Report on "Try Team Racing"

Published 18:13 on 20 Apr 2022

The first Intro to Team racing session of the year took place last Sunday - the 17th April.

Fiona Tylecote our team racing captain and member of the team that won the RYA Womens National Team Racing Champs started the day with a talk in the Dry Bar accompanied by coffee and great views.

The participants came from Ladies Who Launch, the Aero fleet as well as junior and youth parents. They were first given an overview of what team racing entails including the benefits: sociable so you get to meet new friends and chat; short races- so a bad race never lasts long; mix of abilities able to sail together.

The scoring system was explained: points equal to your finishing position. In 2 boats vs 2 boats it is as simple as Last boat loses; in 3 boats vs 3 boats a score of 10 or less wins. So you might be in first but if your teammates arent up there with you then as a team you may still be losing.

Fiona then moved on to Firefly boat handling skills and Rules knowledge needed to safely take part. Before discussing specific tactics and techniques to help you get your teammate through the fleet. We discussed some tactics and skills before taking to the water to give Holding out and Piggy in the middle a go themselves.

With Alice Lucy and Chris Rowlands onboard to give a demo and to provide support and advice the sailors grew in confidence and skills over the day.

Sailing just off the beach the teams started to get the hang of stopping the other boat from tacking / gybing. Janes face as Alice did a double gybe was reward in itself.

We are hoping to run some more sessions please come and join in it is not just for the young!

Last updated 11:33 on 29 October 2022