Sailing is a very unique sport that many of us may not get to try often. Luckily for Crane Lake, we have a new Sailing Instructor that is extremely experienced at the sport.
Hannah Brown, a first year staff member, is committed to teaching campers how to sail in a fun and exciting way. She hopes to teach campers what they want to learn about sailing.
Hannah was born in Chester, England. When she was only one year old she moved to Zimbabwe. Then, when she was four years old, she moved back to Chester and began school.
From a very young age, Hanna started sailing. Before she was able to even speak, her father and grandfather would take her out on the sailboat. Every summer her and her family would go to Wales to sail. Wales is a popular location for sailors because of the waves and wind current.
When she was only five years old, she entered in her first competition. This sailor’s competition is known as Mirrorweek. Mirrorweek takes place in Wales where there around about 600 participants from all over the United Kingdom. “I made a pact to myself that I wouldn’t stop competing in Mirrorweek until I won,” Hannah said. Her older sister had won Mirrorweek, which made her even more determined, not only to win the competition, but also to beat her older sister. From the moment her sister won, she decided to practice even harder than before by spending hours and hours on the boat every chance she got.
All of Hannah’s hard work and determination paid off when she won Mirrorweek at the age of 14, then again at the age of 15. When she was 14 years old, she was recruited by the Great Britain Sailing Team. Once recruited, she went on to sail at the National Trials. The trials comprised of current and potential members of the Great Britain Team. “It was the scariest weekend of my life,” she said. “I was partnered with a complete stranger for one of the biggest races of my life. It was going to take a lot of communication and teamwork to win,” she remarked. Hannah went on to win her first race and ended up winning the National Trials all together. “Everyone was shocked,” she said. Hannah had out sailed sailors that had been sailing on the Great Britain team for years.
“Once I made the Great Britain Sailing Team, my schedule became crazy,” Hannah said. She trained in Weymouth, England, which was nine hours from her home in Chester. Every Friday after school, her parents would pick her up and drive down to Weymouth for the weekend to train with the team. She was the youngest athlete on the Junior Squad team. The Junior Squad team is the 18 and under division of the Great Britain Team.
At the age of 15, Hannah went on to sail at the European Championships in Sweden. This competition had sailors from all over Europe. Her and her partner were the youngest to compete in this race. At the European Championships, Hannah and her partner came in 11th place.
Fast forward a few months and Hannah finds herself competing at the World Championships of Sailing in Wales. Luckily, she had the same partner as she did at the European Championships, so they were used to working together. The World Championship consists of an entire week of sailing in several different races. “It is very common for sailors to capsize their boats, but my partner and I had never capsized before. We figured we should practice capsizing before one of the races just incase. Although we were hoping we wouldn’t jinx it, we did. We ended up capsizing in the middle of one of the races,” she said. Despite this one small obstacle, Hannah and her partner came in 3rd place at Worlds.
After Worlds, Hannah was supposed to keep sailing but got selected for the England Field Hockey Team. She tried to balance both but it was just impossible. She had to choose between sailing, something she had been competing in her entire life, or field hockey, a sport she loved but never had time to compete to the extent she wanted to. “Sailing is more of a partnership, where as field hockey is more of a team, like a family,” she said. “As much as I loved sailing, I wanted to try something new and exciting,” she added. So, at the age of 16, Hannah joined the England Field Hockey Team and continued to play for two years.
Unfortunately, Hannah missed try outs for the England 18 and under Field Hockey Team because she decided to take a gap year. Today, she still plays field hockey for a premier team in England. She also still enjoys sailing in her free time. After spending many years involved in competitive sailing and field hockey, Hannah decided to try something new.
“I have many friends that did Camp America and they always tell me how amazing it is,” she said. A few months ago, Hannah decided to go to a Camp America recruitment fair in Manchester. “I was about to leave the recruitment fair but then I decided to go to one more camp. That camp just happened to be Crane Lake Camp. The minute I sat down I thought to myself, “Yup, this is the camp for me”,” she said.
Hannah is looking forward to working at the lake and showing campers her love and passion for sailing. She hopes campers are able to improve their sailing skills with her assistance. “All the lifeguards have a lot of previous experience in their specialty areas that they can share with the campers, not just me,” she said.
By Lindsey Blackman, Communications Specialist