Serious race training at Oxford in half term,
caused some to miss revision, the Apprentice and the
football,
but a lot learnt and a start made on essential tanning
For 9 420s, 2 days of half term were spent avoiding revision at Oxford SC for some training with Callum MacDonald.
The days were race orientated; instead of being sent an email beforehand with just a bit of info, we were sent detailed SIs and the assurance that there would be 4 races each day, with no discards available. It sure got us into race mode.
There was a huge range of experience in the group, from World Team
members to new partnerships, but everyone learnt something, be it keeping the
boat upright in 20kts [us], not leaving a jib up during the briefing if it’s15
kts [Matt and Tarra] or perfecting an already perfect reach hoist in 20kts
[Imogen and Hermione].
On the first day, we arrived to Oxford to about 15kts of wind, which
picked up to around 20. Within minutes of the briefing starting, we were
interrupted with the news that someone’s 420 was already tipping over on the
land... these sort of mishaps pretty much continued for the whole day. Katie
managed to snap a trapeze hook, and Matt and Tarra somehow managed to nearly
snap their mast after loosing a split ring that was keeping the shroud on,
having gotten their spinnaker stuck in it. Or something like that. Oh, and
perhaps Andy and Liam’s jib sheets un-attached themselves too? You get the
picture, anyway.
The races were preceded by some quick warm ups and exercises – tacking/gibing
on the whistle, running starts etc. We then did 2 back-to-back
nearly-full-length races before and after lunch [results shown below]. Lunch
was taken up by the argument about television – loads of people were staying at
the Stanleys’, and both the Apprentice and the football were on. Which to
watch?
Sunday dawned with the sun in the sky and about 8 kts of wind... quite a
contrast from the day before. The shorties came out, and those who had been
almost surviving on the Wednesday had the opportunity to actually refine their
skills and make the most of the day. The results, however, barely changed.
There was an obvious hierarchy within the group, and those who had done well on
the first day continued to get top 3 results on the second. The pairing of Jess
and Chris was especially strong on day two... their results would never show
that they’d never sailed together before. The day was structured very similarly
to Wednesday, and everyone came off the water pretty happy, having learnt a lot
[and gotten a tan].
In the final debrief, we shared what we had learned and
thought about what we’d focus on when we next went sailing. Thanks go to Callum
and Richard Stanley for organizing the coaching.
Serena and Kirstie
Results:
|
Imogen/Hermione
|
12 14 29 34 38 |
Sarah/Katie Serena/Kirstie Matt/Tarra William/William/Ollie |
57 58 59 62 |