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Sunday 29 April 2012

Adult Race Training

A northerly 4 was blowing straight down the tarn, it was cold and raining – Lovely !
Plans for the day were rapidly changed to suit the conditions. The attending members didn’t look too enthusiastic, others decided at home it wasn't for them !. The planned sessions on Starting, Rules and Extreme Sailing were revised – Starting and Rules were extended into shore based session whereas it looked like Luke would have suitable conditions for his Extreme Sailing session !

Andrew, Luke and John lead a good discussion on the main rules for when two boats meet and we all played with Picos on the grass looking at ‘mark room’.
John having to give 'water' to Luke
 Jo and John went through all the things you have to consider when starting a race and took everybody outside on the grass again and we looked at lines and transits.
Jo and John explaining Line bias
By this point we had talked lots and it seemed time finally to brave the conditions. Luke set a Laser up on its side in the shelter of the Club and went through what sail controls actually did and how much to pull on for the conditions (which was more than most people thought !). The group still didn’t seem keen but the Coaches decided to go for it so two Picos, a Topper, a Heron and the Wanderer were launched. Once on the water the conditions were found to be strong but due to the Northerly direction the wind was reasonably consistent. Everybody had a good sail around in the conditions with some people even trying capsizing ! Andrew got some video of the sailing that was then used to discuss technique in the final debrief.


At the end everybody seemed to have a good day and learnt lots despite the conditions and thanks are due to Andrew, Luke, John, John and Jo for leading some really interesting sessions.

"Shoulders back, lean out fully and keep the boat flat to avoid excess weather helm !"


Thursday 26 April 2012

Adult Race Training Day


This Saturday (28th April) it is a race training day for the adult sailors at the Club
Come along and improve your sailing, this day will be aimed for all. We propose to split you into a number of different groups based on type of boats and experience level. Whether you are new to racing or an experienced racer, practice makes perfect!

The new Club Coaches have developed training sessions on Starting, Rules and Extreme Sailing !
so come down and see what is going on.

Please be down and get your boats ready for 11.00 and we plan to go on 'till 17.00 so bring your lunch with you !
There will be no Club Racing on that day



Contact: Neil McInnes for more information


Sunday 22 April 2012

Tuesday Night Training starts this week

The main stay of training at the Club – Tuesday Nights start this Tuesday (the 24th April).
Please be down changed, signed in and ready for 7.00pm.  
You'll need a change of clothing, shoes that can get wet and a wind or water proof jacket (and trousers) to stop you getting cold. If you don't have your owe bouyancy aid don't worry we have ones you can borrow.

These sessions are great for building up your sailing confidence whether you are participant or a helper and they are a great way of getting to know other Club members. If you want get involved with the helping side of Tuesdays please speak to Neil or Glenis, the more help the merrier !

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Training – all up and running !

This year’s training programme was fully up and running this weekend with two good sessions held on Saturday. After the false start the previous week we had a good group participating in the Adult Start Racing Session whilst the Juniors were as keen as ever !
The wind was less cooperative with a crisp cold northerly wind blowing down the Tarn which coupled with cold water temperatures made capsizing not very pleasant ! 

It also changed the plans for both groups and the Coaches reverted back to the ‘keep it simple’ philosophy for the sessions. Luke and Andrew’s new video camera allowed them to give good feedback on the Junior’s tacking techniques.

Despite the cold and occasional wettings everybody seemed to enjoy the sessions and are looking forward to the sessions next Saturday!
It was fairly wild on the Landing Stage as well !

The main stay of training at the Club – Tuesday Nights start next Tuesday (the 24th April), please be down changed and ready for 7.00pm. These sessions are great for building up your sailing confidence whether you are participant or a helper and they are a great way of getting to know other Club members. If you want get involved with the helping side of Tuesdays please speak to Neil or Glenis, the more help the merrier !

Finally we are holding an Adult Race Training Day on Saturday 28th April (11.00am to 5.00pm – Bring your lunch).

Come down and improve your sailing. The new Club Racing Coaches will be running sessions on Starting, Rules and Extreme Sailing !

The sessions will be aimed for all, whether you are new to racing or an experienced racer, practice makes perfect for everybody! We’ll split you all into smaller appropriate sub-groups as necessary and each group will do each session, finishing with some short practice races at the end. There will be no Club Racing on this day.  

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Sailing on Sunday 15th April



Please note that racing will not start until 3.00pm on Sunday 15th April.
This is to accommodate an open meeting that is being run by the Model Boat Club.
Boats can be rigged and tied up to the jetty but please do not launch until the OOD gives the go ahead.
There will be no free sailing period before racing and races may be shortened slightly to accommodate this.

Request for help!


Would you be able to help with catering for the club's open meetings?

This is organised by a small number of volunteers each year and we would appreciate any help you could give.  There are five open meetings and Commodore's weekend to cater for and any help you could offer would be very welcome, even if you can only make one or two of the events.

The planning meeting for this year will be held on Sunday (15th April) at 2.30 in the clubhouse and if you are able to volunteer then please come along.  If you can't get to the meeting but would like to help in any way then please let us know.

Sunday 1 April 2012

First Training Weekend

Training started early this season. The new Club Coaches have put together a full training programme this year. For the Adults who had stepped up from Tuesday Nights and were wanting to try racing (plus had attended the September training sessions last year) to help them get a flying start we are running a series of sessions as a 'Start Racing' course building up to getting them involved in the Training Day for all adults on the 28th April. On the Junior side last year 'Start Racing' group are moving to take the more involved 'Intermeadiate Racing' course.

The good weather of the previous week had gone as we got ready to go out on the water as it was cold and a scuddy northerly wind was blowing. The Juniors turned up keen and ready to sail, however on the Adults side more Coaches than participants turned up ! (where were you all ?????).

The general theme of the day was to get back into sailing again after the long winter layoff and try and remember how to do it all. This was taken to heart by everybody, a number were even keen enough to try capsizing to make sure they could still do that !


In the end it was a good session and everybody enjoyed getting back out on the water !

There is now a break for Easter and the next training session will be on the 14th April.


Finally we got the Toppers to sail in a line together !