists now and again. My favourite is the Temenos Villa.” Temenos Villas at Long Bay sponsored one of the little boats. The Club is always grateful for such sponsorship, as without boats there is no club. With so much bad press about the youth of Anguilla, it is refreshing to hear Starlin say, “I like the Youth Sailing Club. It’s a great programme; helps the kids stay out of trouble and you learn a lot. It makes kids who don’t love the water, love the water. I hope to continue sailing when I grow up. I must keep focused.”

With youth programmes for the Easter school holiday on the horizon, including the new Starfish course for 4 to 7 year olds, where children learn to swim and go sailing with an instructor, it is clear that the Anguilla Youth Sailing Club is an asset to Anguillian sailing.

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The Anguilla Youth Sailing Club, Sandy Ground, www.sailanguilla.com/aysc.htm

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