Royal Lymington Yacht Club X IOCA Optimist Development Weekend 2026
by Daniel Scott 16 Jun 08:44 BST
Navigating the river - RLymYC X IOCA Development Weekend © RLYC
Even a club with such a successful history of national champions at the top of the Optimist fleet as the Royal Lymington YC must focus on bringing young talent into the fleet. With this in mind it teamed up with IOCA to stage a new event in the calendar.
On the 13-14 June thirty young optimist sailors from around the south arrived at the Royal Lymington YC to attend a development weekend. Development weekends are regular events in the fleet's calendar but often focused on the more experienced sailors.
This weekend, organised with IOCA, was different. It was targeted at those new to the fleet with the objective of showing them that coaching weekends can be for them, that training can be fun and to leave them wanting to do more: sailing, coaching and racing.
The sailors were in very capable hands with a coaching team led by Lola Andrews, IOCA's regular coaching regatta lead, and Richard Mills, head of RLymYC's training centre.
Saturday was a test for the sailors. First, they had to navigate the Lymington river, busy with ferries, yachts, motor cruisers and other traffic, then they were out into the Solent. This was the first time sailing in the Solent for most of these young sailors so quite an experience. They sailed to Oxey Lake, part of the shallow water edging the Lymington-Keyhaven Marshes Nature Reserve, where the day's activities took place.
These included elephant ears, tack on the whistle and other exercises familiar to those that have come through the junior ranks. There was a break for lunch with Oppies tied up to coach boats giving the sailors a well earned rest. This was necessary as after lunch the day got even more exciting as the sea breeze kicked in and the wind began to build.
There were a few capsizes and some deep breaths but the sailors showed their resilience until finally the wind built enough that they were towed back in for a well earned BBQ on the club balcony.
Sunday started more calmly, with not a lot of wind but then it swung to the south and the sea breeze kicked in giving the sailors a day afloat in glorious sunshine and a perfect 8 knots of breeze. Early exercises were followed by an early lunch and then a very competitive race series.
Then one last exciting sail back up the river to the club, avoiding the ferry and trying not to go aground in the process. It was great to see the smiles on the sailors faces as they returned ashore, a little weary but with a strong sense of achievement.
The weekend introduced the sailors to lots of elements that are core to development weekends and IOCA events: coach briefings, rig checks, tallies, coaching exercises, lunch afloat, being towed and debriefs. This experience, over a whole weekend, means that these sailors know what to expect at any coaching weekend or event and, thanks to the efforts of the great coaching team, they can appreciate that these weekends are fun, not intimidating.
Thank you to the Royal Lymington YC for hosting, to IOCA for supporting and the excellent coaches.