RS Northern Youth Development Squad Weekend at Derwent Reservoir

RS200 Northern Youth Squad at Derwent Reservoir © RS200 class

RS200 Northern Youth Squad at Derwent Reservoir © RS200 class

RS200 Northern Youth Squad at Derwent Reservoir © RS200 class

This was the penultimate training for the squad this winter held at Derwent Reservoir, on the border of Northumberland and County Durham.

We arrived at 9am to a light snow shower and rigged our boats. The focus for this weekend was boat speed and after a short briefing, we got out on the water and made the most of the space available by sailing a long downwind leg all the way down to the dam wall.

The wind was about 10 knots NW. We then made our way back up the beat towards the club house by doing rabbit starts into an exercise, where the most leeward boat had to tack back across the fleet. During this exercise there was a huge hail storm that came through. After that we went in for a delicious lunch cooked by Marie, Ellish and Conner Graham who also made some huge cakes which were very good.

In the afternoon we started off doing the riverbank exercise up and downwind which is where all the boats have to stay in-between the 2 ribs which got closer and closer together. Then we finished off with a downwind slalom as a squall came through which made things exciting.

The main lesson of the day was to recognise when the boat was really flat rather than just a few degrees of heel which makes a big difference to boat speed.

Sunday started with a briefing at 9:30 where we were told we would be trying rudderless sailing. The wind wasn't too strong and this actually went pretty well with everyone getting the hang of it. Then we came off the water for a 2 minute briefing in readiness for the next exercise, an "hour of power" which was an hour on the water in which we had to complete 10 perfect tacks and gybes, 2 trigger pulls, a 6 lap sizzler (where you round a mark 6 times and do 3 different kinds of rounding with a starboard and then a port approach) and a W exercise, which involves stopping by a mark and then going backwards and coming out on the other tack. We then went in for lunch which again was very good, and in the afternoon, we did 2 races with 3 different flights which were 1 minute apart to mix up the racing. Race 1 was won by Alistair and Charlotte followed by Sam and Reg in 2nd and Ana and Eleanor in 3rd. Race 2 was won by Ollie and Esther with Alistair and Charlotte in 2nd and Emma and Faye in 3rd.

Finally, we finished off with a crew's race with Faye and Emma in 1st, Esther and Ollie in 2nd, Reg and Sam in 3rd, Izzy and Poppy in 4th and Declan and Mark in 5th.

I'd like to say a big thank you to Adam Savage and Martin Penty for coaching us and passing on some great tips, thank you to everyone who helped out in the galley and kept everyone fed, especially Marie, Conner, Ellish who did a great job providing well priced, tasty food. Also a big thank you to Daryl Graham for sorting out arrangements with the club and of course Erica for organising and coordinating the weekend.