Simon says.....

Simon has sent me his thoughts on the weekend.. Some good reminders of the key points of the weekend.

Well the season is underway with a fine start at Alton Water near Ipswich. Windy did a brilliant job organising and funding the event and the club were great hosts. Many thanks to JJ Boats and Tempera Tech the series sponsors – spend money with them at any and every opportunity!

Training memories: With the wind at the top end of the coaching range, and 2 fleets of 10 stretching the time the coach can spend on individuals, a busy session was run.

The Group 2 topics / issues were the usual ones. Not enough kicker, Incorrect boat set-up, Inability to get to control lines quickly, Mark rounding issues, Dagger grip, sheeting, preparation for the rounding. Not depowering enough, early enough, Over steering through the gybes...

Saturday evening was splendidly spent in the local hostelry. Food, beer, banter and company all excellent. Highlights being the impromptu-ish Phanmail signing by our “Yachting Cod”.

Sunday. Well that was a difficult day, with the wind coming and going. But the lessons of the day were:Don’t give up – anything can happen.

The start and first beat are still 75% of the race (normally). Best I have seen Windy sail – constantly near the front – Gold Star Plenty of the fleet having a race at the front and holding their own.

Boat preparation, hasn’t happened for the new season – we all know the halyard breaks every few months Daren, shorten it every 3 months at least.

Jez – Silver Star for the last race, why oh why did you tack off for the wrong end of the finish line instead of staying with me, after all that great sailing leading round every mark.

Some nice looking new sails, Purple, Rooster, P&B, Lonton & Gray, - just remember its no good optimising for just upwind – you have to go offwind too.

Looking forward to next time..