Hi Everyone , Well its just around the corner now yes Easter is here so make room for the easter eggs and to much food but also dont forget that there is no Sunday Juniors or club racing this Easter Sunday but everything will be back on Sunday the 28th of April so I hope everyone has a great easter break .

The last junior sailing camp ran this week with a great bunch of kids turning up and even though the winds were around 18 knots which made us pack up and move up to soverign we still had some great sailing with many thanks to our assistant instructors and volunteers for showing the inexperienced sailors who to sail the conditions , all we need them all to learn now is some better jokes because trust me some of them were definitely forgettable .

8.30 AM Sunday Juniors ;
With this being a school holiday Sunday we were expecting a pretty cruisy sunday with probably 10 junior sailors but you guessed it we ended up with over double the numbers which meant more boats down so that we could accomodate everyone , so with 3 lasers , 7 teras and the Taz we slowly got everyone on the water . There was an innitial shock from both the sailors and the safety boat crews when the saw me sailing a laser with a couple of first timers yes thats how busy it was as I hate sailing 4.7 lasers especially when tacking and yes I did get two bumps from the boom but still had some great fun teaching the new kids sailing . The course was a bit close at first but after the crews stretched her out we stopped having collissions . The wind was from the south east at around 6/8 knots so it was perfect conditions for a bit of reaching and tacking and gybing . It did build towards the end of the session but everyone just seemed to handle the change well with a few bow waves evident and hiking out just to coax that extra bit of speed from the boat . With the wind from the south and the water temperature getting a bit chilly we didnt think anyone wanted to practice capsize drills but you guessed it as soon as we said yes there were boats over everywhere with lots of laughing and smiling faces even some of the first timers jumped in and joined the fun.

10.30 AM Sunday Training;
This session was a bit down on numbers because of the holidays but we still had a mix of lasers , Teras and bics out for a training session in winds around 6/9 knots S/E . Abbey and Eddy continued their battle in the laser 4.7s and Alex and Addy were out in the bics with Alex just struggling with getting the bic to go upwind ok and occassionally downwind . In the Teras Ben was just having one of those days and ended up pulling out early being too cold from too many swims , Ben sailed a tera instead of his laser because he thought the winds were going to be too strong for him but you guessed it the wind increase didnt eventuate but at least he got on the water . Abbey is absolutely smoking close hauled lately and is just un catchable when her mind is on the job which gives Eddy the challenge of improving her upwind so she can keep pace with Abbey all in all a great training session .

1.30 PM Youth Rcae ;
With the winds building again from the S/E to around 10/14 knots we set a course starting at the club and running down to the southern side of the canal making a very close close hauled upwind and a broad reach back . Everyone made the start well with Eddy and Abbey son pulling away from Kaleb ( laser 4.7 ) and Addy and Ollie close behind . The fleet slowly pulled away from Ollie mainly because he has missed sailing for several months so he was a bit rusty but still had a good sail . Abby was first around the top mark but had to go back as she rounded on the wrong side as did Eddy who also had to go back then the did the same at the start line mark and I made them go back again which resulted in Addy who was also smoking the upwinds and down winds ( must have been saturdays training ?) jumping to the lead but once abby and Eddy started going around the buoys the right way they soon caught her and were over the line abbey 1st and eddy 2nd with Addy 3rd overall but it was addys day on handicap with a 1st overall , Kaleb finished 4th with Ollie 5th .

1.30 pm Open Race ;
With Casey and Glen in Charge of the race start apparently everyone behaved themselves and the recall flags remained in the bottom of the boat ? and with the start set near the canal and A mark down near runners it was a good upwind slog followed by three downwinds back to B then back to A and of up to the top of ephriam for C mark for two more laps . When I set this section I tried to set it so that C to A would be on the edge of no sail and when I asked Peter how that section went he said it was perfect as everyone had to throw a couple of tacks in . I expected the first boats back in around an hour but you guessed it the wind went from a solid 12/14 knots to 7/9 knots resulting in the first boats back tacking over an hour and a half to complete the course . Greg cleared out on Tom and Peter finishing just on a minute and a half ahead and Tom 20 seconds behind him with Ben a further minute behind the leaders . Kate took my advice before the start and went 4.7 so I will take the blame for her lack of speed as I was thinking the winds were going to build not drop off that mother nature is so untrustworthy !

