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Graham Wilson
Graham started sailing when he was only eight years of age crewing a Sabot, graduated to Manly Juniors by the time he was ten and at eleven was skippering his own MJ and racing competitively in the fleet at Middle Harbour. When Graham turned thirteen he was in command of his own Flying Ant. He also crewed on a 16ft skiff skippered by Mr Ferguson from Ferguson's Boat Shed at the Spit, as forth hand on Saturday afternoon after the ant races. The boat leaked so much he used to do the whole race with a baking dish in his hands bailing out the boat. Yet he learnt so much about sailing and racing from his time in this boat. Graham moved on to sail Cherubs and in his twenties sailed skiffs and catamarans on the harbour, Botany Bay and the off the beach club on Pittwater.
Graham went on to sail yachts both small and large all over the world. On returning to Australia he got married and started a family. He continued sailing and racing yachts offshore and competing in the occasional catamaran regatta. During this time he also spent thousands of hours on powerboats game fishing and cruising the coast. He has over 8,000 nautical miles in his log book.
In the 1990s his children decided to get involved in the sport their father loves with a passion. Graham taught his daughters to sail and they have gone on to love the sport and compete at all levels. He coached and guided their sailing careers by ensuring they had lots of fun, had competitive equipment, made new friends, travelled to all the regattas open to them and supported the girls.
Graham has also served his time on the committees of many sailing clubs and associations including Greenwich Sailing Club where he held the position of race officer and principal of the clubĄ¯s sailing school for many years. He was the commodore of Greenwich Sailing Club Inc for 3 years. Graham also spent many hours representing the youth sailors on the YNSW Youth Committee, Measurer NSW Manly Junior Association and Principal Race Officer and Training Manager for the NSW Flying Ant Skiff Association. He is now a member of the YNSW Training Committee.
He instructs the powerboat courses, yacht training, high level dinghy courses and some of the beginner courses. Graham has been teaching adults and children to sail at all levels for more than 14 years and is one of the most experienced sailing coaches on the harbour. On top of his busy schedule he still finds time and enthusiasm to dedicate to beginners. He started his business in 2002 and has been teaching sailing full time since then. Graham currently also holds the positions of head sailing coach for Vaucluse Amateur 12ft Sailing Club and SCEGGS Redlands Mosman. You can here Graham on Sailors radio most Saturday mornings and at the Sydney Boat and Sailing Shows talking about learning to sail, having fun on the water, staying safe and competing in races.
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