Blackwater Sailing Club Cadet Week
by Christine Brown 2 Aug 2017 16:37 BST
23-27 July 2017
Toppers at Blackwater Sailing Club Cadet Week © Guy Hawkins
Blackwater Sailing Club have just held their annual Cadet Week. Over 140 cadets between the ages of 8 to 18 years old took full advantage of the varying weather conditions that provided excellent sailing for the whole week, some of it quite lively.
There was something for everyone. Registration and all other formalities including boat checks took place on the Saturday and on Sunday the sailing began in earnest along with a raft building competion. Various groups set off for the training lake or the river according to their ability. Each group has the benefit of their coach accompanying them in a patrol boat.
Sunday's conditions were a bit breezy and kept the cadets on their toes. Monday and Tuesday were relatively calm and much fun was had by all. Midweek the wind livened up and the cadets braved some very challenging conditions under the watchful eye of their coaches. This was the down river race day between New Hall and Osea Road and patrol boats were kept busy retrieving lost kit and standing by. At this point, younger cadets that have been training on the lake progressed to sailing on the river and were treated to a trip to Mill Beach for an ice cream, others were able to sail around Northey Island. The cadets were also able to take advantage of trips on the traditional east coast oyster smack Hyacinth, a superfast trimaran and a Wayfarer dinghy.
During the week the cadets are working towards their RYA qualifications ranging from Level 1 up to Level 4. There were evening activities on offer including roller skating, zorb balling on the lake and a disco.
The final day on Thursday saw much fun and laughter at the club with a fancy dress competition, tractor pulling, and a parents dinghy race. The winning cadets from each class in the week's events all race in a Topper dinghy and Matty Evans was declared this year's Cock of the Cadets.
Blackwater Sailing Club is run by volunteers and is thus able to provide this fantastic week for its cadets due to the generosity of parents and many other kindly helpers who give up their time to organise this annual event. Cadets and helpers were all catered for and the excellent galley team provided an amazing 250 lunches and dinners each day.
For more details about events like this see www.blackwatersailingclub.org.uk