UPCOMING
CLOSED EASTER WEEKEND BACK ON THE 228TH APRIL

CU on the water
John Murphy

Hi Everyone , the first batch of school holidays are here and with only two camps set down for the break the first camp was nearly full and the second one next week is also nearly full so lets hope that next weeks group has the same great weather as this weeks group did with blue skies and light winds day one and 6 to 8 knots day two making for a perfect two days of sailing.

8.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
Although the early conditions were looking very light but with blue skies we still had our very keen young sailors arriving as early as 8.00 am wanting to rig their boats and get on the water . We had to hurry up ourselves so we could start signing everyone on but we were soon up and running with Lasers Teras and the Taz being pulled out and lined up for the session . We had a surprise for all the Tera sailors in that one of our great sponsors ( NEWHAVEN ) had commissioned 8 new tera sails and everyone couldnt wait to get them on the mast and in the boat . After a few photos of the new sails rigged and the boats on the water it was time to launch everyone in what turned out to be very light and flukey n/w to n/e winds around 2/4 knots . So who did well in the light conditions well starting with Jack and Dean in the Taz who sailed well especially with the help of a jib as did Elizabeth who continues to improve with her steering as did carl ( who looks like 10.30 material ) as did Curtis who is always the earliest to arrive . There was the odd tow back whenever the wind just died but towards the end the wind started to fill in making it at least possible for everyone to sail in the capsize area where everyone tipped their boats over but were not allowed to turtle and stick the new sails in the mud at least not on their first sail.

10.30 am Training ;
The numbers were down a bit for this session with only the really committed sailors out there keen to practice for this weekends race with Addy , Eddy , Abby , Ben , Mason and Jackson rigging up for some serious tacks and gybes . Mason stepped up into a Open Bic after trying one last year and going back to a Tera to learn more and both he and Jackson who also sailed a Bic both sailed the bic the best I have ever seen them sail ( nothing like pulling the mainsheet on right boys! ). After our training session a couple of weeks ago Ben continues tacking forward so no more hits with the boom and is also looking at the sail a lot more . Abby , Eddy ( laser ) and Addy ( bic ) all just cruised around the course which was a long triangle tacking and Gybing smoothly and having generally good boat speed , maybe it was from looking at the telltales more right girls? Oh yes we did discuss telltales at the briefing and what to look for and which side to get working first now lets see what happens this weekend when the pressure of racing is included , Iam actually looking forward to it fingers crossed !

1.30 pm Open Race ;
Thankfully by midday the winds had settled in and shifted around to the n/n/e at around 6/10 knots so we set a start line down in the runaway bay corner with A mark a straight accross the channel for a few windward leeward legs the the second part of the course was up the soverign channel about half way to the top green . How did the start go well you guessed it the general recall was called and how many boats were over well out of thirteen starters I think 8 boats were over and by how far ? well lets just say we started picking up the recall flag around 15 seconds before the horn it sounded like a convention of up callers . Charlie had a great early battle with greg and managed to break free and lead the race for almost half the race distance before the pack slowly overtook him towards the half way point but still only finished just over two minutes behind Tom withgreg second 35 seconds behind and Kate a further 30 seconds behind him coming in third . Ben and steve picked up their pace and around a minute and a bit next over the line with Peter Fell with a borrowed club Radial ( sorry about that mate that sail is really stretched ) following them in then Maurie , Casey , Roger , Simone , Brendan ( brendo had my steering assembly which made the boat go faster right Brendan ?-and Stewart .
All in all a good days racing!

