Ship-shape job as Skelmorlie boat-builders sail into final

Published on 19/02/2013 01:40

SAILING: Five Skelmorlie Primary School pupils – Alasdair Peacock, John Skinner, Peter Bradshaw, Alexander Water and Haillie Mutter – can hardly wait for Royal Yachting Association’s annual show, the Big Weekend, at Largs this Saturday and Sunday.

The North Ayrshire School took part in a new project to build their own model boats – and the five have made it through to the final which will see their craft judged this weekend by Scotland’s Olympic
silver medallist Luke Patience,

The school’s Primary 5 and 6 pupils took part in the project aimed at introducing more children to sailing and raising awareness for the Malin Waters-sponsored Big Weekend that attracts sailors from all over Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.

Last week, top local junior sailor and Largs Academy pupil, Lindsay Johnstone, visited Skelmorlie Primary and picked the shortlist of three boats.

Alasdair Peacock and John Skinner worked together to produce their model as did Peter Bradshaw and Alexander Water, while Haillie Mutter’s was a solo effort.

“It was challenging and also a bit of fun,” said nine-year-old Peter. “We had a problem at the start because we didn’t know what to do but we kept going and didn’t give up. We kept working, came up with ideas and kept building on them.”

It’s this type of resourcefulness and determination the youngsters will need if they decide to become sailors – and there was a unanimous show of hands when the class was asked whether they would like to go and sail a real boat.

“I certainly think the project will encourage them to gain more of an interest in sailing and make them more aware of the excellent opportunities we have nearby,” said class teacher Justine Campbell. “The first day they were quite quick at pulling out all the different materials, then the second day we came up with more of a plan.

“They looked at the models and tried to make improvements on them.

“When you look at the shapes and the structures they have been trying build they are quite creative and also stable on the desk.

“We’ve also talked about sailing and there are a lot of children who think that’s something they would like to do as a hobby. Building a boat has been a good experience and it’s taught them a lot about problem solving.”

Kinlochleven High School pupils involved in building and sailing their model boats as part of the Sail for Gold Olympic programme have also been invited to the Big Weekend where their crafts will be on display.