The sailing conditions were ideal this Friday with a moderate westerly wind and an incoming tide, which meant launching and recovering the dinghies was relatively easy. The wind was strong and gusty enough to be quite challenging, but not too scary! Twelve youngsters turned up, including Hunter, who is an experienced sailor of both dinghies and yachts, and just returned from the Coastal Classic on a Beneteau First 45’. He was happy and willing to take any beginners out in the Sunburst, as it was too fresh to let them loose in Opti's! He did a great job giving them confidence and a fun ride too, as well as teaching them teamwork in washing down and packing the Sunburst away properly. Brooke, Mackenzie, Alice and Harrison all went solo in the Opti's but also took Poppy, Isaac, Eoghian and Aman as passengers for some of the time. Sage and Finlo both had a ride in the Safety Boat, and Derek and Eoghian crewed in the Sunburst. The Opti helms started to learn how to use the tiller extension, and their body position and control of the dinghy improved as they came to grips with it. Lots showed interest in coming racing on Sunday, start time 9am, and this will give them a chance to use these skills in a competitive environment. The early start is to take advantage of a high tide, which is just after 8am, but we will aim to be off the water by 10.30am. I hope some of our senior club members will come and join in too, to show how it is done. The kids need some experts to follow! Thank you to all the parents, who did an amazing job in all areas, rigging, launching & recovering dinghies, Safety Boat work, administrative stuff, BBQ and generally joining in. The club was humming on Friday night and Mackenzie and Stuart managed to get racing on the Young 88 Eye Spy in the Golden Rivet on Saturday. I look forward to seeing lots of you on Sunday racing in the first of the Dinghy Race series, 6 races in total, 5 results to count for the overall series trophy. Gill Moore Dinghy Sailing Coordinator |
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