In this episode (sorry bit of a long one)
- Recap Torbay, Sailing super saturday equivalent, The Endeavour
- Grafham EoS Fancy Dress
- Training & Performance group
- Committee - Structure and your support is needed
- Coming up
- Palamos
A few weeks since we were down at Torbay on the sunny English Riviera. A great event, fabulously hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, and keenly contested with some great sailing. Superb on the water commentary provided by Jon and James and I personally must thank Emily Davis for a lift home for Bea, myself and Boat after my car expired near Torquay !!!
Since Torbay, we've had a couple of weekends, where not only have we seen some fantastic sunny weather for October but we had the sailing equivalent of super saturday where we had 420s training at Draycote, a class team of sailors and sailors from West Kirby plus I’m sure others all competing at the RYA Eric Twiname Team racing champs at Farmoor. Then to top it all we had Ollie and Oscar representing the 420 class at the Endeavour trophy at Royal Corinthian YC plus other sailors representing other classes. Firstly, I want to congratulate the 420 class team sailors at the team racing who did fantastically well and just missed out on the finals, also thanks must go to their parents for their support and assisting me to manage. Secondly, for Ollie and Oscar who sailed excellently and really showcased the quality we have in the 420 class by finishing 4th overall. This is one of the best performances the class has ever had at the endeavour and beating worldly renowned sailors and previous champions such as Nick Craig and Steve Cockerill, is a real testament to the sailors and hopefully reflects well on the class and its training structure.
Last weekend we saw the first outing for this year's RYA youth squad at Grafham with some windy conditions which we haven't seen much of for some time but was a welcome loosener. The good news is that there is enough water at Grafham for our end of seasons in November, although launching is still tricky and will take a little patience and co-ordination but should be a great event as we also expect the usual Grafham social fancy dress event – I’m sure the sailors social committee are already planning this fabulous evening.
With the RYA having selected its sailors for the youth squad, the class is now in a position to select the class performance training group. For those who don't know this is a specific group of selected sailors who train as a group alongside class training with a plan to become the next youth squad sailors. The selection policy and the application forms are expected to be available on the website this week with submission next week so we can quickly decide on the sailors. The strength in depth of our sailors is fabulous so this is going to be a hard decision and with four sailors selected from the Rolling rankings and two discretionary places selected by the head coach it’s going to be a difficult selection.
Irrespective of Youth squad or performance group the 420 class training is some of the best on the water coaching available in the UK and whatever level sailors are at the best way to develop, learn the correct techniques and build great friendships is to sign up for the training that is regularly run. For those not aware we try to run training camps the week before a Key event at the same venue so a great opportunity to train on the same waters they will then race on the next weekend.
The committee met last week discussing many points, some I’ve covered above, plus others including Palamos, National's, Worlds and Europeans 2023. One key point we discussed was the committee structure. Since the election of the committee at the Nationals we have been running a couple of people short, however we have been able to assess the structure and balance and realise what support the class needs to move strongly forward. The view was that certain roles are large, need a lot of time with unclear responsibilities and hence dont have people rushing to offer themselves. In order to make the roles more manageable and easier to support for busy parents, the committee has decided to split the working loads into groups of people, who can form working groups, and focus on specific tasks only to deliver in areas such as - Key Events, GP's, Nationals, Class Training, International events. To this effect we are looking for parents willing to support their sailors and the class and contribute a few hours a week to help organise, structure their key focus area and perhaps bring something new to the way we do things today. Please watch for upcoming communication on this and the request, however please don't hesitate to contact me if you're willing to support making the 420 class a huge success.
We have a busy couple of weeks upcoming with a 4 day training camp at WPNSA, run by Amy, but with a number of the Youth squad sailors getting the extra time on the water and supporting class sailors. Then straight into the final GP of the series at Itchenor, which is always a great event both on and off the water. We have a limited entry here due to space at Itchenor, but still a couple of spaces available. We will also be giving out the prizes for the GP series so keep an eye on the Rolling ranking being published on the website shortly.
And finally, over 15 boats have put themselves forward for attending the Christmas regatta in Palamos - Fantastic news, with the parents organising the logistics etc themselves supported by the class it promises to be a great GBR attended event. If interested please urgently speak to one of the committee.
Hoping for more good weather - Happy sailing all.
Gareth
Ps As always I’m really keen to hear from sailors & parents about what we could be doing or what you want to hear. Please don't be shy and let me know what you all want.....we are here only for the members.
