25th Anniversary Youth Week at Dalgety Bay Sailing Club
by Keith Bedborough 15 Aug 2017 10:17 BST
31 July - 4 August 2017
25th Anniversary Dalgety Bay Youth Week © Keith Bedborough
The annual youth week is the jewel in the crown of the DBSC calendar and who would think 25 years ago we would still be running this amazing event each year.
2017 was no exception and although the weather was not kind to us (typically Scottish summer conditions sometimes with 4 seasons in one day) what makes it all worthwhile is to see all 43 kids having so much fun on and off the water. Our resilient team of instructors worked so well with the weather we had and just occasionally the sun did appear. We had the Opi group working towards their Stage 1 or 2 and it was great to see the beginners gaining in confidence during the week enjoying learning how to tack, gybe, capsize and the traditional big long tow into the harbour.
The Topper and Tera group worked towards their Stage 3 and fantastic commitment from the group in the winds they were given to get through the course. The Feva group were going for stage 4 and again they worked hard with helming, crewing and kite work in the strong conditions.
The RS Visions were our Seamanship group and it was a hard week for them in the big boat but they all put lots of effort in. Finally the racing group in the Toppers worked extremely hard – we lost count of the capsizes but again a fantastic group who never gave up and always came out smiling. Well done to all of the children - their confidence will have grown amazingly and we can't to see them out sailing in the future at the club. A particular highlight for the kids was Ian Renilson coming down with his foiling Moth on the final day and giving them a demonstration of the future of sailing – very inspirational albeit perhaps not so good for parental sailing budgets as the kids all wanted to trade in Teras for Moths!
As always throughout the week it was a great atmosphere on the shore for the week with the social evenings very well supported – including a movie night and the now-traditional Thursday night barbecue. Thank to all the amazing helpers and instructors that made the week possible - the club has fantastic support from its members which is what makes it so enjoyable to be a part of this week. Special thanks go to Gina Angus who has instructed at all 25 youth weeks and is one of the original creators of the event! Here's to another 25 years (at least!).
Elsewhere our youth racers have had an equally busy and successful summer:
Lasers Nationals and Youth Worlds - The Laser Nationals were held at the end of July in Abersoch Wales where Andrew Homer show his versatility as he transitions to the Laser finishing 32nd in the 4.7 fleet. Iain Duncan finished 30th and Molly Tulett 69th in the radials – excellent results in this incredibly competitive class. Meanwhile Ali Higgins was out in Nieuwport Belgium sailing his Laser at the under 21 worlds where despite not being at full fitness he produced several top 40 results which displayed his strong underlying potential in this tough Olympic class.
Topper Nationals and Worlds - At the Topper Worlds in Locurdy Brittany, all 3 DBSC sailors made the gold fleet with Andrew Homer 9th, Finlay Tulett 30th and Suzie Homer 39th. As we go to press Andrew Homer is lying 3rd overall at the Topper Nationals in Pwllheli, Wales – with Finlay Tullet, Suzie Homer and Ori Robertson all performing strongly as the week progresses.
RS Feva Worlds – 3 DBSC sailors made the trip to Medemblik, Holland for the RS Feva World Championships on 21-17 July and had a great time at this amazing event where there were 180 boats entered from all over the world. Ben Leffek finished a very credible 17th overall in the Silver fleet whilst Catriona Forrest and Evie Tynan were 2nd overall in the Bronze. Great to see the club represented at this high level internationally in such a closely contested fleet - well done!
Looking ahead the club expects a strong showing at the RYA Scottish Club Trophy on 19th August at Bardowie Loch in which we came 3rd last year. Elsewhere 18 of the more elderly members of the club have an amazing 9 boats making the 1200 mile round trip to Mounts Bay SC in Cornwall for the RS400 nationals where we expect great results to inspire our amazing youth sailors!