8.30 am Sunday Juniors :
With the mornings starting to definitely cool but with the sun still shining and the winds good for this class we thought we might have 8/10 keen young sailors out there despite it being mothers day but it didnt work out that way as we had 16 sailors sign on for early morning sailing . We had one problem and that was with Sarah C in that she had a flat battery ( Radio accidentally left on ) so we were a bit late getting on the water . The winds were out of the S/E at around 8knots with some gusts around 12 knots so it was a bit testing . Elizabeth and Jade both took some new sailors out and did very well except when Elizabeth fell out but luckily the two boys were only just off the beach so we had them sail to shore while Jades boat picked up elizabeth and dropped her off with the boys and away they went again . Aithen again was in a bic and yes this week he did capsize several times mainly in the gusty bits but I think he learnt that you cant let the sail too far out in the bic because it capsizes , yes we had been telling him ! As I just mentioned it did at times blow pretty hard and a few boats went over but generally everyone managed to cope with the windy conditions with both tacking and gybing . Finally because of all the complaning we allowed everyone to capsize yes it was cold but it didnt stop everyone from tipping the boats in just for fun.
10.30 am Training
With a few sailors missing due to mothers day activities we still had 6 sailors ready to get out there but first we re discussed apparent wind as they were doing reaching , broadreaching and finally close hauled . The wind had dropped to around 8 knots with very little gusts and with three bics out one Tera and one Laser we sent them of on an upwind downwind course first . As usual Addy who was still getting over a dose of the flu just took off making it all look easy especially in front of our new boys having their second go in the Open Bic so I sent her off for some closehauled work which the boys soon followed even if they werent as efficient as Addy , Edwina ( Birthday Girl ) also took off with Addy and managed to get around the triangle but was a bit slow on the upwind but her reaches and runs were very good . Finally we had Jade in a Tera who has just transfered to this class and she did struggle a lot at first but with a slipping outhaul it wasnt surprising so finally I sent her to shore and taped it up and the boat was much easier to handle in the gusty bits which showed in her increase in speed so well done Jade ! Addy was the stand out in the session with Charlie and I barely giving her any instructions throughout the whole session .Opps nearly forgot Kaleb who also sailed very well ok except for his turns which still need a bit of work but we are getting there but his general sailing was very good with good boat speed and lots of hiking out .
1.30 pm Open Racing
We decided that because there were only three of our Youth Sailors signed on and seven open sailors as Charlie didnt race but instead help me on the safety boat we would start everyone together but have two separate courses using yellow buoys for the Open and Red for the Youth and yes I did stress that the open sailors do not go around red buoys and they actually didnt this time !!! . We set a start at the canal and positioned A mark nearly adjacent to Runners entry and in behind the green mark so it was a good upwind especially with a strong incoming tide . Everyone was well behaved at the start and they all took off in a good group but by the top mark Greg had developed a good gap to Peter Fell as they started two windward leeward legs followed by two triangles then a windward leeward finish . It was good to watch as Peter slowly caught Greg up and finally passed him after greg got absolutely stuck after rounding a mark allowing Peter to get away . Michelle also broke away and sealed 3 rd with Kate 4th Maurie 5th then Casy in the only 4.7 and Roger who said he just had one of those days . In the Youth group Edwinas upwind let her down allowing Addy to stay with her for the first two laps and Jackson third . But with some help from the start boat Edwina pulled away in the third leg but then lost the main sheet allowing Addy to catch up again then with her figure eight know back in Eddy pulled away and finished first overall . Addy wasnt that far behind but three capsizes while heading for the finish slowed her up a bit so you can imagine the look on her face as she went over the line ! We shortened the course for Jackson as he just struggled with the upwind and tipped it a few times on the downwind but he will probably be racing 4.7 as his laser parts should be here next weekend .
Invitation Midwinter Cup
29th / 30 th June
Dont forget that if you are using a club boat that you have to secure one by signing up at the club!
VOLUNTEERING;
If you think you can spare an hour on Sundays in our canteen just have a talk with Casey and if you can also help at the Midwinter Cup just again let Casey know or me as we have a few positions available and all help is greatly appreciated .
CU on the water
John Murphy