I started with coaching at the Optimist End of Seasons in Weymouth which was a sunny weekend with some great individual successes for the West Kirby Race Team. I really enjoy the coaching weekends with the Optimist class as I get to pass on my knowledge from the class which I spent 7 years in to really enthusiastic sailors who are willing to learn and improve - a fantastic sight to see. Surprisingly, I actually learn a lot for my own sailing when I'm on a rib coaching as it is easier to see the 'big picture' - a well-needed skill for my personal sailing.
I was back down in Weymouth again next weekend for a 470 Olympic Ranker! I was happily invited by Dan Burns to sail the event which turned out to be mega fun! On day 1 it was unfortunately too windy to sail so we went to the cinema to watch a movie with some good mates of mine who I hadn't seen for ages, which was good fun, and then went for a delicious curry. Thankfully day 2 brought slightly less wind (20 knots) which was quite windy for the first time in the 470! I learned so much which was awesome as I am interested in sailing the Olympic class when I am older. We even managed to get a 3rd!
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| Tight committee boat end start |
It was then a week of hard school work before heading to Rutland for the 420 Inlands which was a re-run as it was initially called off due to poor weather earlier this year. We had a gusty weekend which was good fun when sailing on a triangle- sausage course, making the reach to reach gybe very interesting. Overall we had a good regatta in terms of racing/results however we felt like we had a bad weekend as we weren't sailing the boat very well- making too many mistakes. We came out of the event with a new goal- improving our downwind sailing in gusty conditions in terms of sailing towards the gusts more and deciding our angles that were needed better.
The next weekend was back down in Weymouth for the first 420 Youth Squad Camp which we are very excited to be a part of. This was a crazy weekend as it was seriously windy both days. We were still able to keep it productive though and we learned a new skill called the 'Wild thing' where the crew is on the wire downwind which makes the boat more stable when sailing in a higher angle as we were going quicker than the waves. We also had a big group meal on Saturday night which is great as it helps the team to bond together forming many great friendships. Then it was a whole weekend off which was well needed as school work was seriously starting to build up!
Then it was back down to Weymouth (becoming a bit of a theme this Winter) for our first Multi-class Youth Squad A camp. Youth Squad A consists of the top 2-4 boats in each youth class who receive fully funded extra coaching which is awesome and we are very proud to be a part of it. We started the weekend with a whole squad meeting and then separate meetings with our individual class coaches. Jonny Mcgovern brought down lots of cool microphones which meant we could speak and hear each other without having to be next to each other, as well as a camera that told you every piece of data you ever needed to know. We then headed out in some fruity conditions. About halfway through the session,
we had a huge squall whilst in the bay which was recorded at a whopping 47 knots! We instantly capsized and then had to wait on the overturned boat whilst the squall died which was pretty scary as we were surrounded by ships. When we righted the boat we came up with a rip in the mainsail and spinnaker, a lost batten from the jib and a bent mast. NOT IDEAL! Then a long sail in before we assessed the damage which was a cost of about £2000. EEEK. We then had another meeting, this one about anti-doping in which we learned about what not to take and the consequences of doing the wrong thing. We also learned that at any point now we can be tested. The next day brought lighter winds so we went in the rib and swapped in and out with our training partner. It was then another long journey home and a hectic week during which I had lots of boat work to do including rigging a new mast!
We headed to Grafham for the 420 End of Seasons the weekend after. We had a hectic Saturday morning as we had no settings and the main halyard was tapered slightly wrong but we just about made it out on the water in the time for the first race. We had a good weekend in terms of sailing in some light conditions which we needed some practice in. However, once again we had some boat issues as we snapped the gooseneck and then broke the pole trying to fit a new one with a minute to go before a race start. Overall we finished 4th which was a remarkable result considering the 'boat situation'.
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| Gorgeous reaching breeze |
It was then a busy week at school catching up on missed work before heading down to Plymouth for a 420 Youth Squad residential camp. The very long drive was worth it as we had light winds at a cool, new and quirky venue. It's always nice to go to a new venue and some warm winter weather made it even nicer. The camp had a focus on starting which always results in long, tedious sessions but are then the most rewarding and productive. We came away with big improvements in our scoops and trigger pulls which is a nice little skill to have and should help us on those tough international start lines. It was then a proper pack up as the boat had to go over to Palamos.
The next 2 weeks brought a lot of school work and 2 whole free weekends in a row. A very strange occurrence in my busy lifestyle!
Next came Palamos which was a 7-day trip and I got to miss 5 days of college which was an added bonus. The Christmas regatta at Palamos is great as it's at the same time as the 470, Finn and laser events making it great to catch up with friends which I haven't seen in ages. We stayed in an apartment overlooking the apartment with my friend Drew Wright's dad which was great for postponements as we could see the flags from the balcony! We arrived at the event 4 days early which was great as it was a new venue for me. The first few days brought some light wind tuning which was good to get the boat set up and tuned correctly as we were using a new M7 mast. We then had 1 crazy day of training with huge waves which was epic. The training was short but intense much like our training in Lymington which I find is often the most effective. Before we knew it the event was upon us and day 1 was pending. We launched in a light breeze of 5 knots however the chop from the day before was still present making it very lumpy and hard to keep the flow over the sails. After postponements, the breeze gradually grew until we had a solid 15-18 knots with some large swell. We got 5,5,12 which we were pretty happy with considering Spain are the top nation at the moment in 420's. However, we were slightly disappointed with the 12th as we were coming 5th again however we lacked downwind speed when the wind dropped. Despite this, it was a successful day and we came out of it with another thing to work on. The next day incredibly dull with no wind, however, the winter sun made an appearance which was nice. Day 3 saw similar weather to day 1 with little breeze to start the day however it gradually built whilst we were doing our pre-start routines until we ended with 20+ knots and a huge swell which was awesome and one of the best days sailing ever! We scored a 7,12 and a 3rd. The 12th was quite annoying as we were 2nd in that race but capsized downwind and then in the last race we were leading around the whole course but we broached on the final downwind so we had to settle for a 3rd. Still a good result though. Our downwind definitely needs work! This put us in 10th place overall going into the last day which was good as our goal was to be top 10. That night we cooked a lovely fish dinner before having an early night ready for the final day racing. We woke up to a solid 0 knots with no chance of the breeze increasing so we packed the boats up and had a day chilling before catching a flight back home early the next morning. Overall the week was good fun and we did very well coming 10th overall as top British boat against a competitive fleet. We also came out of the event with many downwind training points to work on in the upcoming training season.
For now its back to school before a long set of training weekends with a mixture of youth squad camps and independent training camps. Hopefully, I will also have some time to teach Freya some skills as well.
