Summer Pt2- Youth Worlds and Junior Europeans

Part 2 of my summer started in an airport in the south of Portugal. After the great event that was the 420 World Championships we immediately hopped onto a taxi to the airport. The 420 Team GBR representatives, that were William and I along with Ellie Keers and Faye Chatterton and our coach Jonny Mcgovern were on our way to Poland for the Youth World Championships. We were excited to say the least as we travelled to what would be the most important and prestigious event we have all ever competed in. We flew to Stanstead Airport in the UK where we had an overnight wait in the nearby hotel to fly out early the next morning with the rest of Team GBR consisting of 2 laser sailors, 2 29er teams, 2 windsurfers and a Nacra pairing. 

The team 

After arriving, we had a team lunch before heading  down to the club. World sailing put a lot of effort into the boat park and it looked very cool. There were huge screens displaying results and live updates along with electronic tallies and free coffee, which I made full use of! Due to the strict regulations to make the event fair we had a limited amount of time to train before the event. 

On the Saturday we headed down early to the boat park to rig the boat up. The boat and sails etc are all provided to keep the event fair. We had just used the Zaoli Sails provided at the Worlds, so we felt confident with the setting, however the Nautivela hull took some getting used to. We had to rig as a 4 as there is only one 420 per nation, which proved more challenging than expected as we all had our different says on how things should be done. We were allowed 2 hours on the water between us so we split it in two and had a brief training session each. Launching was a challenge as the event had built a makeshift pontoon however this ended up almost sinking due to the amount of boats on it adding to the fun. Our first sail out was very important just to get a feel for the boat and the venue. After a few boat repairs that evening we felt happier with the boat. We stayed in a big hotel, which every single sailor stayed in making it a great event to meet new friends over dinner or the table tennis table. Dinner was a huge buffet with endless options which was delicious. Sunday was practise race day- a great opportunity to tune against the other sailors and work out the race committee. And also get used to the weird format with either sailing in the morning or the afternoon and having to swap with the girls. After a productive day we had an early night sleep ready for race day 1. Nervous was understatement that night.

Day 1 started off light with a postponement just adding to the tension in the boat park. After a delay we eventually got racing in a light breeze of around 5 knots. We were nervous as these aren't our favourite conditions but we just kept our head down and made sure we completed our pre start routine and did everything we usually do. We had a solid start and followed our plan and managed to grab a 7th which helped settle our nerves down. Race 2 saw us claim a 6th so a solid day 1 keeping us very well in contention. 

Day 2 bought a breezier 8-14 knots which helped us and we were able to grab another 6th
 and then a 1st! We led round the first windward mark after a great start and solid strategy and then had a intense battle with the Spanish (the 2019 World Champs!) catching us up the whole race. It all came down to the final two gybes. The spanish were soaking over the top of us and ended up infront of us about 10 boat lengths away from the reach mark to the finish. We had had this situation in a training race earlier this year and messed it up so Will just turned round to me and said remember that training race lets just pretend its like that again. And so we did and as they gybed we gybed on top of them and then managed to gybe round them at the bottom mark and just sneak infront of them at the finish grabbing us the first. A very proud moment. So far a solid event putting us in 3rd overall giving us the bronze bib. 


Day 3 was the windiest day of 14+ knots. Surprisingly this ended up being our worst day as we struggled with our decision making upwind. Day 4 was super light with a long postponment but we managed to squeeze in another two races pulling us back up to 5th and still in contention. 

The final day was a one race day meaning everything was on the line. We were sat in 5th but could go up to 2nd and go down to 8th as the points were so tight. On the sail out we made the team decision to play the risky race because we hadn't come all this way to play it safe. We ended up actually having quite a bad start with our rivals having good starts but we sailed the quickest we have ever sailed in 5 knots and managed to sail straight through the fleet rounding the windward mark in 1st. However a poor downwind let us slip to 5th in the race and we held that position till the end. It was all looking good up until the final reach to the finish when the Israelis managed to pull back one boat meaning they beat us overall by one point denying us of a medal. 

Scary looking behind and seeing the 2019 and 2018 World Champs

Despite finishing 4th overall by one point we were super happy with the result as it was the best we have ever sailed and is a great feeling being 4th Youth in the world. It's also a huge learning lesson as it just proves how much every point counts in a race. Overall a super successful event and was so much fun and a great experience. Next time a medal though! 

