Sail training this year will happen in two “blocks” in May and June, with RYA/VCC coaching on weekend of 25 & 26 June, finishing off the weekend with Regatta Racing for both main and junior fleets.
The sessions are open to LLSC members of all abilities (adults and juniors) who want to improve their sailing, and perhaps begin racing. For absolute beginners, we start off in larger dinghies (e.g. Wayfarers), covering the real basics of sailing – rigging the boat, sailing where you want to go, and turning round (i.e. tacking and gybing). Once these essentials have been mastered, we put them together, sailing around simple courses on all points of sailing, and in different boats (e.g. single-handers like Lasers, Toppers and Optimists).
Parents should be at the Club while their children are involved in the training. We hope that most parents can help in some way with the sessions and encourage parents to be closely involved with the youngest children in particular. If you can’t sail already, why not take part in the sessions, and if you can, why not help instruct? You do not need to have your own boat to take part since the club owns several boats used for training, and has access to many more lent kindly by club members. Buoyancy aids are compulsory and a wetsuit is essential for all but the warmest days. Please speak to us if you do not own them, and we’ll see what we can do!
Of course, racing is what LLSC is really all about, so once you’re confident in sailing around and going where you want to go, we’ll try to add in a bit of healthy competition! Most people soon find out that the real fun isn’t just in going from A to B, but in trying to do it faster than other people! For those interested in learning how to race, we’ll cover the basic rules of the game before running training sessions and trial races to help build confidence in starting, tactics, boat handling, and sailing fast.
The sessions end in a mini-Regatta at the end of June. This will consist of a number of short races with the overall winner being awarded the Conic Cup at the AGM. There will also be prizes for those who have improved the most over the course of the year.
Sail training is open to all club members. The club has a ‘fleet’ of 4 training oppies, 4 toppers and an RS200. The club boats are available for all members to use. Many of our junior members have their own boats including a 420, toppers and 12 ‘racing’ oppies.
Our training is aimed at getting people on to the water – often for the first time. This means that the average age of the group is around 9 or 10 years old.
2011 training kicks off on Saturday 30 April, 9.30-12.30. On 7 & 8 May Robin Paris (Sponsored by RYA/Volvo Open Championship) will run two full day sessions opening our training season and teaching junior members boat-handling skills in both oppies and toppers – RYA level 2 required.
Thereafter training will continue on alternate Saturday/Sunday mornings 9.30am-12.30pm on ‘points’ days throughout May and June. Race-training will be a focus in 2011, anyone ready to move up to club-racing can join in the points series in the afternoon.
The sail training is well-supported by parents, many now have PB2. If you would like to come and join in just turn up at 9am onwards.
We look forward to seeing you on the water! – for more details, contact Jamie Crocket at the club or by phone, or via the webmaster.
