Burnham Squiddies Training at Burnham Sailing Club

Burnham Squiddies Training © David Blaker

Burnham Squiddies Training © David Blaker

With WindGuru looking distinctly purple over the weekend of 16-17th March, numbers were slightly down with 12 boats on Saturday and 18 on Sunday.

The weekend was centred around final preparations for the first major event of the season, the RS Feva Spring Champs at Draycote on 23-24th March. With three coaches on hand, the time was well spent both on and off the water.

George Cooke (affectionately known as Cookie!) aged 10 - and our youngest Squiddie - gives us his thoughts....

Day 1: Morning / Afternoon

As there was not a lot of wind (30 knots plus!), our coach Jonathan said we would be doing a fitness session instead. So, Dylan and Chay said we will do a mile run for the first part of the day. In addition, Dylan made us also do press-ups, star jumps and a game called bulldog. We did all of this in the park, and on the way back to the sailing club, everyone but me ran down the sea wall on to the rugby field, but instead, i rolled down it like a cannon ball. HA HA HA laughed Dylan.

When we got back to the club, Jonathan gave us a talk about ways to keep healthy, and how to exercise properly so we could be fitter for sailing. Jonathan then presented to us about the different parts of a race. He asked us to split into groups and each group was given a different task. My group was asked to come up with a presentation about the start of a race, and what the sailor needs to do, to get the best start possible. Some of our ideas included:
1. watching out for other boats, and
2. making
sure you are communicating to your crew mate.

Before the end of the day, Jonathan lined up some video clips for us to watch about the perfect sail profile and how to get your sail to make the perfect profile. This was the end of day 1...and we all went home in the pouring rain.

Day 2: Morning / Afternoon

When we all came back for the second day, Jonathan said, we would be sailing, no matter what happens, and no matter what the weather has to offer (24 knots and gusting !!). We had the morning briefing, and changed into our sailing clothes for some racing (YES!). This is when i made my first mistake of the day... everyone else put on all of their kit, but I forgot to put on my teddy bear suit, which meant later on, I was freezing, and had to come in early...lesson learnt !

Once our wonderful Di cooked us a delicious pasta bake (for the record, I only had 1 bowl this time), we all sat down for the mid-day briefing. In the afternoon I learned that it is not a good idea to stay in the middle of the boat, because that's where you get the wettest !...so instead, I stayed on the side and hiked out much more to get the boat flatter.

Towards the end of the day, a storm passed through Burnham and we all got blown about like bowling pins and soaked with rain. the storm was amazing!!! if not a little scary, but we all made it through safely.

That is my Squiddies report, see you all soon for first, the Burnham RS Feva Grand Prix on the 13th / 14th April and then, the next Squiddies weekend on the 27th / 28th April.

As ever, thanks must go to our hard working parents and support crew, who ensure that our sailors are fed, watered and our coaches are pampered over the two days.

www.burnhamsquiddies.co.uk