Before we knew it we were on a plane to Spain for the 420 Junior Europeans our 3rd and final event of the summer. The event was in a weird lake like place with super hot light winds. We started off well but after a few bad races it all went downhill resulting in a poor performance. This probably wasn't helped by how tired we were physically and mentally after nearly 40 days straight sailing. 


Despite this, It was the best summer to date and a once in a lifetime experience and we have definitely improved our 420 sailing! I'd like to thank all my coaches, Musto and Will my crew for making everything happen. Also huge thanks to my parents and my grandparents for making it all possible!  

Shiny looking foredeck

Heading off to the Optimist World Championships

So the time has come!! I leave for the Optimist World Championships in Thailand on Thursday and I am absolutely buzzing.

My realistic aim for the event is to get into gold fleet but obviously I would love to win it. You never know if the right, prepared Haydn Sewell turns up anything could happen. I have mixed feelings for the event- a crossover between excited and nervous. To be fair who wouldn't be nervous when you are racing against 280 of the best optimist sailors from 64 countries from around the world (biggest Worlds there has ever been). But excited because this might well be one of the best experiences of my life and I will get to meet some old friends I've met at sailing events in other countries and make loads of new ones.

We arrive in Thailand on Friday and have a rest day to get over the flight. We get our hands on our charter boats on Saturday then it's training for a few days to get used to the local conditions. The Opening ceremony is on Wednesday 12 July and the racing starts the next day through to Thursday 20 July. In the middle of the event there's a couple of days of team racing too. Then we fly back on 21 July which is my birthday. So loads of sailing to be done over the next couple of weeks.

The event is hosted at the Royal Varuna Yacht club in Pattaya (near Bangkok). We're staying at a 5 star resort. I can't even describe how nice it is, but you can take a look here if you like! (Enjoy the music!!!)  Average temperature is 27-30 degrees with a 28 degrees sea temperature and light to medium winds. If all else fails at least I will get a nice tan!
I've got all my new Musto Thermo cool and Thermo light kit ready and can't wait to use it as you don't get many chances over here.

There should be live tracking on the website if you want to watch but it's a bit boring watching lots of coloured dots move slowly about your screen. You can find out all about the event and follow the results at the event website and on their facebook page 

Now I just can't wait to get out there, get sailing and have a great experience. 

A windy Spring!!

Hello guys. Sorry I haven't been able to post in a while. I've been really busy with sailing every weekend and now I am doing stuff almost everyday after school. 

The first event of the year was a 1 day event at Burghfield. Burghfield is a little lake off the M4 motorway, so as you can guess it is very shifty! And to make matters worse the event coinciding with one of the winter storms so we had 20knts gusting 35knts!FUN!! It was a really stressful day on my legs because there was so many gusts and lulls. One minute you'd be flat out hiking hanging on for your life and then almost capsizing on top of yourself because there is no wind! Anyway, I had a really good event coming 2nd by 1 point!

Next was Joint Squads down at Weymouth. This is a two day event-training squad session where all the squads join up together to race. It's supposed to be a bit like the selection trials and a practice for them. Unfortunately there was no wind. So it was an awesome two days of drifting. I ended up coming 4th which would be a worlds team spot if it was the selections. Happy days! 

Now lets move onto. Braass. The Braassemermeer International regatta was a mental event. It was 20knts+ everyday as it was when Storm Katie came through over Easter. Coming into the event I was really excited and had a good feeling about. My goals were to, obviously, win and beat last year score of 28th. Looking at the wind conditions though I was pretty worried. As I am quite a small sailor I have suffered from being really scared when racing at windy events. However at this event I really wanted to prove to myself and peer

s that I am a highly competitive sailor in the heavy winds. And I did that. I came 22nd overall out of 250 sailors, had a few top 10 finishes and won one race. And I was the  6th Brit which meant I've proved I can now sail competitively in the wind. YAY!! It was also a really fun event to do as well because I was staying at Konginshof (which is where everyone else stays) so I went swimming with my friends and was able to turn it into a bit of a holiday. Also the last day was cancelled because it was 40knts+ so as a family we were able to go out. We went down to the beach which was incredibly windy. Below are some photos from our trip!! 

