RS Feva Squiddies at Burnham Sailing Club
by Harrison Pye 26 Nov 2015 16:02 GMT
21-22 November 2015
RS Feva Squiddies at Burnham © Nicky Johnson
The forecast was looking interesting for the first day of sailing as fourteen boats turned up to 40 knot gusts. Unfortunately we had to wait until the afternoon to get out on the water, however, as the picture shows, we sailed as long as the light allowed.
During the morning we started off by making routines and highlighting key areas in which to focus on the water with great help from some of the parents. When we did get out after lunch it was a 30 knot, blustery blast up and down the river, kites up, with all but one boat managing not to stay upright (Well done to Harry and Fergus).
Once in, the sailors had a debrief using some very eventful video footage.
The second day dawned at a lovely -1 degrees C and iced over puddles formed from the day before. Once the covers were off, the sailors rushed up to the clubhouse to get a warm mug of hot chocolate.
After a briefing and getting kitted up in almost everything possible, the sailors launched their boats to do some medium winds practice in the tides outside the clubhouse. After doing some long course boat handling practice, perfecting our technique, we headed back in for lunch and to warm up again.
A quick debrief and we were back out practising our starts, with the coaches changing the bias and length with every start. Once in, we had a video debrief accompanied by notes and reasoning on mistakes and what could've been improved/changed.
Special thanks go to all the coaches and volunteers who helped to make everything run smoothly. The next Squiddie weekend is at Alton Water Sailing Club which everyone is looking forward to on the 16th / 17th of January."
For further information on the East Coast Squiddies, check out www.burnhamsquiddies.moonfruit.com.