Youth sailors benefit from Jon Emmett champion coaching at Royal Lymington
by Tanya Baddeley 8 Feb 2022 13:15 GMT
ILCA training at Lymington © Jon Emmett
The Royal Lymington Yacht Club ILCA (International Laser Class Association) fleet was a welcoming host of the champion laser sailor and coach, Jon Emmett, at an open training session for youth sailors recently.
The session drew in not only a strong local cohort but also participants from further afield, including five sailors from the famous GCA Sailing, the first inner-city London comprehensive school to have its own sailing club that is famed for its successful Fastnet journey in yacht Scaramouche and other impressive feats.
Saturday frustrated sailors and coaches alike as the wind refused to build, meaning sailing theory and whiteboard talks became order of the day. This provided a great opportunity for Jon to demonstrate best practice boat handling when he was lifted into the air inside a laser, thereon demonstrating what the perfect tack and gybe in various wind conditions should look like!
Sunday looked to be developing in the same way wind-wise, but happily a building north-westerly eventually filled in, providing ideal conditions for boat handling and wind shift work.
Amends were made for the lack of sailing the previous day, and the sailors benefited enormously from over five hours on the water under expert tuition.
RLymYC ILCA/Laser Coach and Fleet Captain, Nik Froud said: "It was a good weekend of development. All the sailors learnt a lot and had a great time together on and off the water. We look forward to welcoming sailors from the GCA to future training weekends at RLymYC."
Celebrating its centenary in 2022, Royal Lymington Yacht Club provides regular coaching and open training all year round for junior and youth sailors in seven fleets following the RYA pathway, under the leadership of Head Coach Hugh Styles (British Sailing Team Coach of the Year 2019).
The club's 'Lymington Youth Lasers' fleet includes young sailors in the 4.7 and radial rigs and aims to provide the knowledge and confidence to sail this technically challenging and rewarding single-handed dinghy, to sail it well, to make friends, to have fun and develop lifelong skills that are common to many aspects of sailing.
Many local sailors join the fleet from the junior fleets, having sailed previously in Optimists or RS Teras or in the Club's award-winning community Wednesday Junior Sailing programme. The club has a laser dinghy that members can hire for several sessions before committing to the class.
Find out more about Royal Lymington Yacht Club's ILCA fleet at rlymyc.org.uk/lasers.
For more information about junior and youth sailing at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club, please contact . Visit Royal Lymington Yacht Club's open day on Saturday 26th March between 10am and 4pm to find out more about the club and getting into boating!