Stormy skies over Braassemermeer

Thinking back to Braass I am very happy. In 2 weeks time I have the  Selection Trials (DUN DUN DUN DUN  DUNNNNN!!!) so knowing that I can sail well in all winds strengths is a real positive thought. Now moving on to my next task.

After spending the rest of the Easter break sailing in Lymington,  I was back onto the water down at Gurnard doing an Assistant Instructor course. By doing this I am now qualified to help teach kids to sail on Thursday nights down at Gurnard. I am really excited to do this because I am a step closer to becoming a Dinghy Instructor and a Senior Instructor so that I can coach children in the future. The course was really fun to do because we got to go out in Pico's to practise teaching. To say I capsized a few times is an understatement. Well you learn something new everyday, and today I learnt that if you show some of the Pico's hull you're a gonner!! 

Team GBR

Then we were on to the painful task that is school again. Luckily though there is a bit of excitement around because we have now finalised our GCSE choices. I chose: Geography, Physical Education, Spanish and Product Design+ Graphics. I can't wait to start!!

Last weekend I was down at Weymouth doing some Pre- Selections (DUN DUN DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN!!!!!) with one of my national squad coaches Tom Hayes- True legend! We were looking at many .... ( don't want to give away tips.) (Sorry). It was a really fun and productive weekend so thank you to Tom and also Chris Evans for inviting me and taking me! 

While I was in Weymouth my sister Freya was doing her first ever main fleet event at the Royal Vic YC on the Isle of Wight. She did really well. Tricky first day in breeze and Solent chop, getting used to being in the main fleet but on day two got a 7th and 11th.

Also big news!! I have just got my new Winner boat. It is so Gucci! All the new stuff! I've also got a new North Sail (the MZX4). We dropped into the North Sails loft on the way to Braass to pick it up, what and awesome place. I love the new sail it de-power's really well in the breeze but still is pacey in the light stuff. Great success! 

 

Braassemermeer & the Selections!

The Braassememermeer Optimist Easter event was amazing. It was fun, I did well and I made friends. The only thing that was missing was Mum. (She was working). 

Team GBR

It all started with another ferry to the mainland from the Isle of Wight and then a long drive once we crossed the Channel. Luckily though I had the car DVD so at least I was entertained. We took a while finding our holiday home park because when we arrived we didn't think we were in the right place as it was too posh. Having found our home for the week it was time to get a good night sleep for some windy sailing the next day. 

After a relaxed morning we headed down to the yacht club for some windy training but unfortunately it was a bit too windy and sailing was cancelled. So we headed back to our lodge and headed off to the beach. The sand was incredible! Because it was so windy the waves were gigantic. As well as chasing the waves we found and rescued a stranded fish washed up in the storm. 

The next day started early due to having no sailing the day before. Everything was done in an instant and soon enough we were out training. It was a lot windy than I expected so I had to make a lot rig adjustments. I didn't sail so well that day but one thing I did learn is that there can be some big waves on a lake! After debrief we headed back quickly and went straight to sleep ready for racing the next day. 

Morning dawned and nerves kicked in as the realisation of the day ahead came upon me. However the nerves were matched by excitement! It was around 10knts (perfect!) but I couldn't seem to get things quite right. I was being caught out by annoying shifts. Shifts (that day)= worst enemy. Only two races were completed in which I got a 38th (which became a discard) and a 13th. I wasn't really too pleased with the day but I put it behind me and focused on the next day. If I got a good night sleep I might be able to perform, that was what was in my mind. Like they always say; control the controllables.

The next day was definitely a lot better and I scored a 3,20,22,14, I was really proud and happy from the day because I realised that I was able to move on from bad days and treat every race like it was the first. Being able to do this is a great skill. Another advantage from having a good day is that you go home happy. A win win situation. 

When we go up on the next day it was very cold, around freezing, but to perk up our moods it was Easter Sunday!! Freya and I had a quick Easter egg hunt before heading down to the boat park. However the day didn't turn out to be the happy Easter day I wanted. I had a shocking day scoring 32,56, 29. The good news was that I knew what went wrong so I should hopefully be able to improve on it the next time. Despite the bad day I still managed to have a nice evening because we did another Easter egg hunt with Mum on facetime and we had a lovely dinner!

Going into the last day I was full of nerves however excited as well. Despite the day before I was still able to maintain a good position. The day favoured me with light winds so I gave it my all. I worked on my problems from yesterday and I was able to perform well  again getting a 17th. Overall I came 26th which I was happy with. It really proved to me that a bad day doesn't mean anything but I know I could have done better.

