Oakham School is thrilled to be welcoming a new sailing instructor ahead of the new academic year. Ollie Hooper, Sailing and Adventurous Learning Co-ordinator, is looking forward to showing pupils the ropes and continuing sailing as a sport at the school.
Leading in both pupil coaching and the Duke of Edinburgh Award sailing activities, Ollie will take the reins on the water sport at the stunning location of Rutland Water.
Having first started sailing with his parents before he could even walk, Ollie has been in love with the combination of the water and outdoors from a young age.
Ollie said: “Having grown up locally and having sailed at Rutland Water for so long, I was already aware of Oakham School’s long-standing achievements in sailing. I used to race against a lot of pupils, so I knew how high their skill levels were and looked up to them”.
“In my new role I’d like to encourage more pupils to try sailing and to really garner a fresh interest in the sport. We’d like to look at doing some race training in future too, so for now it’s about getting a grassroots team in place and spending time coaching them to be the best they can be.”
Sailing sessions at Oakham are hosted at Rutland Water where pupils can expect to have some time on land doing a tuition before getting out on the water to put what they have learnt into practice. A hands-on learning approach is taken in the sessions with lots of fun games and races to challenge their skills.
Ollie added: “Sailing is a great way to challenge yourself both mentally and physically but what’s really fantastic about it is that no matter what your ability, size, or background, it can suit anyone. Sailing can shape us into problem solvers, team players, decision makers and stronger people. It’s a fantastic sport that you can do for a lifetime and, just as some Old Oakhamians are proving, it can really take you far in your career and is a great sport to compete in.”
Oakham is no stranger to sailing success as we also recently caught up with OO Emily Nagel (12) who has trialled with Great Britain SailGP for a place on the team. This is the first time the British Sailing will be looking to include female members and for the trial, Emily was given the opportunity to sail in the high-performance foiling F50 catamaran, which can exceed 50 knots, at the Great Britain SailGP in Plymouth.
