High everyone , With Easter over and school just around the corner again its time to get back in the saddle and catch up with the news. With the club closed for the Easter break which was just as well considering the very average weather, we kicked off last week with a holiday camp with 8 junior sailors booked in and conditions forcing us to go behind Sovereign. We still managed to get some really good sailing in which included the usual capsizes, falling out of boats, general swimming and one episode of a mast falling out of a boat on capsize. This weeks camp started on Monday with a larger group and light winds and sunny skies allowing everyone to, with the help of our instructors and junior trainers, to basically get up to steering level then Tuesday with the winds back to 18 knots it was back to Sovereign where after a few early jitters everyone handled the conditions well, sure there were a lot of capsizes but there were also a lot of smiles none more than Addy who had Charlie for two days training her in both bic and tera . A special thanks to Abbey Ben Edwina and Aidan who acted as trainers while learning themselves and our Instructors Brendan and Charlie, absolutely great work everyone !
8.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
This session started very slow with only two sailors turning up originally then wham with one group of nine then another 6 flowing in making it a busy morning. Once we had everyone rigged and capsize was done for our new sailors we sent them out in a light S/E wind and with Andrew setting a long reach and \Casey manning the yellow boat everyone was off and running. Jack and Dean split up from the Taz and Jack had his first solo sail in a tera and according to Andrew absolutely nailed it . Charlie worked in the shallows showing some of our new sailors how to tack before finally setting them off around the course he should have also worked on the steering as well as there were a few collisions with other boats but as the winds were light it wasn't a problem just the odd capsize , at least the water is still warm .
10.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With the winds increasing to around 6/7 knots and settling into the E/S/ E it was time for another go at upwind sailing but before I sent the crew out I sat everyone down and told them how I would sail a close hauled course and if i couldn't what my options were to get to the top mark ( tacking ? ) so after asking lots of questions to get everyone on the same page off we went. So how did everyone go ? well by the end of the session everyone for the first time was actually getting around the top mark OK yes we did follow everyone at first with Andrew coaching a few and Casey Charlie Brendan and me working on the rest . The best performance was from Aidan Ben and Mason who after many weeks of frustration made it around the top mark at least four times and by the fourth upwind we all basically stood back and watched . There was however one report of a blue whale trying to beach itself but it turned out to be Brendan jumping in to help Addy put her rudder back on ! why did her rudder fall off ? because Brendan while driving the powerboat got too close and capsized her with his wake so we told him he had to jump in and put it back on ( yes we were joking ) Charlie laughed so much he had tears in his eyes .
1.30 pm Open Race ;
With the winds still out of the s/e at around 8/10 knots I set a windward leeward and triangle course starting down at the canal and going all the way to Runners . I set the line just favoring a starboard start so a port start was possible which Casey took as a preferred option while everyone else crowded around the pin buoy . It was a great start for everyone even though Charlie came back as he thought he was over but he soon rejoined the race and off just behind the fleet . Tom and Greg had one of the best battles around the course I have seen in a long time so much so that after an hour and a half of racing less than five seconds separated them with Greg sliding over first and then Roger then Steve then Simone and Lance . First over the line in youth was Charlie in his new radial set with Casey in 4.7 less than two minutes behind and then Brendan who continues to improve with each race he just has to get his fat but over the side ( mums words not mine ) I just said but !
Upcoming
John Murphy Invitational Midwinter Cup 30th june / 1st July Bookings have already been taken ! its open up this year to include Laser Radial and Green fleet in Sabot , Opti , Open Bic and Laser 4.7
Pan Pacific Masters Games November 2018 and yes we have already started recieving bookings for this event too !
CU on the water
John Murphy
8.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
This session started very slow with only two sailors turning up originally then wham with one group of nine then another 6 flowing in making it a busy morning. Once we had everyone rigged and capsize was done for our new sailors we sent them out in a light S/E wind and with Andrew setting a long reach and \Casey manning the yellow boat everyone was off and running. Jack and Dean split up from the Taz and Jack had his first solo sail in a tera and according to Andrew absolutely nailed it . Charlie worked in the shallows showing some of our new sailors how to tack before finally setting them off around the course he should have also worked on the steering as well as there were a few collisions with other boats but as the winds were light it wasn't a problem just the odd capsize , at least the water is still warm .
10.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With the winds increasing to around 6/7 knots and settling into the E/S/ E it was time for another go at upwind sailing but before I sent the crew out I sat everyone down and told them how I would sail a close hauled course and if i couldn't what my options were to get to the top mark ( tacking ? ) so after asking lots of questions to get everyone on the same page off we went. So how did everyone go ? well by the end of the session everyone for the first time was actually getting around the top mark OK yes we did follow everyone at first with Andrew coaching a few and Casey Charlie Brendan and me working on the rest . The best performance was from Aidan Ben and Mason who after many weeks of frustration made it around the top mark at least four times and by the fourth upwind we all basically stood back and watched . There was however one report of a blue whale trying to beach itself but it turned out to be Brendan jumping in to help Addy put her rudder back on ! why did her rudder fall off ? because Brendan while driving the powerboat got too close and capsized her with his wake so we told him he had to jump in and put it back on ( yes we were joking ) Charlie laughed so much he had tears in his eyes .
1.30 pm Open Race ;
With the winds still out of the s/e at around 8/10 knots I set a windward leeward and triangle course starting down at the canal and going all the way to Runners . I set the line just favoring a starboard start so a port start was possible which Casey took as a preferred option while everyone else crowded around the pin buoy . It was a great start for everyone even though Charlie came back as he thought he was over but he soon rejoined the race and off just behind the fleet . Tom and Greg had one of the best battles around the course I have seen in a long time so much so that after an hour and a half of racing less than five seconds separated them with Greg sliding over first and then Roger then Steve then Simone and Lance . First over the line in youth was Charlie in his new radial set with Casey in 4.7 less than two minutes behind and then Brendan who continues to improve with each race he just has to get his fat but over the side ( mums words not mine ) I just said but !
Upcoming
John Murphy Invitational Midwinter Cup 30th june / 1st July Bookings have already been taken ! its open up this year to include Laser Radial and Green fleet in Sabot , Opti , Open Bic and Laser 4.7
Pan Pacific Masters Games November 2018 and yes we have already started recieving bookings for this event too !
CU on the water
John Murphy
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