The Selections!!!!

I'm going to keep this short because there Is not much to say. The selections didn't go to plan for me. I came across nerves I had never felt before. TOP 14 TOP 14 TOP 14. That was all that was going through my had. I lost my self-belief. On the brighter side I gained a lot out of the event. 

The weather wasn't on my side either. The first two days were really windy, over 20kts and choppy seas. Me and all the light weight sailors really had a hard time making up wind progress. We then lost a day to fog so only had one day left and I was too far adrift to get a Worlds or Europeans place. On the last day I won the first race, which was great, then had two shockers and then another good one, a 6th. So all a bit up and down for me. I've been selected for the Flanders team and learnt a lot from the event which I can use in the future.

European Championship Team GBR training in Ireland

A few weekends ago I was off to Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, for 5 days over half term for some European Championship Team GBR training. The week was really worth it as we had one coach to 7 sailors and we were on the water everyday.

I was very excited about the week as it was only my second time sailing without my parents with me! We arrived at the airport very early on Monday morning leaving to catch the plane at 9am so it was a tiring, sleepy, start for the team. I haven't flown many times and was amazed by the sight of London as we took off and when you go through the clouds at the bottom it looks fake! 

When we arrived in Dublin it was raining heavily (as expected). After picking up our bags we hurried to a taxi that would drive us to our hotel and once at the hotel dropped off our bags we went straight down to the sailing club to get on with the important stuff - checking out our charter boats and going sailing. Luckily these boats were better than the ones we had when I went to Turkey last year. These ones were almost brand new. That afternoon we went out for a quick sail to make sure everything was working in the boats before heading back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and then our first team dinner. It was a bit of a posh one in their restaurant so I had a big bowl of Prawn Linguine!

Me, Sophie and the Nandos chicken

The next morning we were allowed to sleep in before meeting for a delicious cooked breakfast at 8:00am. It was then down to the sailing club for a morning session in light winds. We were practising on our boat feel and body positioning and working hard so it was very exhausting. After coming in for lunch we decided to have a short afternoon session due to everyone being so tired. Once again we worked on our body positions in the boat. That evening it was dinner at Nandos, very nice, before going to bed early due to a very early start on the next morning.

Wednesday morning and breakfast at 7:00am. Luckily though I was woken up by Oliver Hill (my roommate). He wakes up very early and starts watching videos. Out on the water we again practised our feel in the boat as well as boat speed. At the end of the day we did some team racing boys vs girls. First to 3 wins. And the winners get free ice creams.  And guess who won, the boys. Solid result boys! That evening we went to a burger restaurant but I had a starter due to the massive portions! I nearly cried over my starter due to the intense heat of the chicken wings! It was another night where we were hurried off to bed to be ready for another early start the next morning. 

Thursday brought much nicer winds about 15knts so we had some great sailing with some races and upwind speed work and got in some good training in the conditions we are more likely to get in the Championships. That night we stayed up as it was the last night and had a load of laughs.

  

On Friday morning after a quick bit of bag packing we headed out for a final quick sailing session before setting off for home home and a lot of fun at the airport!!

Overall it was an awesome week. Good sailing and we learnt lots about the venue and had great fun as a team. So the perfect way to spend half term!! Now I can't wait to go back for the Championships in July.

For a bit of look and what we got up to during the week check out our coaches video which includes a bit airport trolley racing with Milo!

Click here to watch the Team GBR Euros training video

My new weapon!

Also more brilliant news. You might have noticed the GBR number on my blog has changed. This is because I bought a new boat which I am very excited about after the Inlands. The number is 6288 so one of the newest boat and it's a McLaughlin Pro racer which Pippa Cropley had.  So far I've only sailed it for a short time last Friday night and it felt amazing and very fast. I can't wait to do a regatta in it. 

So much sailing - Braassemermeer Easter Regatta, Selection Trials & Inland Championships

Since Easter, which seem like ages ago really, I've had a really busy time with my sailing, which has been a solid 10/10 on the awesometer - with a Team GBR International event, winning a spot at the European Championships and 6th at the Inland Championship. So it's time for a bit of an update.

Team GBR

Optimist Easter Regatta - Braassemermeer 
Over the Easter holidays, because I'm part of part of the National Squad, I was selected to compete in the International Braassemermeer Optimist regatta in the Netherlands. It was really good because it was my third ever international regatta and I got to go with my family. 

