Noosa teenager Oscar Timm has been selected to represent Australia at the Youth World Sailing Championships in The Hague, Netherlands in July.
Oscar, currently in Year 12 at St Andrews Anglican College, is the national youth kite foiling champion, a member of the NYRC, ASYT (Australia Sailing Youth Team) and QAS.
He has a passion for the newest class of sailing and sees this as hopefully the first of many international races.
Despite his nomination to represent Australia, as with most sports, Oscar not only has to supply his own equipment, which so far exceeds the price of a brand new mid-sized vehicle, but is also required to pay his entry fee of $6500.
Now thanks to Carl Hartmann, serial entrepreneur, co-founder of Lyre’s Spirit Co and a keen local kite boarder, Oscar is starting to receive some financial support.
Carl has taken a keen interest in fostering local talent and has put his support behind Oscar, covering half of his entry fee for the World Championships, by linking Oscar to the Australian Sports Foundation, and facilitating a broader fundraising platform for Oscar’s campaign.
“I met Oscar out kiting at the river mouth a few months ago and it was very evident he had a huge amount of raw talent,“ Carl said.
“After getting to know his parents, Kai and Gabi, who are doing an amazing job in supporting him as much they can afford to, I just wanted to see how I could help.
“Kiting has become my passion, but it’s something I discovered later in life when I had the resources to get into what is a very expensive sport, so I hope to be able to support and encourage young athletes like Oscar to have a real crack at winning Australia some gold medals at the Olympics to come. And hopefully we see all the kiting disciplines added in time for Brisbane 2032.“
Kite foiling is one of the new Olympic sports to be featured at the Paris 2024 Olympics, followed by Los Angeles in 2028 and on our local shores at Mooloolaba in 2032.
Oscar proved his skills last month during cyclonic conditions at the Sunny Coast Foil Festival (Qld states), hosted by the MYC and SKR at the Olympic venue.
Proudly claiming first place in the Juniors (U19), and second in the Open competition, Oscar beat the Australian National Champion, Hector Paturau (WA), and was only surpassed by pro kiter, Jean de Falbaire, the African Champion.
In a post-regatta interview, Oscar said, “The waves in Mooloolaba were insane but are similar to my training environment hence I had a little advantage over Hector… Jean was in amazing form and I learned a lot from him.”
Oscar and his younger brother, Jake (Year 11), only started kite foiling in 2020.
Jake is snapping at Oscar’s heels, ranked second in Australian Youth and is a brilliant training partner.
They have been very busy training in Noosa and competing up and down the Queensland coast, in Victoria in January 2022 and three times in WA, consistently with podium finishes.
They surf on hydrofoils with parachute-looking kites powered by the wind at about 70km per hour.
It is not for the faint hearted. You can see them training at Boreen Point, Lagoona Bay and on Lake Weyba.
If you would like to support Oscar’s campaign please donate at asf.org.au and search for Oscar Timm.
To donate visit asf.org.au/donate/kite-foiling—oscars-world-and-olympic-campaign
If you are keen to get involved in kiting and joining the kiting community, contact SKR.org.au.
