8.30 am Sunday Juniors
With it being the last weekend of school holidays we didnt expect many starters and very cold but we did manage to have a few sailors turn up including Harvey , Reece and Tristan who we thought were away on holidays still . Our beginners in Yasmin , Grace and Daniel soon had their boats ready and after discussing the conditions we set them off in basic westerly around 2/4 knots and an outgoing tide . There were no crews so everyone had a session of solo sailing mainly practicing on tacking and I have to say everyone went really well especially daniel who just cruised around the course so next week we are going to concentrate on gybing so awesome work boys and girls .
10.30 am Youth Training;
With a few away at manly it was only Reece , Harvey , Tristan and Taylah who ventured out in what was now around 6 knots of wind with an occasional burst of around 9 knots oh I shouldnt forget that Guy was also out there for a practice sail . Taylah just cruised around the course with perfect tacks and gybes and plenty of boat speed as did Harvey so after a while we sent both he and Taylah of down to green for a nice upwind and downwind . Guy had an early swim and I am still amazed he continued on as it was cold and he wasnt wearing a wetsuit . Reece was going well but as the wind increased he did struggle with the gybes which I told him later was he didnt have enough vang on while captain capsize ( tristan ) after putting his boots on the wrong foot was also out there cruising around just needed a bit more main on right tris! They both finally capsized and looked way to cold to continue so we pulled the pin which even Taylah and Harvey were happy about .
1.30 pm Open Racing
Buy the time we set up for this session the wind had swung around to the s/s/e at around 10/12 knots so we set a course starting at the canal with a top mark down at runners then west and back north to the start finish buoy and for once we had starboard rounds which I had written down as port but I soon changed it after Casey spotted my mistake and guess what for a change they all went the right way around the buoys unlike previous times when we have set starboard! We lost one boat early as yep Casey went the wrong way around and was adamant she had got it right well that was until she went ashore and read the sailing instructions . Greg took it out with Peter and Nic following him home whit a race time all up of 1hr 20 minutes for the last boat over the line which made charlie and I very happy as it was freezing out ther , it was so cold in fact for the first time ever I used the boat hook to pull the buoys up as my fingers were already numb from the wind .
News Extra ;
When you next visit the club you will see another rigid inflatible white in colour which has been donated to the club yes donated by a local family who approached us several weeks ago with the offer , what the boat is actually worth is irevelant its the kindness of this family that has blown us all away and why did they do it well they said they have watched for years the work we do for family,s and children in general in teaching sailing including the laughter and smiling faces which they are going to miss as they are moving from ephriam to sanctuary cove so thank you to the Savage Family for your generous donation
CU on the water
J Murphy