Overall I was very pleased with my result as I made the gold fleet and got a mid-fleet final result all after having two races in 3 really windy days! So it seems like my new North V4 sail has done me good and it was some of the best windy weather sailing I've done.

Before the regatta started we had  2 days of training and we also had a really great family day out in Amsterdam. It's definitely a different city but I'm not sure about all the cheese shops (I don't like cheese).

Chillin' and drying -
Crewsaver Phase2 kit

The regatta started on Good Friday afternoon with a solid breeze of 18knts gusting 20knts and I had two good results and a bad one. Overall I was placed 89th out of 200+ however I needed to gain 19 places to make gold fleet which was decided after Saturdays racing. I had a very good Saturday with a 2nd, a 12th and a 24th which moved me up into the 50's. The Sunday wasn't so good scoring two 30's and a 60th. It was very windy but I still thought I could have done better. However, I ended the regatta on a high scoring a 5th, a 30th and a 40th in very windy conditions. Overall I was pleased with my result finishing 46th especially as much of it had been windy days. I was very proud of myself as a year ago as I would have struggled to get round the course in those sorts of conditions. And on top of that Team GBR won the trophy for the being the best performing team.

As it was a family holiday we stayed an extra night so we could all go swimming but this ended up not being so good. Mum lost her wedding rings and she didn't realise until we were over an hour into our journey home. We had to turn around a go back to where we were  staying and amazingly someone had found the rings and had returned them to reception! It then meant we had another high speed drive to catch a ferry - but nothing unusual there. I must have one of the fastest Opi's in the world when it's on top of the car!!

We had to stop and look at a lot of tulips!

Planking with Freya and a mermaid!!

Selections
The selection trials are perhaps the most important event of the sailing year which decides the teams for the World and European Championships, the Development team (which I got last year) and the Flanders team. 

Coming into the event I had mixed feelings both nervous and excited as since last year my goal had been to get in to the Euros team. The first day was a real disappointment as I got a 16th and a 12th but then unfortunately I picked up my first ever black flag which I was really upset about. However despite my disappointment on Friday I managed to pull back and get a 11th and an 18th but then unfortunately picked up a 42nd. I was doing OK in the overall positions but off where I wanted to be for a Euros place. 

GBR Euros Team - being carried again!!

Sunday once again was a light and shifty day and we had to wait ages before even going out, then I had an OK day scoring a 9th and a 24th, which helped me climb up the leader board to be just on the edge of the Euros places. On Monday though I bombed it, having the best sailing day ever scoring a 8th, 7th, 13th, 3rd and another 13th. I was so happy when I found out that I finished 8th overall and had qualified for the British Team to go to the European Championship in Dun Laoghaire in July.  It was a really good regatta for me with some up and down results but it proved to me that when I need to, I can stay calm and focussed and get the results!

Inland Championships
The Inland Championships was the first ranking event of the year so I it was a very important event for everyone. It was yet again another light wind event which was very strange because the weekend before it was 35knts. Saturday brought tricky conditions: very light and shifty. In the first race I scored a 23rd due to heading too far to the right side of the course on a port tack lift but then the wind never shifted back.  But thankfully I managed to score two better results, a 13th and a 5th.

Sunday brought more shifty winds but with a bit more speed, 10-15knts - my favourite conditions. I had a great day scoring and 3rd, 7th and a 2nd. However, I was a bit annoyed about the 2nd because I was winning all the way up to the last short beat to the finish but I overlayed the finish and the person who was in 2nd was able to tack to leebow me and get the 1st. Overall though it was a good regatta finishing 6th and banging in some solid results for the rankings.

Irish Nationals Championships 2013

The Irish Nationals were amazing! Lovely winds and sunny mostly. It was great seeing all my family and having days to spare. It was one of the best events of the year so far because ( if you don't want  to read the whole post which might be quite long!)

• Good wind conditions
• Good Racing - I came 19th 
• I coped well in the strong winds 
• Good seeing all my family especially our Irish Relatives
• Having two days spare was fun and interesting
• I learnt some new skills
• I felt proud being part of Team GBR at an overseas event
• Guess who the main event sponsor was? The Jelly Bean Factory!
• The house we stayed in was lovely

Now I'm going to explain those points in more detail. This is going to take a long time!

