BANTER at Ripon Sailing Club

A new race training initiative got underway at Ripon Sailing Club on Thursday 27 April. Named 'BANTER' (Beer And Nattering on Thursday Evenings on Racing) the sessions are aimed to focus, over a 4 week period, on the skills needed to get involved in racing and to encourage newer or less experienced members to join the Sunday and Wednesday racing fleets.

Led by Club Commodore Bernard Clark, who is a Racing Coach, the first session was land based and covered the need for both boat and helm/crew to be 'race fit', the use of the controls to impact on speed, '20 Units' and the flags and signals associated with starting sequences. Terms such as OCS, Black Flag and 'Round the Ends' were debated and discussed, and the team enjoyed the chance to learn 'over a pint'.

The next session will focus on practical starting skills with an intensive on the water session using 3-2-1 starting sequences and 'boxes' to encourage the participants to be on or just behind the line at the start, understanding how to hold position on the line and the techniques which can be used to accelerate away from the line, with a de-brief over a drink in the bar at the end of the session.