Oppy Camp 2010 at Bowmoor Sailing Club
by Doug Roberts 9 Jun 2010 09:25 BST
Half-term Oppy camp at Bowmoor © Neil Spurway
Oppy camp 2010 was held in half-term week and we had 45 Oppy sailors for camp this year, a managed increase on the cap of 40 for 2009. While we could take more sailors on the water, our main challenge is to feed 100-120 people (sailors, parents, siblings, coaches) for the 4 days of camp with strange foods such as fruit, quiche and even vegetables being consumed by the hungry hordes!
The sailors are split into three teams, balanced by age and experience, and accumulate points throughout camp for the team prize.
Afloat, we had 7 training groups led by hired-in coaches and our own parent instructor team, plus valuable assistance from recent-ex-Oppy club members. The top group contained sailors of at least zone squad level, while the lowest group contained 6- and 7-year-olds with very little experience. Conditions were very sunny with light winds - a marked contrast to last year's unrelenting strong breeze.
Ashore, evening team games are a feature of camp, with points to be won that at least balance those available from sailing. This year's games tested bodies and brains, culminating in an inflatable human football game on the last evening: after a round-robin for the teams, we squeezed in fathers versus the top squad, then mothers versus the girls, and finally mothers versus sons - with the lads somewhat taken aback by the competitiveness of their opponents!
Many thanks to the organisers and helpers, and to the sailors, for a really great four days.