Friesland has the largest number of CWO-certified sailing schools of any province, being home to 20 of the 45 schools that exist in the Netherlands. Logically enough, most Frisian sailing schools are located in the Frisian Lakes area. This is where, so to speak, half of Europe learn tour and competitive sailing.

The most famous stretch of sailing water is the Sneekermeer and the adjacent pools. On one of these, the Goïngarijpster Poelen, Abel and Joyce Zeilstra have been giving sailing lessons to young people aged between 7 and 18 since 1993. Abel (57), de Nestor of Frisian sailing instructors, started sailing when he was just three years old. Now it seems it is in his blood. He is up to his ears in sailing boats when at work and in his free time as well. He is a fervent racing yachtsman in the Olympia Jol, the same boat that Hitler commissioned for the Olympic sailing competitions of 1936 and which was designed in Kiel. And who won? The Dutchman Daan Kachelland, whose son and grandson still sail in an Olympia Jol, and on the Frisian lakes as well.

Zeilstra’s sailing school, ‘t Garijp, has 32 Optimists, 14 centreboard boats (Topaz and Topper) and 16 Falcons. Every year, 750 people come to the school for training. Almost 70% return each year for extra instruction, for example when they switch from an Optimist (for those aged up to 15) to a centreboard boat.

As the sailing school boss explains, “For a while it seemed as if the bottom had fallen out of sailing as a sport. However, I believe the tide has turned. People on day trips who do not know how to sail hire a sloop, while yachtsmen and women opt for Falcons. It continues to be a popular boat, and it is the ideal keel boat for sailing schools. Optimists are also incredibly popular, on a worldwide scale as well. In the summer of 2006, 400 Optimists lined up at the start of the international races held on the IJsselmeer at Workum.”

Central Friesland ideal
Children learn from specially trained instructors, often students who have been sailing Optimists since they were seven. The Optimist training area used by ‘t Garijp is the Langweerder Wielen. The sailing school has a branch in Langweer. The centreboard and keel boats are used on the pools and Sneekermeer lake. “The heart of Friesland is an ideal place to learn to sail because you have a stretch of water available for every type of weather. In our case, if there is too much wind on Sneekermeer, we switch to one of the pools. My colleagues have similar alternatives and this means that sailing lessons hardly ever have to be cancelled in Central Friesland.”