The wind conditions

The wind conditions in Ireland were perfect for a fair Nationals! We had one light wind day, one heavy wind day, one light to medium and a medium to heavy wind day. Perfect. Every day it was quite choppy and tidal. You could make big gains or losses from the tide. It was very annoying when you got a big lull and heavy winds because in the really choppy conditions it was hard to  have the boat speed to get over the waves! 

The Racing

The racing in Ireland was very competive and confusing! For the first day they had both the junior and senior main fleets (I was in the junior fleet) racing the same course. The junior fleet set off first but the people at the back of our fleet got mixed up with the people at the front of the senior fleet! In one race the winner of the senior fleet did so well that not only did he win his race but overtook so many of the junior fleet ahead of him that he came 15th in our fleet too! LOL! After that the race committee gave us separated courses so it was lot better. Most of the racing was really close with lots of the British team up at the front and lots of fun. Overall I came 19th out 90 which was really good. 

The strong winds

I thought it had been windy enough in Largs but in turned out be even windier in Dublin Bay. On the Saturday (third day of racing) we were held ashore with a postponement until lunchtime while they waited for the winds to die down a bit. When we did go out it was well over 20kts gusting in the 30s. On the Friday it was windy again but squally too so would go from being light to big 30kt gusts very quickly. Between one of the races we thought the wind had died down and reset our rigs for lighter conditions only for the strong winds to come back again while we were in the start sequence so had to do the race really powered up! I coped much better this time in the wind and did a better job of keeping the boat going and sailing to avoid filling up with water. I had one capsize in the wind and got a high scoring result (which I discarded) but got some results in the teens in the wind which was brilliant.

Seeing my family

Some of my Irish family cheering me on -
Great Uncle Matt, Matthew, Michael, Tessa, Michael,
Saemus, Nanny, Dympna, Louise, Sandie, Micheal plus Mum
and Freya

My Nan was born and grew up in Dublin so we have lots of family like second / third cousins, great uncles who we got to see. I've only met them once before when I was 1 year old so it was like meeting them for the first time. They were awesome and such a laugh. We went to their family dinner on Friday night which was a bit mad and there was so much food. On Sunday they all came to see me in Dun Laoghaire and were standing on the pier as I sailed back in from racing. As I sailed in they were all waving and cheering me. It was so funny and really nice, like I had won an Olympic medal and then they all stayed for the prize giving too. Next year the Optimist Europeans are in Dublin. I really want to get in the team so I can see them all again.

Two spare days

We went over to Dublin a couple of days before our Team GBR training started so we had a bit of time as tourists, so we went round the Guinness Factory, went on an open top bus tour of the City, had a look round Dublin and had lunch in a pub in Temple Bar, which seemed to involve more Guinness for Mum and Dad. Infact Guinness seemed to be a bit a theme for the week for Mum and Dad!

Leant some new skills

As I was sailing as part of Team GBR we had two coaches Matt and Claire, they are great or I should say 'solid' and 'fresh'! They really helped me out with my starting technique and heavy wind sailing and helped to make it a brilliant event. Matt who was the coach in Turkey, helped me improve my outhaul adjustments. Claire was working on boat speed with us mostly whilst Matt worked on the strategies and tactics with us. Together they worked really well which showed in our 'solid' results! Fresh!!

Being part of Team GBR

I was really proud to be part Team GBR. We all kept our boats together at the National Yacht Club, wore our team kit and helped each other out on the water. We had an opening ceremony that we took part in which was very interesting. Me and my friend wrapped a Union Jack over our heads and ran around lots so that everyone could see our Team Flag!

The Jelly Bean Factory 

The Irish Nationals was sponsored by The Jelly Bean Factory. What a cool sponsor. I have never seen so many Jelly Beans. We seemed to be able to have as many Jelly Beans as we wanted and the parents seemed to like them too. They also had someone taking photos of the event which they post for free download on their facebook site.

Our holiday home

We had an amazing holiday home to stay in. It had one big open plan room and was really modern with a massive chalk board that we could draw on. It was about 20 minutes from where we were sailing in Dun Laoghaire and 20 minutes from Dublin city centre. Where we stayed was surprisingly quiet despite the fact that we weren't too far from the city centre.

So loads of reasons why it was such a brilliant event and I really hope to go back again.