New VR Sailing Kit
New team bibs and t-shirts arrived in time for the ET’s at Rutland. Fantastic Neil Pride Elite Firewall kit arrived in time for half term (outgrown my GUL kit) and was subject to a test of endurance in the form of the RNLI Passage sail from Plymouth to Yealm, a 16 mile round trip during which the Firewall kit was comfortable, easy to move around in and kept me toasty warm.
National Series 4 – Inlands at Grafham
An interesting weekend of sailing thanks to increasing strength winds that shifted through 90 degrees, course changes and long beats. 2 bad races but overall I had a good weekend’s sailing including a 28th when right paid and riding the waves (chop) downwind worked. VR Race Team HQ were pleased as Coco and myself finished side by side on the results board! Primary aim for the weekend had been to finish all races, main sheet disagreed with that aim in the last race meaning I had to retire so more knots next time and lesson learned, but I finished all the races I could in some challenging conditions so I was very pleased with my 102nd at the end of the weekend.
Transition Boat Trials – Grafham Water
Bank holiday provided time for transition boat trails thanks to the various class associations. Lasers, 29ers, 420s and multihulls were on offer. For me that meant fun in a catamaran. My first time for traipsing and was great fun except for breaking a rudder … oops.
Eric Twiname Championships at Rutland
Rutland greeted the Zone Squad sailors with high winds and postponements. As 22 gusting 30 was not sailable the RYA Coaches greeted us with fitness trials, yipee! Once on the water, challenging conditions remained, the wind chill meant it was bitterly cold, we had a 90 degree wind shift overnight and chaotic starts but our squad worked together, we encouraged each other, trying to ensure we all achieved our personal bests as well as a good team result. Our Topper Squad finished third overall so we were all very pleased, 6th was my best result which was fab, 6 of us finished in the top third of the 80 strong fleet and Milly was top girl … go Milly!
It was also great to meet up with fellow VR Race Team members Coco and Jenna who were here with their Zone Squads. Photo opportunity as we were all sporting our new VR Race bibs.
Catamaran Training – Plymouth Youth Sailing
3 of our SW Zone Squad took advantage of a day’s catamaran training at PYS. Millie, Angus and myself had a full day of learning to rig, twin trapeze and maneuver a catamaran. Fantastic fast sailing but no chance of turning these on a sixpence! A huge learning curve for me as my sailing has only really been on our Toppers but it is safe to say I am hooked on the idea of the catamaran pathway once the time to transition comes along. Just need the finances to support that thought now!
RYA Yealm Passage Sail
So whilst at PYS for the Catamaran training Milly and myself were asked if we would double hand a Laser 2000 in the RNLI Yealm Passage Sail in 2 days time. Mum was not impressed with the thought of another 150 mile round trip, but Milly and myself were very excited so the sailors won the day and back to PYS on Saturday it was! The Passage sail is a fundraiser for the RNLI and involves racing from Plymouth to Yealm Yacht Club. This was an 8 mile race with quite a swell once we were out of Plymouth Sound but we persevered and Milly and myself were third place cadets (under 18’s). A good finish and lots of tea and cakes at Yealm made the thought of the return 8 mile sail to Plymouth a little less daunting!
