On Saturday was the latest 'junior' section meeting, however due to the short notice (additonal sessions arranged due to poor weather earlier in the season) and holiday period it was poorly attended by the juniors, but we did get 2 boats onto the marina, one helmed by Chris Elleray, a not so junior beginner, who received at least an hours one to one coaching from Nick Miller. The other boat was manned by Steve who discovered how to sail his mirror backwards, much to the mild concern of some of the narrow boat owners and amusement of other onlookers. It did receive a compliment from Richard at the marina though. Many Thanks to Michael Swarbrick who got cold in the rescue boat and to Nick for leading the session.
In light of the above and to try and reflect the nature of the section, I was wondering wether to change the name to something like the 'Family Section' or perhaps the 'Beginners Section' Any thoughts?
We have also recieved a new document from the RYA on safeguarding children which I will take to the next committee meeting. As we are not running a Training course not all of it applies directly to us but we do have a duty of care.
We have two more dates planned, and it would be really great to get all the section single handing by the end of the season, so if you can, please try and come. Michael is keen to get some beginners round the bouys in the river.
I'll email next week for confirmation of times and attendance for the 15th.
Alison
junior section and ?name change
Change name to - I'm not keen on any of the proposed names or the existing one but can't think of a different or better one yet, sorry.
Alison and I talked at the weekend and we agreed the sessions should be more structured. I've got ideas but they would turn the sessions into training sessions and I'm not sure if that's what people want. (I've got books, videos & CDs on how to run training sessions and we've done it once in the past in my time at the Club)
One of my ambitions is to get people sailing together.
Our regular racing fleet is getting very fast. (The ones racing at the moment enjoy the competitiveness but they mainly enjoy the camaraderie. They do their serious racing at open meetings and national championships so our programme should allow for this next year.)
Because the regular racers are all fast handicap boats and competent sailors it's hard for members in slow handicap boats to easily enter the racing fleet and further the courses can't really be set to accomodate both beginners and experienced racers without compromising both. Some of you may disagree with that and you may be right.
I think the sessions on the canal basin are valuable for absolute beginners and very young sailors but there is no convenient landing stage at the moment where we can easily break off for discussions and instruction. I think we need twenty minutes on the water, ten minutes on shore to go over what we have done and explain the next steps, times roughly that magnitude over a two hour session. I'm experimenting with Jaja and trying to get ideas as to how we can help the really young ones. (I was surprised on Tuesday that Jaja had exactly the same reaction as Chris did on Saturday when they were on their own for the first time). Mirrors can be rigged as single-handers with only the mainsail set forward and with the Comets and Toppers we have are then all similar rigged boats which suit my videos which are with Toppers.
Sailing round buoys is totally different than sailing up and down tacking round each time. Once you've got bored sailing up and down and have got the feel of the boat and the wind, sailing a course can really develop your skills and demands far more from you.
I love sailing round the lighthouse, some people love sailing up to Lancaster or more easily Snatchem's for a pint. To be able to do this should be one of our targets for you.
If you develop so as to want to race we can set aside Saturdays for introducing you to racing and have special events for the slow handicap boats, one person has expressed a desire for events for Mirrors.
We should also plan things to do for the youngsters if we all turn up and there's no wind or too much wind rather than not meet.
I'm actually thinking on my feet as they say so perhaps I should end for a while and think about what I've said.
Alison and I talked at the weekend and we agreed the sessions should be more structured. I've got ideas but they would turn the sessions into training sessions and I'm not sure if that's what people want. (I've got books, videos & CDs on how to run training sessions and we've done it once in the past in my time at the Club)
One of my ambitions is to get people sailing together.
Our regular racing fleet is getting very fast. (The ones racing at the moment enjoy the competitiveness but they mainly enjoy the camaraderie. They do their serious racing at open meetings and national championships so our programme should allow for this next year.)
Because the regular racers are all fast handicap boats and competent sailors it's hard for members in slow handicap boats to easily enter the racing fleet and further the courses can't really be set to accomodate both beginners and experienced racers without compromising both. Some of you may disagree with that and you may be right.
I think the sessions on the canal basin are valuable for absolute beginners and very young sailors but there is no convenient landing stage at the moment where we can easily break off for discussions and instruction. I think we need twenty minutes on the water, ten minutes on shore to go over what we have done and explain the next steps, times roughly that magnitude over a two hour session. I'm experimenting with Jaja and trying to get ideas as to how we can help the really young ones. (I was surprised on Tuesday that Jaja had exactly the same reaction as Chris did on Saturday when they were on their own for the first time). Mirrors can be rigged as single-handers with only the mainsail set forward and with the Comets and Toppers we have are then all similar rigged boats which suit my videos which are with Toppers.
Sailing round buoys is totally different than sailing up and down tacking round each time. Once you've got bored sailing up and down and have got the feel of the boat and the wind, sailing a course can really develop your skills and demands far more from you.
I love sailing round the lighthouse, some people love sailing up to Lancaster or more easily Snatchem's for a pint. To be able to do this should be one of our targets for you.
If you develop so as to want to race we can set aside Saturdays for introducing you to racing and have special events for the slow handicap boats, one person has expressed a desire for events for Mirrors.
We should also plan things to do for the youngsters if we all turn up and there's no wind or too much wind rather than not meet.
I'm actually thinking on my feet as they say so perhaps I should end for a while and think about what I've said.
How about trying to race further up the river, we could possibly make use of a free mooring buoy and a transit of some form to race around. We could then see if the numbers involved made it a viable proposition to making something more permanent. We dont need the accurate timing of the existing races at the moment, just a bit of competitive fun and learning. My biggest fear of racing the regular races is to hold one of them up due to my lack of racing etiquette and skills as this would make their races more unfair and spoil it for them.
Also going up the river would be safer as it is more sheltered, shallower and we are not going to drift out to sea as easily if for some reason we could not right a capsized boat (as if that could possibly happen
)
Also going up the river would be safer as it is more sheltered, shallower and we are not going to drift out to sea as easily if for some reason we could not right a capsized boat (as if that could possibly happen
)If racing up river is what beginners want to do then we could try it but I'm not keen.
The wind can be tricky, I'm not always happy sailing there myself, assuming we would go past the cottages and up towards the pylons.
Racing round the buoys between the clubhouse and Chapel Creek (Overton) is much more manageable and the winds are generally stable. It also provides good sport for the spectators.
I'm trying to work towards getting members who are anxious about racing with the 'experts' on Sundays to turn out on Saturdays. This Saturday, winds permitting, is an opportunity to have a go. Roger and Liz are having a go in their Enterprise but they need someone to race against.
Please believe that the experts would be delighted to have you race amongst them and are more than willing to make allowances for any indiscretions that you may commit.
I'm missing spell check!
Love, Michael
The wind can be tricky, I'm not always happy sailing there myself, assuming we would go past the cottages and up towards the pylons.
Racing round the buoys between the clubhouse and Chapel Creek (Overton) is much more manageable and the winds are generally stable. It also provides good sport for the spectators.
I'm trying to work towards getting members who are anxious about racing with the 'experts' on Sundays to turn out on Saturdays. This Saturday, winds permitting, is an opportunity to have a go. Roger and Liz are having a go in their Enterprise but they need someone to race against.
Please believe that the experts would be delighted to have you race amongst them and are more than willing to make allowances for any indiscretions that you may commit.
I'm missing spell check!
Love, Michael