TOKYO ahoy! By Amy Newman Photos Gary Sissons & Supplied
F
or Sorrento locals and brothers, Will and Sam Phillips, representing Australia at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics culminates a lifelong passion for sailing on the Mornington Peninsula. “We both started sailing on our family couta boat, Muriel, from when we were only a few months old - so we’ve been sailing our whole lives,” says Sam, 29, who, along with Will, 33, works in the local family business, The Wooden Boat Shop. “We then learnt to sail at Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club (SSCBC) in their junior sailing program and have sailed at other clubs all over the Peninsula. We are still members at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron and enjoy sailing just as much today as we did back then.”
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8 | PENINSULA
May 2021
With international and state borders closed for so much of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local waters have been a key part of their Olympic training schedule. “We recently finished a training camp at Flinders Yacht Club, where we were using the unique location to access Bass Strait to train for the bigger wave conditions we expect to see in Japan,” explains Sam. “On the Western Port side, the protection of French and Phillip Island offer possibilities for almost any wind direction. On the Port Philip side, the summer sea breeze direction is offshore meaning that sailors get to enjoy flat water. With access to both Port Philip and Western Port bay there are so many options to choose from.” continued next page...