ITCA 4.2 National Training Squad at Draycote Water Sailing Club
by Ollie Rawlings 20 Nov 2022 20:19 GMT
12-13 November 2022
The second weekend for the ITCA 4.2 National Training Squad took place last weekend and we were very warmly welcomed by Draycote Sailing Club. Coached by the incredible Max Todd and James Deaton, the main focus for the weekend was race starts.
In the training room Max and James had given us some key points to consider, we were all really keen to share our ideas for starts and get onto the water to put it all into practice. I kept making loads of mistakes, but my great topper team reminded me that this is the perfect place to make them and I raced back to my boat for the afternoon. Max even strapped my race watch to my arm rather than my buoyancy aid to be a 'top sailor'!
What a great afternoon it was, so much to think about, - I'm used to Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast so to experience so many wind shifts at Draycote really got me thinking!
We arrived to see nothing on Remembrance Sunday due to fog! As the sun burned it through, it we headed onto the water to practice starts. A two minute silence was held at 11am and we all stopped.
In the afternoon we raced with the 5.3 national squad, I was really pleased with myself how much I was able to put my practice into racing. Max and James are great coaches!
From this weekend, I think I have improved being at the start line on the gun and can't wait to keep practising this at club sailing through the winter. We are all getting on so well together as a team, everyone is really supportive. I'm looking forward to next month at Grafham.