Class Association
'A new adventure began this weekend at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club as the selection weekend for the first RS200 Northern Youth Development Squad was held. The sailors were greeted with great conditions including strong winds which added to the excitement of the first day which was spent training and meeting each other.
We began the day with introductory games, getting to know the others in the squad and our coaches, Adam Savage and Martin Penty. We were mixed up and placed in a fruit-inspired buddy system which put partnerships of varying experience together in order to help each other out throughout the weekend and the rest of the squad. The sailors battled with some tough conditions and the strong, blustery winds left everyone swimming at some point during the day! The training consisted of training classics like 9,6,3,Go and Nur Tibbar (backwards rabbit runs) before the strong winds caused an early end to the day and a squad debrief on heavy-wind sailing.
The Sunday morning greeted everyone with slightly less wind but it was still fairly strong. The plan was to fit in at least two short windward/leeward races before the club races began at 11am. We managed three short races which had a consistently keen battle at the top between Oliver/Esther, Sam/George, Rachel/Emma and Emma/Faye. This was also the order of overall positions at the end of the day. The races were short which made the start and first beat crucial for success which was something that Oliver and Sam did well every time. The club races were longer windward/leewards which placed less emphasis on the start. Sam/George stormed ahead to lead the first club race by miles, leaving the rest of the fleet for dust. The last race was all to play for, Sam took the lead again closely pursued by Oliver and behind them a close battle was fought between Rachel/Emma and Emma/Faye. After a tussle down the run and altercations at the leeward mark, Oliver/Esther managed to pip Sam/George at the post and take the overall event win. The racing was enjoyed by everyone and the variety of standards throughout the fleet made for exciting and close racing at every level. I think we all agree that it was a fantastic weekend and are excited for what is going to be an amazing winter of training and fun.
A big thanks goes to YDSC for hosting the event, Erica Caswell for organising, Adam and Martin for coaching and everyone who helped on rescue or in the kitchen to help make the event run smoothly. Also thanks to Paul Hargreaves who has taken lots of brilliant photos which are available from his website
Photos courtesy of Paul Hargreaves photography
Report by Rachel Grayson