Upcoming ;
This weekend is race three of our new Youth Series should be interesting !
Easter weekend the Club will not be open Easter Break and will be back for the following weekend 28th April

CU on the water
John Murphy

Hi everyone , Winter is slowly on its way after a very hot and steamy Summer its nice to wake up early and just feel that slight nip in the air well providing its not raining that is . Lets hope with school holidays and Easter just around the corner that the strong winds and heavy rain move on so that everyone can enjoy the break .
8.30 am Sunday Juniors :
This beginners class never ceases to surprise me with its consistant numbers every Sunday with all the regulars and always the odd new sailor showing up for this early session . The weather was bright and sunny with light winds from the N/E and an ever increasing outgoing tide it was always going to be a challenge for everyone . I have to admit the tide was a bit of a pain as it kept sucking everyone in as the moment they lost concentration they were going backwards well that was except the laser with Eddy on board and the Tera with Addy on board who with their experience made it look easy good work girls . Richard and Andrew also managed to master the light conditions as did Aithan and Jonah who at one stage were drifting towards a moored Yacht but managed to tack away and sail back towards the club . It was nice to see Jack and Dean back as well after a summer of nippers and although they were a bit fuzzy on rigging once the hit the water you could see their sailing skills coming back as the session went on . Amongst the girls Cianna sailed well if occassionally looking a bit confused as to where the wind was coming from as did Jade , Sasah , Elizabeth , Ava and Athenia even if Liz and Athenia had a bit of help from Addy and yes despite the water temperature starting to ncool most everyone still wanted to capsize at the end ?
10.30 am Sunday Training :
Luckily by the time everyone had rigged and we had a briefing the winds had gone a bit more east making it easier for this group to beat the still outgoing tide . Charlie took nearly everyone out and headed south towards the bottom end of Ephriam for more wind while I stayed back with Ben as I had promised him the week before that I would show him how to tack facing forward to hopefully stop him from getting hit with the boom consistantly while facing backwards and to his credit after about ten minutes he started to get the idea and was soon tacking facing forward and also his timing was better by now because he could see it waiting for the boom to start changing sides before he changed so well done Ben now lets hope he remembers next Sunday? Jackson sailed his laser for the first time with a bit of help from some club bits and pieces and despite struggling at times with popping rudders and the increase in power especially when gybing he did well for his first try so it looks like we have another laser sailor in the fleet . Addy , Eddy and Abby just took the conditions in their stride and it definitely looks like they are taking gybing in their stride and finally everyone will be relieved to know Ebony didnt sight any boat swallowing stingrays this week so all was good on the water !
1.30 PM Open Racing:
With Ben Simone , Tom and Casey away at the states we still managed to have eight boats on the water and with the winds moving more towards the S/E and increasing to around ten knots it was looking good for a great race . On the start boat we were so confident of a good start we didnt even get out the recall flags so you guessed it with Michelle leading the early starters we had a general recall so back to five minutes again and the second start was much more civilised it was so good in fact I had Addy film it and stuck it on facebook . Greg soon broke free with the pack in hot pursuit and with Charlie using my full rig sail he was soon in hot pursuit of greg after passing Michelle and Steve and things were looking well for a good finish for Charlie until yep you guessed it he fell out apparently due to a mysterious wind knock? with only one and a half laps to go and yes he was catching Greg ( radial ) There was not much in it with Greg Michelle Steve and Charlie all finishing within two minutes of each other and Matt , Lance and Russel less than two minutes behind them and our newest racer Laurie rounding out the fleet . Will Charlie try the full rig again yes I am absolutely sure of it if the yahooing we heard as he took of at the start has anything to do with it and Michelle blamed her watch breaking for the early start !

UPCOMING
School Holiday sailing camps ; there are only a few spots left in both camps ( 8/9 & 15/16 ) so contact the sailing office for a booking form .
EASTER : The club will be closed on Easter Sunday but member scan access their boats by contacting the office
Mid Winter Cup : 29th and 30th of June ; we are looking for some volunteers for the two day event so if you would like to donate some time over the two days volunteering forms are available at the club .

CU on the water
John Murphy