Empowering Wellington’s youth through sailing

The Wellington Youth Sailing Trust (WYST) is a charitable trust founded in 2001 with a clear mission — to give young people across the Wellington region the chance to discover sailing, develop lifelong skills, and build confidence on and off the water.

Over the past two decades, we’ve helped more than 900 young sailors learn, grow, and compete through structured programmes including the Winter Development Squad, Secondary Schools Sailing, Regional Match Racing Clinics, and the Under-23 Race Squad.

Our focus is on more than just sailing — we’re here to foster teamwork, leadership, resilience, and responsibility in a safe, inclusive environment. Many of our alumni have gone on to represent New Zealand on the world stage in the Olympics, SailGP, the Volvo Ocean Race, and the America’s Cup, while others have carried their skills into thriving careers and community leadership.

The Youth Match Racing Scheme

The Youth Match Racing Scheme is designed for sailors aged 14 to 23 who want to develop their competitive edge and tactical racing skills. Using our fleet of Elliot 6m keelboats, sailors learn how to race one-on-one, honing boat handling, rules knowledge, and quick decision-making under pressure.

This programme is a key step in a sailor’s progression — often following school sailing, club dinghy racing, or introductory keelboat training — and builds the experience needed to compete at regional, national, and even international match racing events.

You will learn:

  • Advanced boat handling in keelboats
  • Strategic and tactical racing skills
  • Confidence in applying match racing rules
  • Leadership and teamwork under competitive conditions
  • A pathway to high-performance sailing opportunities in New Zealand and overseas

Regattas and competions

Sailors in the Youth Match Racing Scheme and other WYST programmes have the opportunity to compete in a variety of regattas, including:

  • Local and Regional Regattas hosted in Wellington in partnership with yacht clubs such as Royal Port Nicholson, Evans Bay, and Worser Bay.
  • National Match Racing Championships and other Yachting New Zealand-sanctioned events including our own Internationally recognised Centreport Youth Match Racing Championships.
  • International Youth Events for sailors who progress to higher-level squads.

We ensure all events are supported with high-quality equipment, on-water safety protocols, and experienced coaching.

Our training programme

Our current programme is based on six-week training blocks that occur throughout the year, with training on the water on Sundays. These may include additional training days during daylight-saving hours, with some classroom sessions as well.

Our boats

The Elliott 6s is an Olympic-class keelboat designed by New Zealander, Greg Elliott. It was selected for the women’s match racing event for the 2012 Olympics.

These boats are ideal for use in class racing, match racing, open racing, yacht club programmes, keelboat training, and youth sailing development.

The boats carry a symmetric and an asymmetric spinnaker.

Sailing Programme

Whether you’re aiming for the world stage or simply want to challenge yourself in a competitive and supportive environment, the Wellington Youth Sailing Trust is here to help you get there.

The Wellington Youth Sailing Trust is committed to seeing the Elliott 6s keelboats out on Te Whanganui-a-Tara where they belong.

You’ll spend plenty of time on the water, learning the ropes and trying out every role on the boat. Not only will you continue to develop your skills in sailing, but you’ll also boost your confidence and make lasting friendships as you develop and work as a team. 

It’s all about having fun, learning by doing, and experiencing the thrill of sailing in a friendly and supportive environment.

Programmes run year-round with both summer and winter training. 

Places are limited — get started now.