So very windy in Plymouth, Saturdays training was blown off !
A 6am start saw us heading off just as the sun came up. The skies were clear and there was no wind, however by the time we reached Plymouth Saturday’s forecast was turning into reality with gale force winds, white horses and gusts strong enough to blow you over. Mum had a lucky escape on the outside staircase nearly coming down quicker than she had just walked up ! The winds were so strong parents took boats off of car roofs and transferred them to spare racks on other squaddies trailers and then tied everything down securely.
Our Squad spent Saturday in the classroom on theory and fitness sessions. Saturday’s theory covered tidal sailing, course strategy, top tips before the start and protests. No broken furniture this time!!!
Luckily we were staying on site at the Mount Batten Centre which meant we had sea views all weekend and not too far to go to breakfast and boat rigging on Sunday morning.Sunday provided 4 hours of mixed sailing conditions.
We had sunshine, we had squally rain showers with winds ranging from 12 – 25 knots but best of all we were out on the water having fun in some challenging conditions.
My coach persuaded me to go out on my 5.3 sail. I improved a lot on my downwind sailing throughout the day and only capsized a couple of times which was great as this was the first time of using my 5.3 in these conditions.
After lunch, relaunch was interesting as the tide had gone out & our ribs were high and dry or rather stuck in the mud! Coaches, parents and a few Plymouth Uni students to the rescue and eventually the ribs were water side again.
A few bumps and bruises given the sailing conditions and we were all relieved that our team mate who went to A&E for a check-up was sent home to rest. No long term injuries just a nasty knock on the head from someone else’s boom.
