Kai Wolgram from Cheshire began sailing when he was just four. Now, aged nine, he has a major trophy
A Cheadle Hulme boy is celebrating after winning his first ever sailing trophy, one of the youngest boys in his category to scoop the award.
9-year-old Kai Wolgram, who is a pupil at The Manchester Grammar School, picked up the award at the Optimist National Inland Championships held at Grafham Water last week. He battled it out against 250 other sailors between the age of nine and 15 and won the 9-11 year old category.
Speaking of his achievement Kai said: ‘I am really happy to have won even though I was really surprised! The trophy has taken pride of place on my bedroom windowsill but my parents want to move it to the family’s makeshift trophy cabinet downstairs!’
Kai’s passion for sailing started when he was just four years old. He now trains a number of times per week training at sailing clubs around the country and sails on his own boat that his dad bought for him when he saw how serious he was about the sport: ‘I’ve been doing it for years and really enjoy it. I don’t know how I can develop it into a career just yet but know that I want to be good enough to be able to sail on my own to far away places.’
Away from his sailing, MGS pupil Kai also enjoys swimming, skiing and concentrating on his favourite school subjects; geography, science and maths. He says the latter also helps him with his sailing: ‘There’s a lot of quick thinking and areas to apply maths to when you sail, particularly in plotting your routes. I think that’s why I enjoy the subject so much at MGS.’
Kai’s head teacher at MGS, Mrs Linda Hamilton, added: ‘We are thrilled with Kai’s achievement; it was lovely to see his trophy when he brought it into school the following day. The extra curricular ambition shown by our boys is outstanding and we will all enjoy supporting Kai with his sailing in the future.’
Kai’s next competitive sail is at OPI Nationals, which will be held in Scotland later this month.
